The Problem

Which recycled material would be the most effective thermal insulator?

The Title
The Effectiveness of Recycled Materials as Thermal Insulation
Rationale
Have you ever seen a Thermal Insulator? Sometimes you dont know that the
material that keeps your food warm in your lunch box is a thermal insulator. As we all
know, heat always moves from warmer to colder areas, it seeks a balance. So thermal
insulator is a material which is used to reduce heat transfer between objects in thermal
contact or in ranges of radiate influence. Thermal insulation provides a region of
insulation in which thermal conduction is reduced or thermal radiation is reflected rather
than absorbed by the lower-temperature body. The primary function of thermal
insulation materials used in lunch boxes or any thermal insulator is to reduce the
transmission of heat by reducing the amount of heat leak. Insulation in the walls of the
container can reduce the amount of heat that enters the container and the amount of
food contents that is needed to keep it chilled. The thermal insulator also helps reduce
energy requirements for refrigeration or heating systems.
In this study, the materials that will be used to make a thermal insulator will be
eco-friendly and cheap. These materials are as follows: Cellulose or dried leaves, wood
shaving/straw bales, bubble wrap, and polystyrene. Fiberglass is made out of finely
woven silicon, glass powder and tiny shards of glass are formed. But fiberglass also
offers many advantages because the material is lightweight and easy to assemble not
like the traditional wood-framed housing. Cellulose is made from recycled cardboard,
paper and other similar materials which makes it an eco-friendly form of insulation.
Wood shavings are from the leftover cuttings of a wood. Wood shavings and Straw
bales are used to keep the cages of the animals (ex: horses) warm. Polystyrene is a
good insulator because it has dense, lightweight material that is a poor conductor of
heat. Its a form of bulk insulation (like fiberglass or wool) but comes as rigid boards and
loose fill instead of mats or biscuits.
The researcher chose this study because now a days insulators are expensive.
Sometimes when we buy insulators we just used them for months. The researcher
wants to prove that we can use recycled materials to make your own thermal insulator.
Materials of the study:
The materials of the study are congruent pieces of each insulating material
(wood shaving/straw bales, bubble wrap, and polystyrene), particle-cardboard or a
shoebox, one hundred-watt light bulb (incandescent bulb) with aluminum reflector lam,
one Digital thermometer probe, one Stopwatch, one A stable room and a Record paper

The Methodology of the study:

The researcher constructed two boxes out of particleboard then sawed congruent
pieces of each insulating material. For each test, the researcher installed one of the
insulators in one of the boxes and a one hundred-watt light bulb in an aluminum
reflector lamp in each box. Using a digital thermometer probe, the researcher checked
the temperature and turned on each light bulb and started a stopwatch and heated the
box to 30C above the room temperature. At 30C above room temperature, the
researcher turned off the light bulb and recorded the decreasing temperatures. After the
temperature fell 25C, the researcher recorded the time. The researcher tested each of
eight materials five times in this same manner, using a second box as a control each
time.
Implication
The following people who will benefit from my study is/are the following:

To the students, for them to learn how to use recycled materials for their projects

and school activities.

To the teachers, new experiments or information that they can share in the class.
To the environmentalist, another solution how to increase materials out of

recyclable materials which can help our mother earth.

To the community, for us to be informed how things can be recycled and know
how to use them properly and eco-friendly way.

Timetable of the study:

Month
June - July

August - September
October- November

December - January
January - March

To do list:
Look for an Investigatory Project title (Physics)
(if accepted) Proceed to the next step which is the Proposal
Pass Chapter 1
Pass Chapter 2 & 3
Buy materials for the study
Do the experiment, answer your hypothesis and make
conclusion
Pass Chapter 4, 5 & 6
(if papers are ready) Prepare for the defense
(if you pass the defense) make sure that the corrections are fixed
Print a complete copy of your Investigatory Project for book bind

Budget of the study

The researcher will make sure that the needed materials are available around
the community of the researcher. The researcher also makes sure that the price is
acceptable and reasonable so it wont be too expensive. The estimated price of the
whole study is below one thousand five hundred pesos. The price is still tentative and

can be changed but the researcher will try to use cheap but good type of materials for
the study.