Experiment 17 The Specific Heat of a Metal

Randi Lines Lauren Asp

Physics 11 Laboratory Report Thursday 8:00-10:50 December 1, 2011

Purpose: To determine Joules Equivalent of Heat by measuring the heat generated in an electrical resistance. Procedure: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Determine mass of inner container ( ). Record specific heat capacity ( ). Put about 200g water into the inner vessel and record the mass of the water ( ). Assemble the calorimeter. Open experiments on the computer. Adjust power supply in circuit to current I is between 2A and 5A. Observe the voltage. Record the initial temperature ( ). And start the timer. Record the final temperature ( ). 7. Calculate the amount of energy and its error using W=P*t 8. Compute total amount of heat and error absorbed ( ) Using . Heat absorbed in the calorimeter: . 9. Using W and calculate Joules equivalent. Data:
Room o Temperature 24.4 C Mass of the Calorimeter Cup (Mc) Mass of the Calorimeter Cup + water (Mcw) Water equivalent of the coil (W.E.) Specific heat of the Calorimeter Cup (cc) Specific heat of water (cw) Initial temperature of the water (T o) Final temperature of the water (T f) Voltage (V) Current (I) Time heating (t)

47.4 248.1 2.5 0.22 1.00 17.8 28.7 3.312 2.99 926.2

+/+/-

0.47 2.48

g g g cal/g C cal/g C
o o

+/+/+/+/+/-

0.18 0.29 0.03 0.01 9.26

o o

C C

V A s

Calculations: Mass of water = Mass of cup and water Mass of cup: 248.1g 47.4g = 203.2g Change in temperature = final temp initial temp: 28.7C 17.8C = 10.9 C

Electrical Power: P=IV (2.99A)(3.312V)=9.90W Electrical Energy Used: W=Pt (9.90W)(926.9s) = 9172J Heat absorbed by the water: (47.4g)(1.00cal/gC)(10.9C)=2214.9cal. Heat absorbed by the calorimeter: (47.4g)( .22cal/gC)(10.9C) = 113.7cal. Total Heat absorbed: (2214.9cal.) + (113.7cal.) = 2328.5cal. Joules equivalent: J= W/ (9172.0J)/(2328.5cal.)=3.939J/cal. With the errors when equations are added, add the errors of each component to get the error. When the errors are multiplied or divided, add the percent of each error and that is the percent error of the actual number. Results:
Mass of the water (Mw = Mcw - Mc + W.E.) Change in Temperature (T = Tf - To) Electric Power (P = IV) Electrical Energy used (W = Pt) Heat absorbed by the water (Qw = cwmT) Heat absorbed by the calorimeter (Qc = ccmT) Total heat absorbed (QT = Qw +Qc) Joules' Equivalent (J = W/QT) 203.2 10.9 9.90 9172.0 2214.9 113.7 2328.5 3.939 +/ +/ +/ +/ +/ +/ +/ +/ 2.9 5 0.4 7 0.1 3 214 128 6.0 4 4.3 6 0.1 0 g
o

W J cal. cal. cal. J/cal.

Maximum Experimental Value = Minimum Experimental Value = Accepted Joules' Equivalent (J) Percent difference =

4.038 3.840 4.186 3.54

J/cal. J/cal. J/cal.

Conclusion: During this experiment we calculated how much energy was used up during the heating of the water. Heat could have escaped through the calorimeter but not much. Also, we stirred the water so that the heated water was not all staying in one area. Questions: 1. Yes, the temperature raised proportional to the time that had elapsed. 2. The results would be altered by having the water heat up twice as fast. This is because of the direct relationship between power and the temperature rising. Or, it would take half the amount of time for the water to heat up to the same temperature. The results would be the same, just with different time interval, the system would be same. 3. The trend would be worse because more heat would be released rather than maintained.