Practical Biology Course – Heat LossThe purpose of this exercise is to find out to what extent the surface area to volume ratio of an object influences the rate of heat loss from the object. Hypothesis: as the ratio between As the surface area relative to the volume of an object decreases, the rate of heat loss from the object also decreases. Objects with the same surface area to volume ratio lose heat at the same rate as long as no other variables are involved. Basic Knowledge: The surface area to volume ratio of an object is determined by dividing the surface area by the volume and putting it in a ratio of one. For example, a balloon with a volume of 200 cm3 and a surface area of ​​160 cm2 will have a surface/volume ratio of: 160 ---- : 1 = 1.25 : 1200 Objects that do not have the same size but have the same surface area ratios area/volume lose heat at the same rate. Thus a balloon, with a volume of 200 cm3 with a surface area of ​​160 cm2 and a surface area to volume ratio of 1.25:1, will lose heat at the same rate as a similar balloon of volume 625 and a surface area of ​​500 which also has a surface/volume ratio of 1.25:1. However, generally when you increase the size of an object the surface area to volume ratio decreases so in this example it is very likely that the two containers in question have different shapes. In this experiment the two containers that will be used will have different surface area to volume ratios as follows: 100 cm3 flask: volume = 100, surface area = 115. Surface area/volume ratio =115----: 1 = 1, 15 : 1100500 cm3 balloon: volume = 500, surface area = 330. Surface area Volume ratio =330---- : 1 = 0.66 : 1500A As can be seen the ratio is lower in the 500 cm3 balloon. This means that the heat loss rate should be less than that of the 100 cm3 flask. Heat is lost through three different processes:* Conduction* Convection* Radiation.. Conduction is the process by which heat is transferred from one solid to another. When a solid is heated the molecules inside it, which are normally almost static, begin to vibrate. When another solid is brought into contact with the heated solid, the energy of the vibrating molecules at the edge of the heated solid is transferred to the outer molecules of the other solid.