Land Vs Water Student 1

Heat Capacity and Coastal Climates:
Which Absorbs and Loses Heat Faster––Land or Water?

PURPOSE

The purpose of this lesson is to investigate the heat capacity of water and land and to explain how the properties of water influence coastal climates.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
In this experiment, you will heat the same volume of water and sand or soil in two different containers. They will compare the temperatures of the water and the sand or soil as each beaker is heated and as each beaker cools to answer the question:
Which Absorbs and Loses Heat Faster––Land or Water?

Hypothesis
After reading through the methods section below, write a hypothesis to answer the question above.
Hypothesis:

Methods

1. Place 100 cm3 of soil in one beaker and 100 mL of water in the other beaker.
2. Place a thermometer in soil and in the water.
3. Place the lamp approximately 20 cm from the beakers. Make sure that both beakers are equal distance from the lamp and that both receive light at the same angle.
4. Turn on the lamp and record the temperature (?C) of the soil and water at 2-minute intervals for 20 minutes. Write your results in the first table and include a title for the table.
5. Turn off the lamp and move it away from the beakers. Record the temperature (?C) of the soil and water at 2-minute intervals for 20 minutes. Write your results in the second table and include a title for the table
6. Construct a line graph that summarizes your results. Include a title, label the axes, and include a legend.

Results

Table 1– Title: __________________________________________________________________________

Temperature (˚C)
Initial
Temp
2 min
4 min
6 min
8 min
10 min
12 min
14 min
16 min
18 min
20 min
Soil or Sand

Water

Table 2 - Title: __________________________________________________________________________

Temperature (˚C)
Initial
Temp
2 min
4 min
6 min
8 min
10 min
12 min
14 min
16 min
18 min
20 min
Soil or Sand

Water