COMPARISON OF HEAT RETENTION IN FRESH WATER AND SALT WATER SAMPLES

A.S. Ogungbe1*, C.O. Ogabi1and A.A. Alabi2
Page No. 36-42

Heat retention in salt water and fresh water was compared with a view to identifying the one that is
best at retaining heat. To achieve this, 150 ml and 100 ml of distilled water at room temperature
(29oC) were heated separately to 100 oC (boiling point). Measured values (5g, 10g and 15g) of
table salt were each added to 100 ml and 150 ml of distilled water to reach a level of salinity and
the solution was heated to boiling point. A cooling system was set up to continuously mix the
solution during cooling process to maintain uniform temperature and mercury-in-glass
thermometer was used to record the temperature drop at every 10 minutes interval. The graphs of
the temperature against time were plotted using Matlab to obtain the cooling rate. The results
showed that the salt water has the capacity to retain more heat than the fresh water, and the
concentration of salt in salt solution also determines the heat retention ability.
Keywords: heat retention; fresh water; salt water; salinity; temperature; concentration.