Evaluating my experiment; kettle water boiling efficiency

[Omar H]

Homework Statement

Evaluate the experiment below, identifying energy loss and errors, and access their effect on the efficiency?

The experiment was 'Determining the efficiency of energy conversion of boiling water in an electric kettle'.

The method/system -

1. Weigh accurately 1000g of water and pour into the kettle provided.
2. Switch on to boil and start the timer. Time how long it takes for the water to boil and record your result.

I calculated the amount of energy used to make the water boil to be -334.4 KJ.

I calculated the 'efficiency' of energy inter-conversion of the system to be 77.4%.

I used 2 other kettles as well and i got different efficiency now i would like to evaluate them, I would like to know what happens to the energy during the procedure .

 

[gneill]

Hi Omar H, Welcome to Physics Forums!

You need to show what you've done so far, explain what you've tried and/or thought of. All sections of the formatting template should be filled out.

What kind of measuring equipment did you use? What kind of accuracy do you think you were able to attain while using it?

How did you determine when boiling started? How accurate was the determination? Was it equally easy to tell for each of the kettles?

What method did you use to evaluate the efficiency? What formulas were involved? Can you share some of the data and calculations?