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In the Laboratory

edited by
filtrates & residues James O. Schreck
University of Northern Colorado
Greeley, CO 80639

Guided Discovery: Law of Specific Heats


Thomas H. Bindel* and John C. Fochi
Pomona High School, 8101 West Pomona Drive, Arvada, CO 80005

The following is a presentation of a laboratory investi- pothesis. Once a hypothesis is established and generally
gation that guides students into discovering the concepts of accepted, it becomes a scientific law.
calorimetry, specific heat capacity, and the law of Dulong
and Petit (1). We are in the process of moving away from Problem
traditional experiments in which a concept is presented in The following broad fundamental problem is proposed
class and then verified in laboratory (2). We believe some to the students for investigation.
experiments should be illustrative of the scientific method. Problem: A hot object in contact with a cooler object will
That is, the main purpose of these experiments is to give transfer energy until the two objects are at the same
students a feeling for “how science is done”. This viewpoint temperature. Is the amount of energy transferred 3 de-
is shared by others: discovery chemistry (3–6), guided in- pendent upon the nature or composition of the material?
quiry laboratory (7), laboratory-driven instruction (8), ex- Students are guided into realizing that the scope of the
perimental design (9, 10), and thinking scientifically (11). problem is too broad for an initial investigation. The
This laboratory investigation has enough structure that problem is refocused to include only metallic elements.
students will be successful in discovery, but not so much The scientific-method process is entered at the “design
that the element of discovery has been lost or greatly di- experiment” step. Students are guided through the experi-
minished. mental design by the following discussion-leading questions.
The guided discovery approach allows the student to
pose a scientific question, prepare and execute an experi- Questions
ment to attempt to answer the question, analyze experimen-
1. How will the energy transfer situation be con-
tal data, and then use the analysis to pose a follow-up sci- structed?
entific question, which leads directly to another connected
experiment. This approach allows the student to make dis- a. What material will be used to accept the heat en-
coveries using scientific methodology in a format that sets ergy from the hot metal? How should the contact be
parameters and keeps the student focused on the central made between the material accepting the heat energy
and the hot metal, in order to insure total and com-
theme. plete energy transfer? [A liquid contact between wa-
ter and metal is desirable.] What other factors should
The Investigation be considered in selecting the material? [Students are
guided into considering factors such as safety, avail-
Before the investigation, students have knowledge of ability, cost, … .]
the scientific method, graphical analysis (can recognize lin-
b. Is the rate of transfer important? [No, but the rate
ear, reciprocal, and power functions from shapes of curves), cannot be so slow that an appreciable amount of heat
and the calorie, and they are able to calculate the amount energy has been lost to the environment.]
of heat energy transferred to a given quantity of water. Stu-
dents do not start with a knowledge of specific heat capac- c. How will we know when energy transfer is com-
plete? [The water temperature will no longer rise.]
ity; instead, it is developed during the investigation. Stu-
dents calculate the amount of heat energy transferred (in 2. What are the variables in the experiment? [The
calories) from the mathematical product of the mass and variables in the experiment are: the nature of
the temperature change of water. We realize that this is the material, the quantity of metal, the quan-
pedagogically incorrect—the specific heat capacity of wa- tity of water, the starting temperature of hot
ter (1 cal g {1 °C{1) should not be ignored in the calculation. metal, and the starting temperature of the wa-
ter. A discussion follows as to the importance of
However, we feel it is all right to give students this “half holding all variables constant except the one to
truth” at this point. It gives them the opportunity to dis- be studied (nature of material).
cover for themselves the concept of specific heat capacity
and to use it correctly in energy-transfer calculations. (See 3. What metals should be used in the investiga-
Analysis 2 and Treatment of Data.) tion?
We use a model of the scientific method1 that is a cy- a. What factors should be considered in selecting the
clic process2 consisting of several steps: making observa- metallic elements? [Students are guided into consid-
tions, gathering data, analysis of data (searching for pat- ering familiarity, cost availability, safety, and water re-
terns), making a proposal or hypothesis as to some cause activity. Copper and aluminum are good choices.]
and effect relationship that would explain the data (a pos- b. What form should the metal be in, a powder, a rod,
sible pattern between two or more variables), and lastly, a wire, etc.? [Students are guided into selecting the
designing another experiment to test the hypothesis. This rod form.]
process can be entered at any step and the cycle can be re- 4. How is the metal to be heated to an elevated
peated as often as needed to formulate or to validate a hy- temperature that can be found accurately?
[Completely submerge the metal in water and
*Author is known by his students as “Captain Carbon”. heat to the boiling point of the water.]

