Thermal Conductivity of Household ItemsTeam Super Awesome Alpha Wolf Squadron

Dane Vandermark, Sam Jensen, Peter Cole, Logan Beal

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3.5Thermal Conductivities

MelaminePolypropylenePolystyrenePorcelain

Items Tested• Pyrex Cookware• Plastic Cup• Plastic Bowl• Porcelain Mug• Melamine Bowl

Method of Testing• Pot of boiling water• Items placed in water and

allowed to come to equilibrium

• Thermocouple used to get the surface temperature inside the item

Assumptions and Challenges• Original plan was to measure both surfaces of the item, but

the items’ temperature would decrease too rapidly while taking the temperature of the side in the water.

• Thus, we increased the rate of boiling and assumed that the difference between the boiling water temperature and the surface was negligible.

• The Pyrex dish was used as our basis in order to get a heat flux.

ResultsExcel sheet with experimental data and calculated values Thermal conductivities based on

different fudge factors

As can be seen, the fudge factors significantly improve the thermal conductivities calculated for the melamine bowl and the porcelain mug in comparison to the internet values.

Conclusion• Based on our calculated

thermal conductivities, the plastic bowl would be the best for holding hot food since it has the lowest thermal conductivity.

• Surprisingly, the mug had the highest thermal conductivity, which helps explain the need for a handle.

Purpose• Determine which

common food container would be best for hot food based on thermal conductivity