Cubes Under Heat: Heat Retention In Relation To Mass

Abstract

Mass can affect an organism’s heat retention in warm and cold climates. The goal was to answer the question; to what degree does mass affect the heat retention in an organism? Previous work in this field has focused on surface area to volume ratio, while we wanted to explore the effect of mass on heat retention.  To answer the question we tested how two cubes of clay of different masses retained their temperature. To test this we heated the cubes for ten minutes, and then recorded their temperature after being removed from the heat for ten minutes at two minute intervals. The impacts of our research could determine why organisms survive in climates where others do not.