Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Which material conserves heat the best, paper, cotton, or alumnium foil?

What should i research and where because i cant seem to find that much information about my topic.

Hi Colombiana,

Good question. We're talking about heat insulators. So, to research the topic, it's better to use "insulate" rather than "conserve."

If you pose "Which material insulates the best, paper, cotton, or aluminum foil?" to answers.com,
you'll get back several resources including some designs for experiments that should answer your question.

Please post again, if these don't answer your question. Thanks.

dear colombiana,

Thank you for contacting science buddies. Regarding your question, I think that cotton would be the best insulator. Aluminum would be the worst insulator because it is an excellent conductor of heat. The insulating ability of paper and cotton would depend on a few things: how much paper and cotton are being experimented with (for example: 1 lb of paper vs 1 lb of cotton), also how tightly packed is the paper and the cotton. If you have any other questions please add another post.

good luck,
scienceexpert123

My science topic is "Which material insulates heat the best,paper,cotton, or aluminum foil?" How should i do my experiment??

Hi Colombiana,

Please see the earlier post with subject "Which material conserves heat the best?" It appears to be the same topic as the question here. So, please use the other topic as the avenue for further questions.

Note: the other topic currently has two replies. If the replies do not answer your question, please post additional questions within the other topic. Thanks.

Colombiana,
I'm merging your two topics so that the experts will be able to follow the progress of your project. Please add subsequent posts in this topic.

The phrase "conserves heat the best" can have different meanings depending on the particular circumstances. I am assuming you are interested in studying the thermal insulation properties of different materials. Is that correct?

For a possible procedure that can be adapted for such an experiment, please see
http://www.sciencebuddies.com/science-f ... ?from=Home

Thanks,
Chris

thanks for everyone that has responded ....... but how should i do my experiment?????My question is which material insulates heat the best, paper, cotton, or aluminum foil?? I was looking @ some previous experiments but a couldn't find or understand one the could work for my project. CAN SOMEONE PLESE GIVE ME SOME SUGGESTIONS!.....

Thanks,

Vanessa

Hi Vanessa,
Were you able to look at the link in my previous post? It gives step-by-step instructions for a project titled "Which Is the Better Insulation Material?" Why not use that procedure as a starting point? Then you can adjust the procedure to fit your particular question and hypothesis.
http://www.sciencebuddies.com/science-f ... p016.shtml
Good luck!
Chris

Hi Vanessa,

In addition to the sciencebuddies project suggested by ChrisG, the following four projects are suggested by my previous post:

http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/projects/insulation.html
http://www.prek-12engineering.org/data/ ... ulator.pdf
http://eev.liu.edu/heat2002/data/beacon.htm
http://theresaknott.googlepages.com/Wha ... gswarm.doc

So you have options on which project to pick. To be creative, you can also mix and match ideas from the projects.

hi, im just wondering which material do you think insulates heat the best, paper, cotton, or aluminum? The materials are going to have the same amount of mass,length.............


Thanks

Hi Vanessa,
I'm glad to hear that you are still working on this project. Have you made any progress with choosing an experimental design to answer your scientific question?
I believe your current question has already been answered by ScienceExpert123, higher up in this topic. If there is something in that answer that confuses you, or if you have an additional question, please let us know.
Also, please keep in mind that our opinion about which material insulates better is not very important for a science fair project. We are here to help you design an experiment to address your question, and to direct you to resources to help you learn about the current scientific knowledge related to your project. The final answer to your question will be determined by the outcome of your experiment.
Good luck!
Chris

Hi, Colombiana. If you ask your question to answers.com, they should be able to help you.