Description: For the outdoor classroom, this was one of the first labs that was assigned to us. For this project, we needed to design a device that uses solar energy to heat water. we needed to use plastic tubing, soft copper tubing, a water container, aluminum foil, cardboard, and plastic sheeting to create the hot water heater. For our design, we started with a water bottle that was connected to plastic tubing. The plastic tubing then connected to the copper tubing which was then twisted through a cardboard box, with plastic sheeting covering the top and aluminum foil and newspaper inside the box. the copper tubing then is connected to another cup, where the water will now be slightly more heated then before.
Results: We then tested the prototype out by circulating water through the system outside, and every five minutes we would take the temperature of the water to see how much the temperature had changed, until it has been twenty minutes. At first, it had seemed as if the prototype was really working, but then we found out that we had been taking the thermometer out too quickly, so the change in temperature appeared bigger then it actually was. We then had to calculate the results by using the formula Q=mcw(change of)T, which is the formula for the designs heat gain. Our heat gain was very high compared to the other designs; ours being 6,279 Joules while others where under 2,000. we had some mistakes along the way, such as having a leak in one of the water containsers, and the newspaper blocking some of the light, but otherwise, our design was very successful. I would say that this experiment was successful, and we learned more about how a simple design can actually make an impact on heating water.