Conduction and Convection

Two flasks hold colored water, one yellow and the other blue. Set the starting temperature of each flask, choose a type of material to connect the flasks, and see how quickly the flasks heat up or cool down. The flasks can be connected with a hollow pipe, allowing the water in the flasks to mix, or a solid chunk that transfers heat but prevents mixing.

Launch Gizmo

Learning Objectives

Observe that heat flows from warmer objects to cooler ones until temperatures equalize.
Measure heat transfer via conduction and convection.
Observe that metals are better conductors than nonmetals.
Determine that hot fluids tend to rise while cold fluids tend to sink.
Compare conduction and convection.

Vocabulary

conduction, conductor, convection, insulator

Lesson Materials

Student Exploration Sheet

MS Word PDF Google Doc

Exploration Sheet Answer Key

Subscribers Only

Assessment Questions

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Teacher Guide

Instructors Only

Vocabulary Sheet

MS Word PDF

Spanish/French version included with a subscription.

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