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SpecificHeatLabv6

Dr.BreinanChemistry

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SpecificHeatofaMetal
Background:Theamountofheatenergythatisrequiredtoraisethetemperatureofonegramofa
substancebyonedegreeCelsiusiscalledthespecificheatcapacity,orsimplythespecificheat,of
thatsubstance.Thesymbolforspecificheatisalowercasec.Youshouldmemorizethe
specificheatofwater...itisdefinedtobeexactly1.00cal/gCor,usingjoules,4.18J/gC.Each
substancehasitsowncharacteristicspecificheat.
Thespecificheatofanobjectisonefactorindetermininghowmuchheatmustbeabsorbedor
releasedwhenthetemperatureofasamplechanges.Themassofthesampleandthemagnitudeof
thetemperaturechangearealsoimportant.Themainequationtouseinsolvingheatproblemsfora
givenobjectstatesthefollowing(giveninbothwordsandsymbols).NOTE...allofthesequantities
mustrefertothesamesubstance.Ifmorethanonesubstanceisgainingorlosingheat,aseparate
equationmustbewrittenforeachsomethingthatyouwilldointhelab!
heatlostorgained=massspecificheatchangeintemperature
bysampleofsampleofsampleofsample
Q=mcT
Temperaturechangecanbefoundbysubtractingtheinitialandfinaltemperaturesofasample.
Inscience,achangeinavalueisshownbytheGreekletterdelta().Forexample,thechangein
temperatureisdefinedasfollows:
T=finaltemperatureinitialtemperature=TfTi.
Acalorimeterisadeviceusedformeasuringchangesinheat.Inthetypeofcalorimeteryou
willuse,ahotsubstanceandacoldsubstancearebroughttogether.Heatisgivenoffbythehot
substanceandgainedbythecoldsubstance.Thecalorimetermustbywellinsulatedsothatnoheat
islosttotheoutsideworld.Inanothertypeofcalorimeter,heatmaybegeneratedbyachemical
reactionandabsorbedbyanothersubstance.Inthislab,youwillmakeasetofcalculationstypical
ofthatusedincalorimeters.
Inthisexperimentyouwilldeterminethespecificheatofanunknownmetal.Themetalwillbe
heatedtoaknowntemperature(100C,ortheboilingpointofwater),thenplacedinastyrofoam
cupthatcontainsaknownamountofwateratroomtemperature.Sincestyrofoamisaninsulator,it
actsasacalorimeter.Heatwillbetransferredfromthehotmetaltothewater,butheatshouldnot
belosttothesurroundings.Youwillobservewhathappenstothetemperatureofthemetalandthe
water.Remember,thatheatisalwaystransferredfromahotsubstancetoacoldsubstanceuntilthe
temperaturesareequal.Therefore,attheendoftheexperiment,themetalandwaterwillbeatthe
sametemperature.Wewillassumethattheheatlostbythemetalwasgainedbythewater.By
knowingthemassofthemetalandthewater,itispossibletocalculatethespecificheatofthe
metal.
Objectives:
Todeterminethespecificheatofametal.
Touseacalorimetertomakecalculationswithheat.
Prelab:(onaseparatesheet)
1.Whatisacalorimeter?Whatwillyoubeusingasacalorimeterinthislab?
2.Identifytheitemsthatwillbegainingandlosingheatinyourcalculations

