Friday, May 14, 2010

What would be the materials, procedures, dependent, independent variables, control and constants in...?

Which Metal Conducts Heat? I'm really stuck. Pleas explain why are the variables constants and control are the way they are.What would be the materials, procedures, dependent, independent variables, control and constants in...?
Hmmm....





The materials would be a few different types of metal (like lead or steel), a thermometer or other form of temperature gage, and a candle flame.


The independent variable would be the temperature you expose the metal to; since you have control of this (independent- you control, dependent- the result).


The dependent variable would be the temperature of the metal after exposure to the independent variable (heat)





Your procedure would run something like this: you take your metal and measure the base temperature (the metal at room temperature). Then you hold one piece of metal at a time in the candle flame for a short period of time (say, thirty seconds; it doesn't matter so long as each time is the same). You would then immediately measure the temperature of each piece as soon as you remove it from the flame. The piece that heats up the most is the one which conducts heat the best.





Your controls would have to be things like the base room temperature has to be the same for every metal, you have to use the same quantity of each metal, and the flame has to be approximately the same size and heat for every time. Controls like these are put in place to ensure that you get reliable results. If you used one piece of metal that is larger than another, then that piece would not heat up as quickly and you have no way of knowing how the two really compare.





The constants are going to be metal quantity and flame temperature, as neither of these should change.








Does this help?

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