Experiment 2: Measuring Thermal Conductivity

Measuring Thermal Conductivity – Procedure

Instructions for Lab TA
1) Fill the ice mold with water and freeze it. Do not freeze water with lid on jar.

Instructions for Students

1) Run the jar under warm water to loosen the ice in the mold. Do not directly apply warm water
to ice. Hold jar upside down with the water running over the white plastic until the ice is able to
slide out freely.

NOTE: Do not attempt to “pry” the ice out of the mold.

2) Select three materials for which you are going to perform the experiment from the five
provided, and measure and record h, the thickness of the sample material.
3) Mount the sample material onto the steam chamber (see Figure 1) as shown in Figure 2 below.

NOTE: Take care that the sample material is flush against the water channel, so water will
not leak, then tighten the thumbscrews.

4) Place the ice on top of the sample as shown in Figure 2. Do not remove the ice but make sure
that the ice can move freely in the mold. Just place the open end of the mold against the
sample, and let the ice slide out as the experiment proceeds. There is a small slit on the brim of
the ice mold that should be positioned facing the water channel so that the melting ice can flow
through the slit.
 Experiment 2: Measuring Thermal Conductivity
5) Let the ice sit for several minutes so it begins to melt and comes in full contact with the sample.
Take an appropriate measurement of the ice block so you can evaluate the beginning diameter,
da1, of the ice block in centimeters. Record this value. (Don’t begin taking data before the ice
begins to melt, because it may be at a lower temperature than 0oC.)
6) While you are waiting for the ice to melt, fill the steam generator two-thirds full of water. Place
the cork on top, plug it in to a wall outlet, and turn it on high. Keep it away from your melting
ice because it will radiate heat and cause the ice to melt faster.
7) Attach the ¼” tubing to both outlets on the cork. Direct the tubes so that they are facing away
from your experiment. Plug the ends with a wad of paper towels so that condensation won’t
get everywhere.
8) Obtain data for determining the ambient melting rate of the ice as follows:
a. Determine the mass of a small container used for collecting the melted ice and record it.
b. Collect the melting ice in the container for a measured time ta (10 minutes).
c. Determine the mass of the container plus water and record it.
d. Subtract your first measured mass from your second to determine ma, the mass of the
melted ice in grams.
9) Measure the ice block the same as in step 5 and record the final diameter, da2, of the ice block in
centimeters at the end of time ta.
10) Run steam into the steam chamber. The steam will burn your skin if you are not careful. Use
the fireproof gloves provided for you in lab. Let the steam run for several minutes until
temperatures stabilize so that the heat flow is steady and condensed water starts to drip from
the steam chamber drain. (Place a container under the drain spout of the steam chamber to
collect the water that escapes from the chamber.)
11) Follow the same measuring procedure you adopted in steps 5 and 9 and record the diameter of
the ice block at the beginning and record it in the data table as d1 in centimeters.
12) Empty the cup used for collecting the melted ice. Repeat steps 8 and 9, but this time with the
steam running into the steam chamber. As before, measure and record m (in grams), the mass
of the melted ice, and t, the time during which the ice melted (10 minutes).
13) Measure the ice block the same as in step 5 and record the diameter d2 in centimeters of the ice
block at the end of time t.
14) Follow the procedure of the lab manual from steps 10-13 with collecting ice for 10 minutes for
two more material samples.

Data and Calculations

1) Determine Aave (in cm2), the area over which the heat flow between the ice and the steam inside
the chamber took place in the steam experiments. (Assume that A is just the area of the ice in
contact with the sample material.)
 Experiment 2: Measuring Thermal Conductivity

2) Determine Aa,ave (in cm2), the area over which the heat flow between the ice and the ambient air
inside the chamber and outside of the mold took place in the ambient experiment.
3) Divide m by t and ma by ta to determine R and Ra, the rates at which the ice melted in the steam
experiments and ambient experiment respectively.

𝑅0 𝑅 𝑅𝑎
= −
𝐴 𝐴𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝐴𝑎𝑣𝑒,𝑎

4) Calculate k, the conductivity of the sample, with the use of the equation below.

𝑅0 (80 𝑐𝑎𝑙/𝑔) ∙ ℎ
𝑘=( )
𝐴 ∆𝑇

5) Determine the percent error of the experimental k compared to the accepted values found in
the document “Lab2_AcceptedMaterialProperties.pdf”.