03/04/18 fred 0 0
Measuring the power of a kettle
Developed by Margaux Khalil (École Estienne), Julien Bobroff and Frédéric Bouquet (Laboratoire de Physique des solides, Université Paris-Sud and CNRS). More information and other projects on opentp.fr/en
Level : Easy
1 day
Determining the thermal power of an electrical kettle by measuring the temperature of water with time.
The physic in action
The goal of this project is to follow the temperature of water inside an electrical kettle, and to analyze its evolution with the notions of heat capacity and power.
This project can be made by students working autonomously.
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Arduino
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Thermocouple
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Temperature sensor
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Electrical kettle
Material
You will need a temperature sensor :
- either a thermocouple (with an amplifier stage, such as MAX31855 from Adafruit or similar);
- or a water-compatible temperature sensor, such as the Grove 101990019.
Temperature reading
Install the proper library and check that you can use your temperature sensor and transfer its readings to your computer.
Measurements
Measure the temperature of water when the kettle is on. Define a protocol so that your measurements are more precise.
Analyzis
With your measurements, you can:
- determine the power of your kettle (if you know the volume of water and its heat capacity);
- determine the heat capacity of a kilogram of water (if you know the volume of water and the electrical power of your kettle).
Compare your result with the specification of your kettle.
What are the hypothesis that were made in order to obtain this result?
Bonus
Test the reproducibility of your setup by measuring the power using different water quantities.
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