How the Temperature of Water Affects the Rate of Change in Temperature of Concrete

The purpose of this experiment was to determine how running different temperatures of water through pipes in a block of concrete would affect the rate of change in temperature of the core and the surface of the concrete, as a simulation of the application of geothermal energy on roads in the winter. It was hypothesized that as the temperature of water increased, the rate of change in temperature of the concrete would also increase. The experiment was done to prove whether or not geothermal energy would be a good source of heat to melt ice on icy roads as opposed to rock salt, which causes potholes.

The experiment was set up by pouring concrete into a wooden mold and running copper pipes through it. The copper pipes were attached to a hot water pump and a pot of boiling water on a hot plate. The temperature was controlled through the hot plate, and the change in temperature of the concrete was recorded through a Vernier LabQuest using Vernier temperature probes.

Four two-sample t-tests were carried out to analyze the data. Three of the tests revealed that there was a significantly greater rate of change in temperature of the concrete for hotter water temperatures. The one test yielded a p-value of 0.0645, which was the only p-value that was greater than the alpha level of 0.05. That being said, the data showed that the rates were still higher, just not enough to be deemed statistically significant. The hypothesis that hotter temperatures of water would yield a greater rate of change in temperature of the concrete was therefore accepted.

Research Conducted By:

Andrew Damiani
South Lake High School

Brendan Nowakowski
Lake Shore High School

 

 

 

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