Purpose:

Now we have some data from the cooling of a cup of hot water in a coffee mug. We have also explored how to fit various mathematical descriptions to that data. This lab is about taking a phsyics model for the process and seeking to extract meaning from the data.

Procedure:

For this lab you may need all your data logger equipment to gather some new data. In particular I would like your data set for this lab to be from a ceramic 'coffee' mug as opposed to any other type of mug. After that the work is in the Jupyterlab notebook.

i) Gather new data: Same experiment as the previous lab but given our explorations in the previous lab it may be apparent that we need a longer data set to be able to distinguish between the various models. This time get 90 min of data from a cooling ceramic mug of hot water with an insulating lid. If you have the time you can get a similar data set with no lid on the cup which we will need for a future lab.

ii) Analysis: The Jupyter notebook linked here will provide the context and tools for your analysis. There is a lot to read in the notebook which goes through the basics the thermal conductivity AND the solution to the differential equation. When yourJupyter notebook is complete you will have determined the thermal performance constant for your mug along with the various physical parameters of your mug.

iii) Sharing: Post your result for the thermal perfomance constant and the physical data for your mug to the discussion board on Bb (in Week 9). Once there are at least 10 results on the discussion board calculate the average of those constants and the variability (remember that?) and report them in a final markdown cell in your notebook. In that cell describe whether the data suggests that this thermal constant is consistent across different experiments or seems highly variable. Describe what you expect see in the data when we redo the experiment in the future without the insulating lid on the cup and what it might tell us.

iv) Bonus Round: It is an interesting question whether the thermal performance constant you found in the previous part of the lab is constant for all ceramic coffee mugs. To address this question gather another set of data from a much larger or smaller ceramic coffee mug and repeat the analysis. Another Bonus effort would involve creating a histogram of the thermal performance constants reported in the discussion folder (from a notebook from PH211).

LAB DELIVERABLES:

I) Turn in the pdf of your Jupyter notebook showing your data as well as all the analyses and conclusions.

II) Remember to report your results for the thermal performance constant and the physical data for your mug on the Bb discussion folder.