W33k 11: Thermos Project Week!!

W33k 11 : Thermos Project Recap

 

Out of all the projects I’ve done so far this year, I think I’d have to say this thermos project is my favorite because of all the creativity needed to build a successful thermos, and how to keep the heat in as effectively as possible.

Originally, I was going to use a bunch of wool socks, wrapped around the cup, thinking that would hold the heat in, as wool socks are terrible heat conductors therefore good at keeping things warm. I quickly learned that in needed a sturdier container and then I turned to coffee cans. We had some old metal coffee cans in the basement back when they used metal coffee cans ( all they have is plastic now…) There was a smaller coffee can that fit the little 16 oz cup almost perfectly. There was a lager coffee can that the smaller coffee can could fit into, and I could just put insulating materials in-between the cans. The first layer in the big coffee can was a piece of cork, which after doing some research I found that it was a terrible conductor. The next challenge was what to put around the smaller coffee can so it still fit inside the bigger coffee can while it stayed warm, the solution was pool noodles. There were some in my basement, already cut in half for a game long forgotten. I took one out and took an exact-o knife to  it, cutting off sections that were the length on the coffee can and then when I had extremely short pool noodles I cut them open so there were two halves hinged at the uncut side. I wrapped duct tape around them to make a protective, heat trapping ring around the cup. The only other material I used ( besides duct tape) was the lining from an insulated reusable bag. I had a shiny foil-y surface and I lined the outside of the cup with this, as well as both of the coffee cans.

Last, I stuffed more insulating lining in-between the cracks of the pool noodle and the smaller coffee can and the lid, and I considered the project in the bag for me. it dropped twenty degrees in an hour,  which I thought was really good, for a thermos with a hole in the lids  for the thermometer.

On testing day, I heated water up as quickly as possible, and I got twenty minutes of measurements, and it dropped only 10 degrees, which I was very proud of until we were told we were going to retest. My stomach dropped because I worried would get worse results the next time. The only modification I did make was more duct tape on the surface of the pool noodles under the uppermost lid.

The next day  I was shocked to find my  modifications had proved successful, there was only an eight degree drop ( although  my temperature wasn’t exactly 353 K at the starting point it was 351 K).

Looking back I probably would have tried putting more material in-between the coffee cups or actually putting something inside the smaller coffee cup, which I had left completely bare, but over all I was happy. I like the science of  heat retention.