SpecificHeatLabv6

Dr.BreinanChemistry

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3.Whatisthepurposeofthehotwaterbath?
4.Solvetheheatequationforc,specificheat.
Procedure:
*SAFETY:AlwaysweargoggleswhenworkingwithglassortheBunsenburner.Weargloves
andapronswhenworkingwithhotwater.
Onepartnercanperformstep1and2whileanotherstartstosetupforstep3.
1.Obtainthecorrectamount(listenforteacherinstructions)ofcleananddrymetalshot(pellets)in
asmall(50mL)beakerandmeasurethemass.
2.Carefullytransferthemetaltoadrylargetesttube*.Donotloseanypiecesintheprocess!
Pouringfroma50mLbeakershouldworkwell.Shakethetubegentlysothepelletssettletothe
bottom.
*SAFETY:Pourinslowlyandcarefullysoas
nottobreakthebottomofthetesttube.Tryto
holdthetesttubeatanangle.
3.Prepareawaterbathtoheatthemetal.Start
byaddingabout275mLoftapwatertoa400
mLbeaker.RefertoFigure1forthe
followingsetup:Placethebeakeraboveagas
burnerusingaringstand,ringclamp,andwire
gauze.Positiontheringhighenoughfor
variedflamecontrol.Placeaburet(utility)
clamponthelargetesttubewiththemetal,
thenclampittotheringstandwiththebottom
ofthetesttuberestingjustabovethebottom
ofthebeaker.Adjustthewaterleveltothe
topmarkonthebeaker.Makesurethewater
isatleast1cmabovethemetalshotinsidethe
testtube.Ifnot,adjustthetube.
*SAFETY:Makesurebothendsoftheclampare
secure,butdontovertightenontheglass.The
tubeshouldnotslipsinceyouwillhavetopourthemetalusingtheclamp,butyoudonotwantto
breakthetube.Keepanextrawiregauzearoundforahotmat.
Figure1:Experimentalsetup
4.Lighttheburnerandbringthewaterinthebeakertoasteadyboil.Trynottoboiltooquickly
becauseyourwaterlevelmightdropbelowthemetal.Whileonepersonkeepsaneyeonthe
waterbath,theotherpersonmayperformstep5.Thewatershouldbeleftboilingslowlyfor
about10minutestoallowthemetaltoreachthesametemperatureastheboilingwater.While
waiting,performstep5andreadsteps6to8.Makeanextradatatablethatyouwillhandinatthe
endofthelabandfilloutasmuchasyoucan.
*SAFETY:Beverycarefulwithboilingwaterabovetheburner.Neveradjusttheflameundera
boilingliquid.Pulltheburnerouttoadjustit.Onceboilingstarts,cutbackontheheat.Boiling

SpecificHeatLabv6

Dr.BreinanChemistry

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shouldoccurwithconstant,controlledbubbles.Iftheliquidboilsover,turnoffthegasandwait
untilitstopsboilingoverbeforerelightingtheburner.
5.Obtainasmallstyrofoamcuptoactasacalorimeterandplacethecupina400mLbeakerto
stabilizeit.Measureoutbetween70and75mLoftapwaterinagraduatedcylinderandrecord
theexactvolumeinthedatatable.
*SAFETY:neverletathermometerrestaloneinasmallbeakerorcupthatmighttipover.
6.Afterthewaterbathhasboiledforabout8minutes,pourthe70orsomLofwaterfromthe
graduatedcylinderintothestyrofoamcupandrecorditstemperature.Oncestarted,thesteps
throughandincludingstep9mustbeperformedquicklyinsuccessionbutcarefully.Read
throughbeforestarting:
7.SHUTOFFTHEBURNERforsafety!Thenputthethermometerintotheboiling(ornear
boiling)waterandrecorditstemperatureaswell.Themetalshouldbeatthissametemperature.
8.Coolthethermometertoroomtemperaturebyrunningitundercoldwaterforabout10seconds
andpreparetoperformthekeystep.Onepartnerwillkeepthethermometerreadywhiletheother
partnerperformsstep9.
9.Keeptheclamponthetesttubeandremovetheclamp(theclampisstillholdingthetube)from
thebathandringstandbyraisingitofftheringstand.Useyourgloves,NOThothands!
*SAFETY:Becareful!Donottipoverthewaterbathintheprocess!!Theapparatusandglass
arestillveryhot!Afteryoucompleteallofstep9,usehothandstoremovethebeakercarefully.
Quicklypourthemetalshotintothecalorimeter.Ifthemetalsticksinthetube,sharplytapthe
clamportesttubeontherimorinsideofthestyrofoamcup(nevertapatesttubeormetalclamp
onglass!)togetthemetaloutasquicklyaspossible.Immediatelyputthethermometerinand
holdthethermometerabovethemetalinthemiddleofthewater.
Watchingthetemperatureconstantly,givethecalorimeteraquickswirlwithoutspillingany
water.Youmustrecordthemaximumtemperature.Themaximumtemperatureshouldbe
reachedwithinroughly15seconds,butyoushouldgountilyouaresureitisnolongerrising!
10.Cleanup:Becarefulofhotitems.Pourthehotwaterdownthesink.Spreadtheshottodryon
thepapertowellaidoutinthecollectionarea.Giveyourinstructoracopyofyourdata(youwill
notgetitback).
DatatableCopythistableontoyourreport.
massofmetal
volumeofwaterincalorimeter
initialtemperatureofwaterin
calorimeter
temperatureofboilingwater
maximumtemperatureofmetal
andwaterincalorimeter
CALCULATIONS.(Remembertoalwaysshowallworkincalculationsclearly!Also...reminder
tousesigfigsinlabsandshowallunits!)
Makeatablelikethefollowinginyourwriteupasyouperformthesesteps.

