Keep the Heat B/Thermodynamics C

[Schrodingerscat]

Yeah, other than feeling a little heat rising out of the opening, my team's device does feel cool to the touch everywhere else on the exterior.

[foreverphysics]

There's not much heat leaking out of my box, not even really at the top. I mean, it's there if you really, really look for it, but it's not noticeable at all, quite honestly.

[matt1014]

Does anyone know if sawdust is permissible?
I didn't buy it or anything, just used the dust left over from my sounds of music xylophone

[chalker]

Does anyone know if sawdust is permissible?
I didn't buy it or anything, just used the dust left over from my sounds of music xylophone

Sawdust would seem to me to fit in the 'wood' category and thus be allowed.

[catchingfire]

On the Thermodynamics Powerpoint that was in the Physics/Chemistry CD from the Science Olympiad store, it mentioned that you could plug the 1.5cm hole. However, the rule page says the hole must be open at all times. Is it true you can plug it?

-catchingfire
Division B

[Julian]

On the Thermodynamics Powerpoint that was in the Physics/Chemistry CD from the Science Olympiad store, it mentioned that you could plug the 1.5cm hole. However, the rule page says the hole must be open at all times. Is it true you can plug it?

-catchingfire
Division B

Not an official clarification of course, but I believe the rulebook trumps the CD's statement. In any case, most competitions use Vernier probes, which fit snugly into the 1.5 cm hole, effectively acting as a plug by themselves.

[chalker]

Not an official clarification of course, but I believe the rulebook trumps the CD's statement. In any case, most competitions use Vernier probes, which fit snugly into the 1.5 cm hole, effectively acting as a plug by themselves.

The printed rules are always the final word. The powerpoint on the CD was based upon an early draft of the rules.

Regarding the Vernier probes, I suspect the majority of competitions do NOT use them.. very few schools have the resources available to purchase enough of them.

[Julian]

Ah, this is news to me. At the invitationals my team has been to so far, they have both used the Vernier probes in the judging, and I figured from the previous discussions that other schools were using them as well. We've been testing with Vernier probes at home, but we'll try it the old fashion way in case they revert to it at Regionals. Baring technical difficulties, can we safely assume that the ES will be using Vernier probes at Nationals?

[foreverphysics]

We won KtH today. The temperature dropped to 53.5 degrees (exactly our predicted) after 25 minutes with a starting temp of 74 degrees. Room temperature was standard 20.0 degrees. 100 mL of water.
The test was stupid easy. 10 questions. All multiple choice. The hardest question there?
"Why is heat spontaneously flowing from a cold material to a hot material impossible?" Then they gave us four choices: a) first law of thermodynamics, b) law of conservation of energy, c) second law of thermodynamics, and d) fourth law of thermodynamics.
/facepalm

[chalker]

Baring technical difficulties, can we safely assume that the ES will be using Vernier probes at Nationals?

I think that's a good bet.. but don't assume they'll leave them in the whole time.