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