Decomposing Energy Questions 3

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julietcar
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Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2020 10:28 am
Occupation: Student

Decomposing Energy Questions 3

Post by julietcar »

Hello!
I have, once again, another question regarding Decomposing Energy
Link to the site: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... background

My teacher is now checking our statement of the problem questions, and I have been struggling with coming up with another SOP question. So far, these are my SOP questions:

1. How much heat will the compost pile produce?
2. How much heat energy will the compost pile transfer to the water?**
3. How long will the compost pile be able to heat up the water before the temperature decreases?

Note: We revised the procedure to make an output.

My teacher said that SOP2 should be revised since there are a lot of factors we need to take into account such as outdoor temperature that might mess with the process of extracting the heat energy. So, I want to ask for help in coming up with another question that will replace SOP2 or how I can revise SOP2?
koneill18
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Posts: 188
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 8:22 am
Occupation: Other Adult

Re: Decomposing Energy Questions 3

Post by koneill18 »

Hi again!

Your teacher is right in that it would be hard to distinguish how much of the heat energy being transferred to the water is coming from the compost vs the sun. Maybe you could replace that SOP question with something like: "How long will it take for the water to heat up?" That kind of leads into SOP3, which asks how long will the water stay hot before the temperature starts to go back down. Or you could say, "Up to what temperature will the compost heat the water?"

What revisions did you make to the procedure? Were there any other variables that you tested, like the effect of different compost ingredients on the amount of heat generated? Maybe you can include a question about the compost itself and say something like, "What ingredients can be added to a compost pile to generate heat?" Or, "What C:N ratio is optimal for generating heat from a compost pile?"

I hope some of those ideas are helpful!
Katelyn
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