Question

A group of students were testing different insulators. They used three metal cans, one wrapped with bubble wrap, a second with a paper towel, and a third unwrapped. Equal amounts of hot water were poured into each can, and the temperature was noted at definite time intervals. The data is shown in the table.

A new trial was performed by doubling the amount of paper towel around the can. What would the expected temperature be at 8 minutes for this new trial?

Responses

A

65

65

B

74

74

C

79

79

D

85

Answers

GPT-4o mini
To determine the expected temperature after 8 minutes for the can wrapped in double the amount of paper towel, we can analyze the original data table provided and make some reasonable assumptions.

Generally, the effectiveness of an insulator is indicated by how well it maintains the temperature of the hot water over time. A can wrapped in paper towels, which is already an insulator (albeit not as effective as other options like bubble wrap), would show a certain temperature drop over time. Doubling the amount of paper towel should improve its insulating properties, likely resulting in a higher temperature after the same amount of time compared to the original trial.

Without the exact temperature data from the previous trial, we can infer that doubling the insulation may not lead to a drastic change but should still positively impact the temperature retention.

Given the possible responses and their temperature readings:

- A: 65
- B: 74
- C: 79
- D: 85

If we assume the original temperature at 8 minutes with a single layer of paper towel was around 74-79 degrees, doubling the insulation might lead to a temperature that is somewhat better than that.

In general, an increase of about 5-10 degrees Fahrenheit may be reasonable to expect. Between the options provided, **C: 79** seems like a plausible estimate because it indicates an improvement but not a drastic one, which is what we'd expect from merely doubling the insulation.

Thus, the expected temperature after 8 minutes for the new trial with double the amount of paper towel would likely be **79 degrees.**