Experiment 202

SPECIFIC HEAT

LAST NAME, F.N. M.I.:

Student No. Program/Year:

PHY105L/Section: Group No.

Date of Performance:

Date of Submission:

GRADING RUBRICS

Grade Components POINTS SCORE

Data Tables and Graphs 20

Sample Computations 5

Guide Questions 10

Analysis 10

Conclusion 10

Presentation 5

Group Report Grade 40

TOTAL 100

Instructor/Professor

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 EXPERIMENT NO. 202 Specific Heat

INTRODUCTION

Heat refers to energy transferred from one body or substance to another in physical
contact with each other as a consequence of temperature difference. The transfer of heat can
cause a substance to undergo a change in temperature and or a change in phase. The amount
of heat involved if there is change in temperature is directly proportional to the product of the
mass and amount of change in temperature. It also depends on the nature of the material. Heat
is expressed in calories in the CGS system and British Thermal Unit or BTU in the FPS system
but Joule is the basic unit for all forms of energy. Conversion: 1 calorie = 4.186 J

This experiment will demonstrate a change in temperature upon mixing the substances in a
calorimeter.
Students will be able to determine the specific heat of solid metal.

OBJECTIVES

1. To use the principles of calorimetry, specifically the Law of Heat Exchange, when
combining objects with different temperatures.

2. To use the Law of Heat Exchange in determining the specific heat of solid metal.

MATERIALS

1 pc aluminum or brass solid

1 pc beaker
1 pc electric stove
1 pc extension cord
1 pc thermometer
1 set calorimeter with stirrer
1 pc digital weighing scale
Lo
THEORY at To

L heat quantity using a calorimeter. It

Calorimetry is a method of determining an unknown
utilizes the Law of Heat Exchange. When two or more substances are mixed together in a
at T
calorimeter, heat flows from hotter to colder
L substance. Then the algebraic sum of heat
quantity released or lost by the hotter substance at higher temperature and the heat quantity
The change in length L is the difference of the final length from its initial length as in equation 1.
absorbed or gained by the substance at lower Figure 1
temperature must be zero. In symbols
L  L  Lo (eqn. 1)
QLOSS  QGAINED  0 (eqn. 1)

When temperature of the entire mass of a substance2 change, the heat quantity involve Q is
When temperature of the entire mass of a substance change, the heat quantity involve Q is

Q  mc t
(eqn. 2)

where:
Q = heat in calories, cal
m = mass in grams, g
t = change in temperature in C0
t  t  t o
t = final temperature in 0C
to 0
= initial temperature in C
c = specific heat, cal/(g.Cᵒ)

Specific Heat (c) of a substance is the amount of needed to raise the temperature of a unit mass of
a substance by 1ᵒ.

TABLE 1. Specific Heats of Substances

 cal 
Substance   C
c, hea capacit  g 
specific t y
Aluminum 0.2174
Beryllium 0.4760
Brass 0.0917
Copper 0.0932
ethanol 0.5800
ice 0.5017
iron 0.1123
lead 0.0310
Mercury 0.0329
Salt 0.2100
Silver 0.0560
water 1.000

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PROCEDURE

Determination of Specific Heat of a Solid Metal

1. Fill the beaker with water ¾ full and heat it using the electric stove.

2. Weigh the metal of unknown specific heat and record it as mm

3. Immerse the metal (aluminum or copper) into the beaker with boiling water for
heating by holding the string and make sure that the metal will not touch the beaker.
Boil it for least 20 minutes.

4. Weigh the inner cup of the calorimeter and record it as mass of calorimeter, mc

5. Fill the calorimeter cup with tap water (just enough to submerge the metal completely
when added into it). Weigh the calorimeter containing water and compute for mass of
water by subtracting the mass of calorimeter. Record the mass of water as m w.

6. Prepare the set–up by putting the calorimeter cup into the outer shell. Put the cover
with the stirrer and thermometer.

7. Consider the water to be in thermal equilibrium with the calorimeter. Take the
thermometer’s reading and record it as tw = tc.

8. Get the metal from boiling water and add it immediately into the prepared calorimeter
and cover it. Do not allow the thermometer to be in contact with the metal. Stir gently
and wait for the reading of the thermometer to become stable. Record it as final
temperature of the mixture, tmix. Assume that the initial temperature of the metal, tm
= 100ᵒC as it has come from the boiling water.

9. Formulate the equation in calculating the experimental value of specific heat of the
metal by using eqn. 1
QLOSS (metal )  QGAINED (calorimter & water )  0

10.Calculate experimental value for specific heat using the formulated equation in step #9.

11.See table 1 for the accepted value of specific heat of the metal considering the material used

12.Compare the experimental value with accepted value & compute the percentage error.

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SET UP

Figure 1
GUIDE QUESTIONS

1. When is a system considered to be in thermal equilibrium? When does heat

transfer from one body to another stop?

2. List down 2 sources of error in this experiment and your suggested solutions for these.

Source of Error:

Solution:

Source of Error:

Solution:

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 EXPERIMENT NO. 202 : SPECIFIC HEAT

Name Group No.

Course/Yea Seat No.
r Date
Subject/Section

Determining the Specific Heat of a Metal Specimen

Mass of metal, mm g

Mass of calorimeter, mc g

Mass of water, mw g

Initial temperature of metal, tm C

Initial temperature of calorimeter, tc

C

In initial temperature of water, tw C

Final temperature of mixture, tmix C

Experimental specific heat of metal, cm cal/g-C

Actual specific heat of metal, cm cal/g-C

Percentage Error %

Approved by:

Instructor Date

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ANALYSIS

CONCLUSION