SpecificHeatLabv6

Dr.BreinanChemistry

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Reviseddataandcalculations(donothandinthisonemakeoneonyourwriteupsheet)
metal
calorimeterwater
mass
initialtemperature
finaltemperature
T
heatchange,Q
1.Calculatethemassofthewater.Remember...thedensityofwateris1.00g/mL.Copythemass
ofmetalfromtheDatatable.
2.Fillintheinitialandfinaltemperaturesforboththemetalandthewater.Theinitial
temperaturesarethosejustbeforetheywerepouredtogether.Thefinaltemperatureforboth
occurredwhenthemaximumtemperaturereadingfromthecalorimeterwastaken.
3.Calculatethetemperaturechangeforthemetal(Tm)andforthewater(Tw)inthecalorimeter.
Notehowasubscriptisusedtoclearlyshowwhetheryourcalculationappliestometalorwater.
4.Calculatetheheatgainedbythewaterinthecalorimeter,Qw.Usetheinformationgiveninthe
introduction.UseJoulesforyourunitofheat.
5.Assumingtheheatgainedbythewaterwaslostbythemetal,whatsimplerelationholdsforQw
andQm,theheatlostbythemetal.
6.Rearrangetheheatequationandsolveforthevalueofcm,thespecificheatofthemetal.
7.Usingtheacceptedvaluesprovidedbyyourteacher,calculatethepercenterrorofyourresults.
Onefinalreminder:calculatepercenterrorasfollows...

%error =

(experimentalvalue acceptedvalue)
x100%
acceptedvalue

Questions:Usecompletesentences
8.Lookupthespecificheatsofthesesubstancesandanswerthefollowingquestions:
Ice,water,steam,gold,iron,ethanol(grainalcohol)
a)Whichhasthehighestspecificheat?
b)Doallofthestatesofwaterhavethesamevalue?
c)Dometalsseemtohavehighorlowspecificheat?
9.Whattwomaterialsexchangedtheheatthatwasmeasuredinthislab?Whichmaterialhadthe
higherspecificheat?Whichunderwentagreaterchangeintemperature?Doesitseemlikeitis
harderoreasiertochangethetemperatureofanobjectwithahighspecificheat?
10.Explainwhetheranobjectwithahighspecificheatisgoodorbadatstoringheatenergy.Iftwo
differentmetalswereusedinthelab,whichonedoyouthinkisbetteratstoringheatenergy?
11.Whatweresomesourcesoferrorinyourexperiment?Inotherwords,whatdidyouassumethat
mightnotbetrue?Whywouldyouexpectyouranswertobeoffalittleevenifyouusedgood
experimentaltechnique?
12.Aretwodifferentsubstancespickedatrandomlikelytohavethesamespecificheat?Whyor
whynot?
13.Whywasthethermometerusedinthehotwaterbathcooledtoroomtemperaturebeforebeing
putinthecalorimeter(step7).

SpecificHeatLabv6

Dr.BreinanChemistry

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ExtraCredit:Explainhowthesourcesoferrorchangetheresults.Beveryspecific.Stateclearly
yourreasoningandtellwhethermakingthoseerrorsresultsinahigherorlowerexperimental
answercomparedtheacceptedvaluethatyoushouldget.

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