Vol. 74 No. 8 August 1997 • Journal of Chemical Education 955


In the Laboratory

Experiment 1 ume: {.15; atomic weight: {.83; electronegativity: {.58; and


melting point: {.16. A representative graph from each group
The experiment is similar to one reported by one of us
is posted. None of the graphs has a good linear correlation.
(2). Copper and aluminum are tested separately using wa-
However, two of them, atomic weight and atomic number,
ter calorimeters. Aluminum is found to have a higher heat
appear to have good curvilinear correlations, which appear
capacity than copper, if the same masses are used.
to be reciprocal relationships. Density has some curvilinear
Analysis 1 correlation, but not as good as the two mentioned.
The class data are gathered, presented, and discussed. Analysis 4
Cause and effect relationships are proposed to explain the
differences in heat capacity between copper and aluminum. The apparent reciprocal nature is tested. Each student
Students realize that there are many possible causes (color constructs a graph of specific heat capacity (SpH) versus
of the metal, density of the metal, and so on). The large the reciprocal of atomic weight (1/at. wt). Excellent linear
number of possible causes comes from having only two correlation is seen (r = .987, slope = 5.5 cal mole{1 °C{1, and
pieces of data. In other words, anything that is different y-intercept = 0.006 cal g{1 °C{1).6 Further analysis reveals that
about the two metals could correlate with the observed heat the data point corresponding to silicon is out of line with re-
differences. More data are needed. spect to the rest. If this data point is deleted, the correlation
is almost perfect (r = .999, slope = 5.9 cal mole{1 °C{1, and y-
Experiment 2 intercept = 0.002 cal g{1 °C{1). A discussion follows about why
Fourteen other metallic elements are tested in a sec- silicon might deviate from the linear correlation. The corre-
ond experiment, similar to the first.4 At least four or five lation is with metallic elements and not with metalloids.
replicates of each element should be done. The metallic ele- Analysis 5
ments range on the periodic table from magnesium to lead
(see Materials section). However, during the experiment, Students write the equation for the line, eq 1. The y-
unbeknownst to the groups, the quantity of metal supplied intercept is close enough to zero to approximate it as zero,
to them is different for each metal. eq 2. Both sides of the equation are divided by the at. wt, eq
3. Equation 3 is one form of the law of Dulong and Petit in
Analysis 2 which the product of the SpH and at. wt is a constant. 7 Di-
mensional analysis gives eqs 4 and 5.
Students are made aware of the mass differences that
existed between metals. An instructor-guided class discus- SpH = 5.9 × at. wt{1 + 0.002 (1)
sion reveals that the data may still have some meaning if
they are treated in a way that removes the mass differences SpH = 5.9 × at. wt{1 (2)
and temperature differences. SpH * at. wt = 5.9 (3)
Treatment of Data (cal g{1 °C{1)/(g mol {1) = 5.9 (4)
All of the data are treated by dividing the energy the
cal mol{1 °C{1 = 5.9 (5)
metal lost by the mass and the temperature change of the
metal. This gives the amount of energy lost by the metal Equation 5 represents the molar heat capacity. This
per gram of metal, per degree Celsius change in tempera- shows that it is the molar heat capacities that are constant.
ture. This quantity is the specific heat capacity (or just spe- That is, the amount of thermal energy metallic elements
cific heat). At this point the concept of specific heat is dis- absorb or release in energy transfer is independent of the
cussed and the correct equation for calculating heat energy nature of the material. The amount of thermal energy is
is developed (specific heat × mass × change in temperature). dependent only upon the number of atoms present in the
All students calculate the specific heat capacity for their material.
metallic elements. The resulting class data contain a large If one delves further into heat capacities (which is be-
amount of error. A discussion brings out the possible sources yond the scope of this paper), one finds that the law of
of error and the need for a better experimental design. The Dulong and Petit is not a general law for all temperatures.
design and testing of a new or revised experimental method Heat capacities are constant only for moderately high tem-
would be too lengthy and time consuming. It is pointed out peratures (13, 14). As the temperature approaches absolute
that scientists have already done this for us. The published zero, heat capacities approach zero. A couple of theories
specific heat capacity values are then used. 5 have been proposed to explain this behavior. The first was
the Einstein theory; later came the Debye theory, which
Analysis 3 works the best.
It is difficult to find correlations with so much data. It is interesting that minerals have molar heat capaci-
The best way to find correlations is to make graphs of the ties, at or near room temperature, that are representative of
specific heat capacity versus possible causes (variables). The the number of atoms within the material (10).
class is broken down into seven groups. Each group selects
one variable from a list of seven possibilities and constructs Materials
a graph of the specific heat capacity versus the selected
variable. The choice of variables is based on student famil- Team Labs PSLTM can be used in the investigation, but
iarity—or, in the case of thermal conductivity, some appar- is not required.8 One can use the traditional calorimetry
ent connection to heat. The variables are thermal conduc- materials and methods. PSL offers the capability of collect-
tivity (W cm{1 K{1), density (g cm {3), atomic number, atomic ing two sets of data simultaneously. Besides being more ef-
volume (cm3 mole{1), atomic weight (g mole{1), electronega- ficient, this gives the student an immediate visual compari-
tivity (Pauling), and melting point (K).5 son of two metals. Thermos brand “Snak Jars” (15) were
Graphical analyses, linear regression analysis, and cal- used as calorimeters. A 3/16′′ hole was drilled in the lid 3/
culation of Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient (r) are 4′′ from the edge for the PSL temperature probe. Other ma-
conducted. The values of linear correlation are thermal con- terials required are balances, metals, thermometers or tem-
ductivity: .089; density {.79; atomic number: {.83; atomic vol- perature probes, forceps, and beakers (for heating the metals).

