Thermodynamics B/C

[Tesel]

Personal opinion-- Silvered mylar would work a lot more efficiently. Think of coffee bags for stiffer material and some chip bags for thinner material.

For the foam question- Why not us a can of spray insulating foam from any big box store. A lot simpler to use and very probably cheaper..
If you want it to touch the beaker, spray the beaker with cooking spray or WD-40. The cooking spray is a lot easier to clean up.

Yep, agreed on both counts. I did some looking for polyurethane foam at home, where not everything is blocked on the wifi. I'll probably pick some up at Home Depot and have it ready for this Saturday.

[Tesel]

Unless there are any huge flaws in my plan, here's my design for my competition this Saturday:
- Foam core box for stability
- Reflective mylar lining for heat radiation
- Polyurethane spray for heat convection
- Plastic beakers

From my limited understanding, it should be fine but not spectacular. If it works, I'll post a couple pictures. I got all my info and ideas from this thread, so I don't have any problem sharing the results of those ideas. Cheers!

[Alex-RCHS]

Unless there are any huge flaws in my plan, here's my design for my competition this Saturday:
- Foam core box for stability
- Reflective mylar lining for heat radiation
- Polyurethane spray for heat convection
- Plastic beakers

From my limited understanding, it should be fine but not spectacular. If it works, I'll post a couple pictures. I got all my info and ideas from this thread, so I don't have any problem sharing the results of those ideas. Cheers!

Sounds like a good plan to me. Good luck!

What type of plastic are your beakers made of?

[Tesel]

Unless there are any huge flaws in my plan, here's my design for my competition this Saturday:
- Foam core box for stability
- Reflective mylar lining for heat radiation
- Polyurethane spray for heat convection
- Plastic beakers

From my limited understanding, it should be fine but not spectacular. If it works, I'll post a couple pictures. I got all my info and ideas from this thread, so I don't have any problem sharing the results of those ideas. Cheers!

Sounds like a good plan to me. Good luck!

What type of plastic are your beakers made of?

I believe they're polystyrene, but I'm having trouble finding the link to confirm.

[Alex-RCHS]

Unless there are any huge flaws in my plan, here's my design for my competition this Saturday:
- Foam core box for stability
- Reflective mylar lining for heat radiation
- Polyurethane spray for heat convection
- Plastic beakers

From my limited understanding, it should be fine but not spectacular. If it works, I'll post a couple pictures. I got all my info and ideas from this thread, so I don't have any problem sharing the results of those ideas. Cheers!

Sounds like a good plan to me. Good luck!

What type of plastic are your beakers made of?

I believe they're polystyrene, but I'm having trouble finding the link to confirm.

Interesting. I wasn’t able to find any polystyrene beakers.

[pikachu4919]

Sounds like a good plan to me. Good luck!

What type of plastic are your beakers made of?

I believe they're polystyrene, but I'm having trouble finding the link to confirm.

Interesting. I wasn’t able to find any polystyrene beakers.

I don’t think plastic beakers can be made out of PS, honestly. If I had to make a guess, the most likely case is that they’re made of HDPE or PETE, maybe a chance it could be made of PC but more likely one of the other two

[SPP SciO]

Can anyone clarify rule 3e - specifically, "The top surface of the hole must be less than 12 cm above the inside bottom surface of the beaker" ?

A 250mL beaker is almost 10cm tall, so to be within 12cm of the bottom means the "lid" of the device is necessarily very thin, yes? Or am I misreading this? Was looking at a prototype which had the beaker situated in the middle of a 20cm cube, but after re-reading this rule I don't think it would be allowed... Are there any diagrams posted somewhere?

[pikachu4919]

Sounds like a good plan to me. Good luck!

What type of plastic are your beakers made of?

I believe they're polystyrene, but I'm having trouble finding the link to confirm.

Interesting. I wasn’t able to find any polystyrene beakers.

I don’t think plastic beakers can be made of polystyrene (for one, they’d be done if you tried to put acetone in them). If I had to make a guess based on what I know about polymers from Forensics, the most likely case is that they’re made from high density polyethylene or polyethylene terephthalate. Polycarbonate is also possible, but less so than one of the other two.

[Tesel]

I believe they're polystyrene, but I'm having trouble finding the link to confirm.

Interesting. I wasn’t able to find any polystyrene beakers.

I don’t think plastic beakers can be made of polystyrene (for one, they’d be done if you tried to put acetone in them). If I had to make a guess based on what I know about polymers from Forensics, the most likely case is that they’re made from high density polyethylene or polyethylene terephthalate. Polycarbonate is also possible, but less so than one of the other two.

Yeah, I was wrong. The beakers I got had no official specs with regards to material, so your guess is as good as mine. I saw polystyrene when I was looking at something else, and I'm struggling to remember what.

[pikachu4919]

Interesting. I wasn’t able to find any polystyrene beakers.

I don’t think plastic beakers can be made of polystyrene (for one, they’d be done if you tried to put acetone in them). If I had to make a guess based on what I know about polymers from Forensics, the most likely case is that they’re made from high density polyethylene or polyethylene terephthalate. Polycarbonate is also possible, but less so than one of the other two.

Yeah, I was wrong. The beakers I got had no official specs with regards to material, so your guess is as good as mine. I saw polystyrene when I was looking at something else, and I'm struggling to remember what.

Did it have a recycling number on it?