Baroclinic Instability

The thermal conductivity of glass

The clear cylindrical water tank is actually a sliced off section of a beaker. Compared to metals, glass has thermal conductivity of 2 factors less (but still conducts heat better than water.) In this experiment, there is around a 3 degree gap between the inner and outer walls of glass 3mm thick. The problem is just how much effect this temperature gap has on the experiment at hand, but it would appear that at the very least there is negligible effect on the qualitative results of the experiment.

 

The thermal conductivity of metals

Metals have high thermal conductivity, but even then, it is quite difficult to transfer a few tens of watts of heat in a narrow area. In this experiment, a drop of a few degrees in temperature in the cooled section of the aluminium rod is unavoidable.

 

Neutral flotation

Creating neutral flotation matched to the specific gravity of water is extremely difficult. It is easiest to use a float slightly (1.0-1.1 g/cm³) heavier than the water, and change the specific gravity of the fluid with salt to match the float instead.