956 Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 74 No. 8 August 1997


In the Laboratory

It is desirable to have a piece of metal about 25 g in fore not a general law.


mass and in either rod (stick) or lump form. Wire, strip, foil, By the end of the investigation, students felt they had
sheet, shot, piece, granular, ribbon, chip, flake, mossy, or accomplished something they never had before: they had
powder forms are undesirable. The following are commer- actually “done science”; and they came away with a better
cial suppliers of various metals:9 understanding of how science is conducted. This is not to
say that they had not done science in their previous science
Flinn: Cd, Cr, Fe, Si
classes; however, in most of the curricula, one or more as-
Aldrich: Al, Cd, Cr, Co (pieces), Fe, Pb, Mg, Mn (chips), pects of the scientific method are explored, but rarely, all
Ni, Si, Ag, Sn, Zn, W, Ti together. This method allows students to make discoveries
using scientific methodology in a format that sets param-
Sargent-Welch: Cr, Si, Zn eters for experimental exploration and focuses inquiry on
Some inexpensive sources are, for Al, cut aluminum the central theme.
ring-stand rods (2); for Cu, coinage: U.S. pennies dated be-
fore 1982; for Mg, camping-supply stores; for Fe, washers, Notes
sinkers for fishing; for Ag, a coin dealer: one troy ounce bul-
1. For pedagogical reasons, we present a scientific method
lion; for Sn, split-shot for fishing—attach to nylon fishing for our students, even though it has been argued that a single
line; for Pb, sinkers for fishing. method does not exist (12 ).
We are in the process of incorporating the metallic ele- 2. Perhaps a better term is a “spiral” process, for when the
ments Nb, Bi, and Ta. cycle is complete and comes back on itself, it will be at a higher
level of understanding.
Experimental Procedure 3. Many students confuse rate of transfer with the total
amount transferred. This point must be made clear.
S AFETY NOTE: Cadmium, chromium, and nickel are 4. The cost of the metals could be an issue. One can pur-
listed as carcinogens by the EPA (16). Cadmium is highly chase eleven of the metals (not including Mn, Ni, and W) for un-
toxic and lead has acute human toxicity (16). These materi- der $100. The other three can be purchased for less than $150.
als should never be handled with bare hands. It is recom- We feel that a chemistry program should have samples of most
mended that the handling of these metals should be done of the chemical elements for students to observe. This further jus-
with a pair of forceps. tifies the expenditure required to purchase the metals.
The PSL setup is as follows. 5. The values were obtained from a Sargent–Welch notebook-
Select Experiment: Two Temp vs. Time sized periodic table (1994).
6. If the student-generated specific heat capacity values are
Reset Parameters: used, then r is .92, the slope is 5 cal mole{1 °C{1, and the y-inter-
Duration: 600 s
cept is {0.0005 cal{1 °C{1. If the data point for silicon is omitted,
Ranges of Axes:
then r is .95, the slope is 5.6 cal mole {1 °C{1, and the y-intercept is
Lower: y-min: 20; y-max: 35
Upper: y-min: 20; y-max: 35. -0.007 cal g {1 °C{1.
7. Dulong and Petit found a value of 0.37 for the product,
The metallic elements are heated in boiling water for when the atomic weight of oxygen is assigned a value of one.
