Heat Transfer Lab Physics II Lab 02

Chase Borden

Abstract: In this lab we calculated the specific heat capacity of a specific metal. Pretending we dont know which type of metal being tested, we put the testing metal in boiling water for ten minutes to get the metal to the same temperature of the water (100C). Once the metal reached to right temperature, we moved it into a cup filled with room temperature water just enough to cover the metal in order to produce more accurate results. We recorded the starting water temperature and calculated the temperature change in the water after adding the unknown metal. Using the masses of the metal and room temperature water, the specific heat capacity of water (4190), and the changes in temperature of the water and the metal, we could find out the specific unit of heat capacity of our unknown metal. Our result could confirm which metal we were using through out the experiment. Introduction: The work in this experiment explains how the transfer of heat works and explains the process in order to find the specific heat capacity of a certain metal. Precise measurements are extremely important, especially when recording temperatures of the water. This lab is an easy way to show how masses of different objects and their temperatures can determine their specific heat capacity and the final temperature when the metal and water reach equilibrium. Data: First, we measured the mass and temperature of the room temperature water, then measured the temperature of the boiling water and the mass of the metal we used. MWATER= 41.9 grams MMETAL= 32.2 grams TWATER= 21.8 C= 294.8 K TBOIL= 98 C= 371 K

We knew that the specific heat of water (CWATER) was 4190 J/kgK. Once the metal heated up to the temperature of the boiling water, we placed the metal in the cup of room temperature water and recorded the equilibrium temperature once the water and metal were mixed. Tf WATER= 31 C= 304 K Then, in order to find the specific heat capacity of our metal, we put all of our known values into the equation McT=-McT => Q=-Q (MWATER)( 4190)(304-294.8)=-( MMETAL)(CMETAL)(304-371) CMETAL= 0.749

Discussion and Conclusion: There was error in our final results because the number we calculated for our heat capacity didnt match the correct value for the specific metal we used. When trying to figure out where the error came from, we suspected that there was too much water in the cup in order to show a significant difference in temperature. With too much water in the cup, it throws off the accuracy of the final temperature because the specific sized metal is only capable of heating up a certain amount of water relative to its size. We did the lab a second time with less water and made sure every measurement was correct. We ended up getting the same results and still didnt have any idea of why it wasnt working correctly. The metal used was a piece of Aluminum and the specific heat capacity for Aluminum is 0.91. We thought that maybe because Aluminum doesnt hold in heat as well as the other metals, during the transfer from boiling to normal water, there was a significant amount of heat loss.