Materials · Thermal Properties
Thermal Conductivity Comparison
Intermediate 3 weeks 20-25 hours
Build a heat flow rig with temperature sensors and measure how well aluminum, copper, steel, acrylic, and wood conduct heat.
Major
Materials
Focus area
Thermal Properties
Total hours
20-25 hours
What you'll need
- DS18B20 waterproof digital temperature sensor probe 5 pack
- 12V heating element pad film
- Arduino Uno R3 ATmega328P microcontroller board
- aluminum copper and steel flat bar samples
- foam insulation board
- 12V 2A DC power supply adapter
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Steps
- Cut samples of each material to the same size.
- Build an insulated rig with the heater on one end of the sample and temperature probes along its length.
- Program the Arduino to log every probe once per second.
- Heat each sample until temperatures stop changing and record the gradient.
- Calculate thermal conductivity with Fourier's law and compare to published values.
- Chart the results and document the rig for your portfolio.
What to photograph for your portfolio
- Rig setup
- sensor placement
- temperature over time curves
- measured vs published values
Resume bullet starters
Copy one, then swap in your own numbers.
Built an Arduino heat flow rig and measured thermal conductivity for [X] materials
Compared measured values to published data with an average error of [X]%
Quantified results with [insert your result, such as hardness change, strength, efficiency, or error vs published values] and summarized findings in a technical report
Skills you'll show off
Heat transferthermal propertiessensor integrationdata loggingerror analysis