at least a couple of minutes (the temperature is recorded) 8. Team Labs PSL (Team Labs, 6390B Gunpark Dr., Boulder,
and then transferred to a water calorimeter (80 g of water, CO 80301).
or just enough to cover the metal, at or near room tempera- 9. ©Flinn Scientific, Inc. PO Box 219, Batavia, IL 60510-0219;
ture). In the transfer the metals are not dried. The calorim- Sargent-Welch, VWR Scientific, 911 Commerce Court, Buffalo
eter is then gently agitated to increase the rate of heat Grove, IL 60089-2375; Aldrich®, 1001 West Saint Paul Avenue,
transfer. After the transfer is complete, the temperature is Milwaukee, WI 53233.
recorded.
Literature Cited
Conclusion 1. Dulong, P.; Petit, A. Ann. Chim. Phys. 1819, 10, 395.
2. Bindel, T. H. J. Chem. Educ. 1990, 67, 165.
The guided-discovery activity takes a minimum of ten 3. Ricci, R. W.; Ditzler, M. A. J. Chem. Educ. 1991, 68, 228.
50-minute class periods, including a period to introduce 4. Ditzler, M. A.; Ricci, R. W. J. Chem. Educ. 1994, 71, 685.
PSL. Nonetheless, we fell this was a very valuable use of 5. Ricci, R. W.; Ditzler, M. A.; Nestor, L. P. J. Chem. Educ. 1994, 71,
the time. Students were guided, through the methodology 983.
6. Ricci, R. W.; Ditzler, M. A.; Jarret, R.; McMaster, P.; Herrick, R. J.
of science, into discovering the concepts of calorimetry, spe- Chem. Educ. 1994, 71, 404.
cific heat capacity, and the law of Dulong and Petit. They 7. Allen, J. B.; Barker, L. N.; Ramsden, J. H. J. Chem. Educ. 1986,
came away with a deeper understanding of the nature of 63, 533.
science from their many discoveries and interpretations. 8. Lamba, R. S. J. Chem. Educ. 1994, 71, 1073.
Through a guided discussion and their experiences in the 9. Mertitt, M. V.; Schneider, M. J.; Darlington, J. A. J. Chem. Educ.
activity, students understood how scientific laws are deter- 1993, 70, 660.
10. Ellis, A. B.; Cappellari, A.; Hunsberger, L.; Johnson, B. J. Experi-
mined, how laws can be used to predict, the limitations of ment 1, Heat Capacities of Materials; in Teaching General Chem-
laws (extrapolation may not always yield a correct result), istry: A Materials Science Companion; Ellis, A. B.; Geselbracht,
and that scientific theories are built around laws to explain M.; Johnson, B. J.; Lisensky, G. C.; Robinson, W. R., Eds.; Ameri-
why the laws exist. can Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1993; p 353.
From the beginning of the investigation, students be- 11. Sardella, D. J. J. Chem. Educ. 1992, 69, 933.
lieved that the capacity for heat is dependent upon the kind 12. Bunge, M. A. Scientific Research; Springer: New York, 1967.
13. Mahan, B. H. University Chemistry, 3rd ed.; Addison-Wesley:
of metal. This belief was perpetuated by analyses 2, 3, and Menlo Park, CA, 1975; p 123.
4. And finally, in analysis 5 students were confronted with 14. Laidler, K. J.; Meiser, J. H. Physical Chemistry, 2nd ed.; Houghton
the idea that it is only the total number of metal atoms that Mifflin: Boston, 1995.
is important and not the kind of metal atoms. Again, this 15. Ruekberg, B. J. Chem. Educ. 1994, 71, 333.
works only at moderately high temperatures and is there- 16. Windholz, M.; Budavari, S. The Merck Index, 11th ed.; Merck and
Co.: Rahway, NJ, 1989.

Vol. 74 No. 8 August 1997 • Journal of Chemical Education 957

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