A Good Sock LabAn Exploration of Insulation

Designed bySarah McColl, Catherine Kinyua, Antonia Jimenez-Trial, Yasaman

Mashmasami, Didy Damur

Insulation and Sustainability• The purpose of insulating a house is to reduce

the escape of heat from the roof and walls.

• It also saves the homeowner money on their heating bill by reducing the amount of fuel they use, thus reducing CO2 emissions

• Not all insulation is eco friendly however, fiber-glass insulation contains formaldehyde which is highly toxic and bad for the environment

Ultratouch Denim InsulationAn interesting eco-friendly alternative

• Contains 90 % post-consumer recycled natural fibers, including recycled denim

• High-quality, sustainable building material

• Nontoxic panels are fire-treated with benign borax, is very easy to handle, and can easily be cut with a sharp utility knife

Lab Objective

• Student will measure the change in temperature of 4 bottles of hot water insulated with different materials

• Students will then be asked to analyze the results in relation to the energy saving benefits in properly insulating houses.

Materials4 Glass bottles4 Stainless steel

temperature probesNXT Robot with

LabView SoftwareWaterWater heating

deviceInsulating materials

a.Nylon Sockb.Cotton Sockc.Aluminum Foil

Procedure

• Cover 3 of the 4 bottle with insulation materials, leave one bottle uncovered, this will be your control

• Open LabView program and connect the temperature probes to port 1-4 of the NXT robot.

• Fill four glass bottle with approx. 14 oz. of hot water using the water heating device, this need to be done quickly to avoid major difference in water temperature between bottles, CAUTION: glass will be hot

Procedure• Insert a temperature probe in to all 4

bottles and run LabView for 25 minutes, the ports are labeled in the LabView program make sure to put each temperature probe in the corresponding bottle

Port 1: Nylon Port 2: Cotton Port 3:Aluminium Port 4: Glass

• Open the excel document that LabView exports the data to and analyze the results to answer the “Conclusion Questions” on the following page

Hypothesis

• Aluminum foil: metal is a conductor of heat, so instead of insulating the bottle it will “suck” the heat out of it and feel warm to the touch

• Cotton: Cotton is used in many eco-friendly insulations, so it should be one of the better insulators

• Nylon: a synthetic silk, nylon fabrics are generally very breathable, do not hold in much heat

ResultsTable 1

Nylon Cotton Aluminium Glass71.609047 68.933868 79.222023 72.20628471.020638 68.20079 78.03743 71.215813

70.44075 67.659409 77.115761 70.4407569.869087 66.948372 76.215881 69.49241669.305389 66.597328 75.554581 68.93386868.933868 66.076202 74.904442 68.01953968.382843 65.561401 74.476997 67.30236868.019539 65.221626 74.054222 66.59732867.480507 64.550049 73.635979 66.07620266.948372 64.21814 73.016876 65.22162666.422897 63.724979 72.609497 64.71695765.903908 63.888741 72.00621 63.88874165.561401 63.399269 71.609047 63.399269

65.05275 62.91518 71.215813 62.59537164.550049 62.27784 70.633118 61.962551

64.21814 61.962551 70.249298 61.49372963.724979 61.493729 69.869087 60.87606863.399269 61.183849 69.492416 60.26664

62.91518 60.72295 69.119209 59.81478162.436321 60.26664 68.749367 59.21902162.119919 59.964909 68.20079 58.7771

61.64946 59.515949 67.839088 58.1941861.33852 59.219021 67.480507 57.61824

60.876068 58.7771 67.125 57.19070860.570351 58.484749 66.772476 56.626411

Nylon Cotton Aluminium Glass71.609047 68.933868 79.222023 72.20628471.020638 68.20079 78.03743 71.215813

70.44075 67.659409 77.115761 70.4407569.869087 66.948372 76.215881 69.49241669.305389 66.597328 75.554581 68.93386868.933868 66.076202 74.904442 68.01953968.382843 65.561401 74.476997 67.30236868.019539 65.221626 74.054222 66.59732867.480507 64.550049 73.635979 66.07620266.948372 64.21814 73.016876 65.22162666.422897 63.724979 72.609497 64.71695765.903908 63.888741 72.00621 63.88874165.561401 63.399269 71.609047 63.399269

65.05275 62.91518 71.215813 62.59537164.550049 62.27784 70.633118 61.962551

64.21814 61.962551 70.249298 61.49372963.724979 61.493729 69.869087 60.87606863.399269 61.183849 69.492416 60.26664

62.91518 60.72295 69.119209 59.81478162.436321 60.26664 68.749367 59.21902162.119919 59.964909 68.20079 58.7771

61.64946 59.515949 67.839088 58.1941861.33852 59.219021 67.480507 57.61824

60.876068 58.7771 67.125 57.19070860.570351 58.484749 66.772476 56.626411

ResultsCalculating ΔT

Calculate overall change in temperature (ΔT) by subtracting the initial temperature from the final

temperature and taking the absolute value: ΔT = I Tfinal – Tinitial I

Material ΔTGlass 15.58Aluminium 12.45Nylon 11.04Cotton 10.45

Material ΔTGlass 15.58Aluminium 12.45Nylon 11.04Cotton 10.45

Table 2

Conclusion

Worst Insulator

Best Insulator