Nicole McMeekin

Earth Systems
Period D
3/28/13
The Effect of Difference in Temperature on Cooling Rate
Problem Statement and Hypothesis
The cooling rate of any object, a hot cut in particular, can vary a great
amount depending on the circumstance. In this experiment we tested a
hot cup to see how long it would take for it to reach room temperature.
The temperature would be recorded as the difference in temperature
changes to see if the cooling rate would also change.
The difference in temperature will affect the rate of cooling rate of the
object. The closer that the temperature is to room temperature, the
slower itll cool down. It also works the other way, the farther it is from
room temperature then the faster itll cool down.
The entity that is being studied in this circumstance is the hot cup. The
properties that are being studied are the cooling rate and the
difference in temperature. In this case the cooling rate depends on the
difference in temperature. The cooling rate is degrees Celsius per
minute and the difference in temperature is the difference between the
cup temperature and the air temperature.
The difference in temperature is what will affect the cooling rate. As
the difference in temperature decreases so will the cooling rate due to
the fact that there will be less of a difference between the two
properties for the heat from the cup to be able to escape into the air.
As it cools down and the difference in temperature decreases, the
amount of room available for the heat to evaporate into also
decreases, therefore, decreasing the cooling rate.
These facts make the difference in temperature the independent
variable because its what is being changed and the cooling rate is the
dependent because it depends on the difference in temperature. The
main variables that are kept constant throughout the whole
experiment are the room temperature, the cup, and the location.
The cooling rate of a hot object depends on the temperature of the
surrounding area. If a cup of boiling water is placed in a room that has
a cooler temperature than it down, at first the cooling rate will be high
and then it will get slower and slower as the cup nears room
temperature.

Materials:
Styrofoam cup with lid
Thermometer
Stop watch
Hot water
Procedure:
1. Measure room temperature.
2. Mark cup one inch from the top.
3. Fill cup to line with hot water.
4. Measure the starting temperature.
5. Measure temperature of water every two minutes for 36 minutes.
6. Measure room temperature.
7. Calculate change in temperature. Subtract the temperature at
the beginning of the two minute interval from the temperature as
the end.
8. Calculate cooling rate for every two minutes. Divide the change
in temperature by time (two minutes).
9. Calculate the difference in temperature. Subtract cup
temperature form room temperature.
10.
Measure room temperature.
Data:
Time (Min.)

STELLA Hot Cup Data

Cup Temp
Change in
Cooling Rate
(C)
Temp (C)
(C/min)

89.7

15

72.72

16.98

1.13

50.92

30

59.99

12.37

.84

38.19

Difference in
Temperature
(C)
67.9

Actual Hot cup Data

Change in
Temp
(C)

Cooling Rate
(C/min)

Difference in
Temperature
(C)

Time (Min.)

Cup Temp. (C)

89.9

84.2

5.7

2.85

59.2

82.1

2.1

1.05

57.1

80.5

1.6

.80

55.5

78.5

2.0

.80

53.5

10

76.5

2.0

1.00

51.5

12

74.2

2.3

1.15

49.2

14

72.5

1.7

.85

47.2

16

70.8

1.7

.85

45.8

18

69.1

1.7

.85

44.1

20

66.1

3.0

1.50

41.1

22

64.8

1.3

.65

39.8

24

63.5

1.3

.65

38.5

26

62.1

1.4

.70

37.1

28

61.1

1.0

.50

36.1

30

59.8

1.3

.65

34.8

32

59.0

.8

.40

34

34

58.1

.9

.45

33.1

64.9

Data Analysis:
In this experiment as the cup cooled down, the difference in temperature also changed
which affected the cooling rate. As predicted, as the temperature decreased, the cooling
rate slowed down. When the experiment started the difference in temperature was 64.9 C
and at the end it was 33.1 C. When it started the cooling rate was 2.85 C and afterwards
the cooling rate was .45 C. A decrease in the difference in temperature led to the
decrease in the cooling rate.
Conclsion:
The data from this experiment supports the hypothesis. As the difference in temperature
decreases, the cooling rate mostly decreased. When the difference in temperature was
59.2 C, the cooling rate was 2.85 C/min. At the end of the experiment, the data shows
that the difference in temperature is 30 C and hen cooling rate had also dropped down to
.45 C/min. The first few points with the larger cooling rate had a very large slope area on
the graph but at the last few points after it had slowed down, the slope was smaller
proving the hypothesis.