Insulation is an important part of the building process; we insulate our homes, schools and businesses to conserve energy. Insulation helps to help us cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Students are asked to design an insulating box, one that would keep ice cubes from melting. Each group was given these materials:

~ Cardboard box
~Gallon plastic ziplock bag
~Roll of tape
~Gram balance
Groups were also provided with an assortment of insulation panels:
~cardboard
~styrofoam
~cotton batting
~6 sheets of newspaper
~bubble wrap
Each group added ice cubes to the plastic bag until they had measured 300 grams of ice. The bag and ice were placed inside the cardboard box and then insulation panels were taped on all six sides. The students left the boxes, untouched and closed, over night.

The next morning, each group opened their containers. Any water found in the plastic bag was poured into a beaker and the remaining ice cubes were placed on the balance. The students' results can be seen here:

Material Mass of Ice before (g) Mass of Ice after (g)
Cardboard 300 180
Newspaper 300 150
Styrofoam 300 285
Bubble wrap 300 230
Cotton batting 300 230

Which material was the poorest insulator?

Responses
A cardboardcardboard
B newspapernewspaper
C bubble wrapbubble wrap
D cotton batting

1 answer

To determine which material was the poorest insulator, we need to look at the mass of the ice before and after the experiment. The greater the amount of ice that melted, the poorer the insulation provided by the material.

Here are the amounts of ice that melted for each material:

Cardboard: 300 g - 180 g = 120 g melted
Newspaper: 300 g - 150 g = 150 g melted
Styrofoam: 300 g - 285 g = 15 g melted
Bubble wrap: 300 g - 230 g = 70 g melted
Cotton batting: 300 g - 230 g = 70 g melted

The highest amount of melted ice is associated with the poorest insulation.

Cardboard = 120 g melted
Newspaper = 150 g melted
Styrofoam = 15 g melted
Bubble wrap = 70 g melted
Cotton batting = 70 g melted

Based on these results, the newspaper allowed the most ice to melt, making it the poorest insulator.

The answer is B newspaper.