Diary Entry - April

April saw the students undertake heat transfer experiments on small scale metal plates, to simulate a radiator in the home. Materials for the plates were selected by the students, based on previous conductivity testing. Students assessed the performance of various different designs (including changing the geometry of the plate and modifying the surface texture) by recording the temperature of the air in front of the plate after 5 minutes of heating.

The pupils were made aware of the external factors which may have influenced the small scale tests, such as variations in paint thickness but found that matt black paint on the front and back of the plate emitted heat far more effectively than other designs. Leading on from this activity, the students were shown how to design a miniature heat exchanger suitable for heating their model eco homes. Consideration was again given to geometry and the likely structural strength that would be required in full scale heat exchangers which are normally buried deep underground.

During science and engineering week, Grant Gibson, Rolls-Royce Science Prize mentor gave a workshop on aerodynamics. Pupils learnt about the importance of aerodynamics in the jet engine, how wings work and the way in which aerodynamics has changed the world around us. As part of the workshop, the students were tasked with building mini air canons from McDonald’s cups and had lots of fun firing smoke rings at each other and the staff !

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