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Newton's Law of Cooling

Record how a cup of hot water cools, fit an exponential model, and use it to predict the temperature at a later time.

Grade 12ExperimentScience OlympiadMath ChallengeScienceMathPhysicsEnergyData AnalysisAdvanced1 to 2 hr6 materialsAdult supervision required

What you'll learn

  • Collect temperature data at regular intervals
  • Fit T(t) = T_room + (T_0 minus T_room) times e to the power of (minus kt)
  • Linearize the data with a logarithm and find k

Objective

Measure the cooling curve of hot water, fit it with an exponential decay model, and test the model's prediction.

STEM concepts

Heat transferExponential decayNewton's law of coolingModeling and validation
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Why does it work, challenge and project report

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