Which Keeps Things Colder - Plastic Wrap Or Aluminum Foil?

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28 Answers

Sarah jessica Profile
Sarah jessica answered
Without any doubt, aluminum foil keeps things colder than plastic wrap. This fact had a very interesting logic behind it. 

Silver foil, or anything silver, keeps things cold as silver as a color does not possess the ability to absorb heat. Black wrapping things manage to absorb heat and so consequently they secure to make the things wrapped inside them warm.
thanked the writer.
Katie
Katie commented
I don't think either one makes much of a difference when it comes to keeping something hot or cold - they are both just too thin to have any measurable effect.

That said...

I think that aluminium foil would be more effective in keeping something cold/hot because:
1. It is thicker. Thickness makes it harder for the outside temperature to penetrate and influence the temperature of the thing.

2. It is made of metal. Metal is a material that holds temperature. It slowly becomes room temperature, while plastic just loses heat/cold.


Get a piece of foil and a piece of plastic that are both the same width and length and at least 1 foot long. Fold each until it is very small but very thick AND the same size as the other. Press each material so that it is as compact and dense as possible (no air bubbles, empty spaces, gap, etc).


For a cold test:
Put both in the freezer at the same time and make sure they are right next to each other. Leave them in for 1 hour or overnight or 30minutes.
Take them out at the same time.
Put them right next to each other and see which one is coldest after 1 or 5 minutes.


For a heat test:
Drop them (at the same time) into a pot of water that was boiled but is now cooling, NOT boiling, (I have no idea if the plastic wrap will melt and stick to the bottom of the pot). Remove both at the same time (using a ladel or a streiner or a seine or seive or salad tongs)
put them right next to each other and see which one is warmest after 1 or 5 minutes
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
Aluminum foil because its molecules are tight that makes it colder than plastic wrap and also because
plastic wrap is transparent which makes heat come through the glass and makes it hotter
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
Aluminum foil  is a metal and metal is good at conducting
[the reason metal is cold is because when you touch it  ,it absorbs your heat energy and it feels cold].

Plastic wrap is what keeps things colder because its surface is very dense which means it can absorb more heat more easier than metal

so the answer is aluminum foil
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
It's aluminum foil. I know this also because I'm doing a science experiment for my school right now.


Aluminum foil is denser than plastic wrap and I think it's a type of metal, which sorta absorbs more cold air from the fridge which keeps the item colder.

Plastic wrap is great to keep food fresh, though!

Katie Profile
Katie answered
I don't think either one makes much of a difference when it comes to keeping something hot or cold - they are both just too thin to have any measurable effect.

That said...

I think that aluminium foil would be more effective in keeping something cold because:
1.  It is thicker.  Thickness makes it harder for the outside temperature to penetrate and influence the temperature of the thing.

2. It is made of metal. Metal is a material that holds temperature. It slowly becomes room temperature, while plastic just loses heat/cold.
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
It would be aluminum foil because aluminum is metal and metal holds temperature!!(temperature the object is;hot or cold)
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
It would be plastic wrap because aluminum foil is probably made of some metal and some metals contain heat
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
I think it would be aluminum foil because of that its metal and if it can make things hot than it can make thing cold
Anonymous Profile
Anonymous answered
Plastic wrap because plastic doesn't conduct heat as well as aluminum foil.  Aluminum foil will help make the food as cold as the fridge faster than plastic wrap.  But once you take the food out of the fridge, food in plastic wrap will keep food cooler than food in aluminum foil because the aluminum foil will absorb heat more quickly than plastic wrap.

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