Name : ____________________ Class :___

Theme : Energy
Learning Area : Heat
Learning objective : To understand the transfer of heat through conduction.
Aim : To show the transfer of heat by conduction.
Hypothesis: The nearer the thumbtack to X, the faster it drops.

Variables:
a) Constant : Length and material of rod, position of asbestos sheet
b) Manipulated : Position of thumbtacks from X.
c) Responding : Time taken for the thumbtacks to drop

Materials : Copper rod, thumbtacks, wax.

Apparatus : Bunsen burner, retort stand, retort clamp, tripod, asbestos sheet, stopwatch.

asbestos sheet

copper rod
X Y

wax
A B C D E

Heat

thumbtack

10 cm

14 cm

16 cm

18 cm

20 cm
Procedure:

1. The apparatus was set up as shown in the diagram above.

2. By using wax, thumbtacks A was fixed 12 cm from flame followed by thumbtack B,14 cm ,

thumbtack C ,16 cm , thumbtack D ,18 cm, and thumbtack C ,20 cm also from the flame to the

cooper rod.

3. The rod was heated with a Bunsen Burner at X.

4. The time was taken for each thumbtacks to drop from the rod.

5. The observation was recorded in a table.

Observation :

Thumbtack Distance of thumbtacks Time taken for thumbtack to drop/sec

from the flame /cm (seconds)

A 12 20

B 14 35

C 16 50

D 18 65

E 20 85

Analysis:
1. What happen to the wax after the copper rod is heated ?
The wax melts
2. i) Which thumbtack will drop first ? Explain your answer .
The thumbtacks A drops first because the heat reached the thumbtack A .
ii) Which thumbtack will drop last ? Explain your answer .
Thumbtack E drops last because the heat reached the thumbtacks E last .
3) Based on your experiment, what is your inference?
The time taken for thumbtacks to drop is affected by the affected by the distance of the
thumbtacks from the flame .
4) State the relationship between the distance of thumbtacks from the flame and the time taken for
the thumbtacks to drop.
The nearer the thumbtack is from the flame, the faster it drops.

5) What will happen if the copper rod is replaced with the glass rod ? Give your reason.
Time taken is longer for thumbtacks to drop because a glass is a poor heat conductor.

6)Arrange the sequence of the thumbtacks falling according to the time taken .

A B C D E
Conclusion :
The hypothesis is accepted. The nearer the thumbtacks from the flame , the faster it drops.