The Construction Process of “the Flame of the Leopard

Squeezy Star”

By Janey and Peggy

Objective

Students will apply knowledge of energy transfer to evaluate different insulation

materials and structures in order to design and construct an insulator for a standard 355 mL

soda can filled with hot water

Materials

• Cork board

• Emergency blanket

• Duct tape

• Rubber foam

• Felt

• Aluminum

• Steel wool

Relation to Thermal Energy

• Cork board- The heat cannot transfer through as easily, because there are fewer atoms due to the many the air pockets in the cork (low density)

• Emergency blanket- It will maintain up to 80% of radiant heat to help preserve warmth

• Rubber foam- The air pockets in the foam helps to stops convection, and the gas in the pockets helps to stop conduction of heat (low density)

Relation to Thermal Energy Cont….

• Felt- This material also has many air pockets and this makes it hard for the heat to escape through the felt

• Aluminum- It is a good conductor of heat, which does not help our insulator. However, it also radiates the heat back onto the substance, which means the heat left the can but came back

• Steel wool- It has a lot of trapped air between its fibers so it allows the warm air to get in easily, but makes it hard for the air

1. Measuring/cutting the cork board

The Procedure of Building

2. Hot-gluing the pieces in place

3. Checking the size of the main form

4. Measuring, cutting, and gluing the emergency blanket inside

5. Measuring, cutting, and sticking the rubber-foam on the end pieces

6. Duct-taping the felt on the inside

7. Putting “Steel Wool” behind the felt

8. Placing aluminum inside

9. Checking if the can fits

10. Duct-taping the outside of the insulator

Overall Design

• The cork was used as the base of the insulator and the outside was covered in duct tape to keep it stable

• On the inside was the emergency blanket covered in duct tape

• Steel wool was placed on the sides and felt was taped over it to keep it contained

• Aluminum was stuck onto the bottom and sides

• Finally, the ends were duct taped on (with the rubber foam in-between the cork and tape)

Did it work?

We believe our design worked relatively well. It worked well because it had many materials with a low density and air pockets, that means it helps stop convection and makes it harder to let warm air out of the substance. The other materials, aluminum and the emergency blanket, had reflecting properties. This means it radiates the heat back onto the substance. However, we believe our insulator did not win because we used cork as our base, and it would have been smarter to use foam instead, because of its many air pockets.

Suggestions For Future Designs• Use a material higher in density for the main form

Thicker material with less air pockets would make it harder for heat to pass through- Also using a material with a high amount of air pockets helps make it hard for heat to go through

• Use Duct Tape only to keep parts stuck together

Duct Tape isn’t the best insulator, but it does work for

keeping parts together

• Either use a ton of aluminum or no aluminum

Aluminum foil is a good heat conductor, which in this case is a

bad thing because the heat isn’t supposed to escape the insulator.