Chill Out: How Hot Objects Cool
Recommended for grades 9–12.
Introduction
When you have a hot drink, you know that it gradually cools off. Newton’s law of cooling provides us with a model for cooling. It states that the temperature difference Tdiff between a hot object and its surroundings decreases exponentially with time.
In the model T0 is the initial temperature difference, and k is a positive constant.
In this activity you will use a Temperature Probe to collect data as the warmed probe cools. You can then fit several mathematical models to the data.
Objectives
- Record temperature versus time cooling data.
- Model cooling data with an exponential function.
Sensors and Equipment
This experiment requires each of the following Vernier sensors and equipment (unless otherwise noted):
Additional Requirements
You may also need an interface and software for data collection. What do I need for data collection?
Standards Correlations
See all standards correlations for Real-World Math Made Easy »
Included in the Lab Book
Vernier lab books include a CD with word-processing files of the student instructions, essential teacher information, suggested answers, sample data and graphs, and more.