How Does the Surface Area to Volume Ratio Affect Heat Loss in Organisms?
Biology Lab Report
BY:
Michael Ryan Pranata 11C |
Background: As heat is a form of thermal energy, they tend to have the behavior of reaching a thermal equilibrium. This means that when two bodies of different temperatures come in contact with each other, the hotter ones will transfer heat particles to the body with a colder temperature, with an aim to reach this “thermal equilibrium”, whatever the temperature may be. The larger the surface area, means there can be more “paths” from the sides of the body that are capable of releasing this heat particles, and reaching thermal equilibrium faster. This is what happens when a hotter body is subjected to a colder one.
Research Question:
How does the surface area to volume ratio affect heat loss in organisms?
Hypothesis:
I hypothesize that the larger the surface area to volume ratio, the more heat will be lost and vice versa. In this experiment, there will be a series of sizes of round bottom flasks, each having a different surface area to volume ratio. The smallest round bottom flask will have the biggest surface area to volume ratio, therefore the heat loss in that particular flask will be most, whereas the biggest flask will have the least surface area to volume ratio, therefore heat loss will be the least.
The reason behind the difference in rate of heat loss can be explained by the fact that the surface area to volume ratio indicates the surface area, a particular unit volume has. This, in other words, states that in comparison to the content, the surface in contact with the outside is comparatively greater. Therefore, this can also be interpreted in a way to explain the rate of heat loss. Since more particles of water are able to contact the outer atmosphere, more heat is lost simultaneously, which results in a faster heat loss.
Variables:
Independent: Surface area to volume ratio On the basis of this experiment, this is the independent variable because the experiment desires to see the
BY:
Michael Ryan Pranata 11C |
Background: As heat is a form of thermal energy, they tend to have the behavior of reaching a thermal equilibrium. This means that when two bodies of different temperatures come in contact with each other, the hotter ones will transfer heat particles to the body with a colder temperature, with an aim to reach this “thermal equilibrium”, whatever the temperature may be. The larger the surface area, means there can be more “paths” from the sides of the body that are capable of releasing this heat particles, and reaching thermal equilibrium faster. This is what happens when a hotter body is subjected to a colder one.
Research Question:
How does the surface area to volume ratio affect heat loss in organisms?
Hypothesis:
I hypothesize that the larger the surface area to volume ratio, the more heat will be lost and vice versa. In this experiment, there will be a series of sizes of round bottom flasks, each having a different surface area to volume ratio. The smallest round bottom flask will have the biggest surface area to volume ratio, therefore the heat loss in that particular flask will be most, whereas the biggest flask will have the least surface area to volume ratio, therefore heat loss will be the least.
The reason behind the difference in rate of heat loss can be explained by the fact that the surface area to volume ratio indicates the surface area, a particular unit volume has. This, in other words, states that in comparison to the content, the surface in contact with the outside is comparatively greater. Therefore, this can also be interpreted in a way to explain the rate of heat loss. Since more particles of water are able to contact the outer atmosphere, more heat is lost simultaneously, which results in a faster heat loss.
Variables:
Independent: Surface area to volume ratio On the basis of this experiment, this is the independent variable because the experiment desires to see the