Coffee Cup Experiment

For our group project, we’ll be testing how well three different cups filled with hot coffee (i.e. styrofoam, plastic, or paper) insulate heat.  We are interested in seeing which cup material will insulate the heat the best and the longest.  This experiment relates to energy efficiency because having a container that insulates heat best will reduce the amount of heat energy lost.  Since energy cannot be created or destroyed, the goal of our experiment will be to see which material can best save energy and retain the heat inside of the cup.  In addition, the results from our experiment will be greatly beneficial for coffee shop owners who are always looking for ways to improve their costs and efficiency.  However, our group is also interested in the environmental cost factor.  For instance, styrofoam cups are less expensive to produce than are plastic travel mugs, but they also have a greater negative effect on the environment than a reusable plastic travel mug.

Materials: 3 cups: 1 styrofoam, 1 plastic, and 1 paper;  hot water;  3 temperature probes;  timer.

Objective: We want to see which cup material will best insulate the heat from the hot water for the longest time.  We also want to know which cup material will have a less negative effect on the environment.

Hypothesis: We think that the styrofoam cup will retain the heat the longest.  However, we think that the styrofoam cup will have more of a negative effect on the environment than the recyclable paper cups or the reusable plastic mugs.