Tagged: temperature sensor
latent heat – salty ice
When it is icy they put salt onto the roads to melt the ice. What the salt does is to depress, or reduce, the freezing point of water. The result is that the ice...
characteristics of a thermistor
A thermistor is an electronic component whose resistance changes with temperature. The voltage and current of a thermistor can be measured as the temperature changes. Sensors allow you to take the many readings necessary...
pressure & temperature
The pressure in a sealed container changes with temperature. These changes can be monitored using sensors attached to the computer. A graph of pressure against temperature can be plotted as the changes occur. After...
heat conduction through a window
Get two temperature sensors to measure the temperature inside and outside a window. You may find that over a long period of time it is best to record your data remotely. This means that...
heat conduction
You can use a temperature sensor to study the conduction of heat through materials. Two temperature sensors allow you to compare different materials at the same time. In this example, you heat strips of...
insulation of stacked cups
Three plastic cups are stacked inside each other and a temperature probe placed between each cup. Before stacking the final cup hot water (take care) is poured into the middle cup. Quickly stack the...
insulation
You can use a temperature sensor to study the insulating properties of materials. Two temperature sensors allow you to compare different materials at the same time. In this example two beakers of hot water...
aerobic and anaerobic respiration
When a living thing, such as yeast, respires it produces heat. It may do this in the presence or absence of oxygen. These processes are called aerobic respiration and anaerobic respiration. How would the...
warm germinating seeds
When seeds germinate they use energy and give off heat. To test this, you can use temperature sensors which will continuously monitor any heat produced. You will set up some seeds in an insulated...
energy in food
As food burns it releases energy. This energy can be used to heat up water. If you know how much water you used, and how hot it gets, you can calculate the food’s energy...
monitor fermentation in a compost heap
Is mown grass in the compost heap really dead? When you cut the grass you remove its source of vital materials and the cut leaf ‘dies’. But when you feel a pile of cut...
exothermic reaction of plaster of Paris in water
Plaster of Paris is white powder you mix with water and pour into a mould. You can make models with it while hospitals use it on broken limbs. When you mix it with water...
freezing a bun or bread roll
We scientists do the strangest of things. We wanted to see the temperature changes when you freeze and thaw things. So we took a ‘bun’ (a bread roll), placed temperature sensors in and around...
heating ice
You would think that when you heat up ice that it gets warmer bit by bit. And maybe that the more you heat it the hotter it gets. Well it’s not like that. We...
a cooling curve
I expect that when something cools, it will get cooler in a plodding kind of way. That’s true, but when something changes state, the cooling is not so steady.The graph below shows how liquid...
