Extended Essay - Physics: Bhupendra Singh Nagpure WORD COUNT-3,380

EXTENDED ESSAY - PHYSICS
BHUPENDRA SINGH NAGPURE
EXTENDED ESSAY PHYSICS

BHUPENDRA SINGH NAGPURE WORD COUNT- 3,380
TOPIC:
DOES THERE EXIST A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY AND THE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF A LIQUID?
SUPERVISOR: DR. DAVID JOHN WILKINSON
CANDIDATE NUMBER: D0969- 069
INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE MAY 2002

THE MAHINDRA UNITED WORLD COLLEGE OF INDIA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS: PAGE:
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 1 THEORY...................................................................................... 2 THE EXPERIMENTS ................................................................ 5 SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS ............................................... 9 DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS ............................................ 10 CONCLUSION ........................................................................... 14 APPENDIX-1 .............................................................................. 15 APPENDIX-2 .............................................................................. 16 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................ 17
ABSTRACT
The closeness of the terms specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity as both phenomenon involve heat transfer, made me think about the relationship between them. Since, there were not any direct interpretations of these terms that can join them, I thought about finding them out. The simple reason responsible for having a high or low specific capacity is the molecular composition of that matter. Heat transfer through conduction also is dependent on also the molecular composition. So both phenomenon are dependent on the vibrations of molecules. Now what makes molecules vibrate slower or faster if the amount of heat given is constant is the intermolecular forces working on them. Thus, I came up with the question: Does there exist any relationship between the specific heat capacity and the thermal conductivity of a liquid? I calculated the specific heat capacity of five liquids and arranged them in the increasing order of their values. Then I determined the relative conductivity of each of them and did the same. On comparing both the orders, I observed that the liquid, which has the lowest heat capacity (paraffin oil) also, has the lowest thermal conductivity! And the liquid, which has the highest specific heat capacity (salty water with low concentration) also, has the highest thermal conductivity! Rest of the liquids had same pattern. Thus I discovered that they have a direct relationship. However, I could not investigate the exact mathematical relationship. I also observed that a viscosity test, which gives the idea about the massiveness of molecules of liquids, should have been carried out. It would have helped to explain the relationship more deeply because vibrations of molecules is also dependent on the mass and not only on the intermolecular forces.
INTRODUCTION
While studying heat and thermodynamics in physics, I came to know about the terms specific heat capacity of a liquid and conduction through a liquid. I observed that these terms seem quite relative to each other as both involve heat transfer. I tried to look for a relationship between them, if any exists, but all the sources available for physics disappointed me, as I could not find out anything that shows any mathematical relationship between them. With this Extended Essay, therefore, I found an excellent opportunity to try some experiments on my thoughts to discover if there exists a relationship between the specific heat capacity of a liquid and the rate at which heat is transferred through the liquid by conduction. Hence, this Extended Essay is a product of my curiosity. The topic chosen might be interesting, important and worthy of study if there exists any relationship between the terms I have mentioned. This relationship might be useful to give an idea about the best liquid to use to be warmed by a solar panel in less time and also the system can be used during the night. If not, then at least it will satisfy my curiosity and thoughts. Thus the question I came up with is as follows: Does there exist a relationship between the specific heat capacity and the thermal conductivity of a liquid? For my investigation, I am going to find the specific heat capacity and the relative thermal conductivity of five liquids; distilled water, salty water with two different concentration, paraffin oil and refined oil. Comparing the order of liquids in both the terms I will conclude the relationship, if any, and if possible, a specific trend will be found. If a liquid that has a lower specific heat capacity is a better conductor of heat, then it can be concluded that the liquid that has a higher specific heat capacity will conduct heat more slowly. Also, If a liquid which has a higher specific heat capacity conducts heat more slowly, then it can be concluded that a liquid that has a lower specific heat capacity will conduct heat more quickly. This hypothesis of mine is based on the fact that higher thermal conductivity molecules of a liquid are vibrate faster and hence will have a low specific heat capacity because the molecules pass gain heat more quickly.
THEORY
1. SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY OF A LIQUID The term Specific Heat Capacity of a liquid means The amount of heat absorbed or released by a unit mass of a liquid to change its temperature by 1C. Why are there differences in the Specific Heat Capacities of different liquids? The answer is that different liquids have different molecular structures and bonding compositions of their molecules. But what does the energy, which is needed to raise the temperature of objects, do? In the case of a liquid, it increases the net kinetic and potential energies of the molecules. As the liquid gets hotter, its molecules move around much faster and usually move slightly away from one another. So what makes the specific heat capacities of diverse liquids different from one another? As mentioned above, it must be the molecular structure, including the mass of the molecules themselves. If the liquid has more mass molecules, then we would expect more energy needed to make the temperature of a fixed amount rise by the same amount as a liquid whose molecules are less massive. The specific heat capacity C is related to heat transfer to a body by the equation: Q = M * C * Where, Q is heat transfer measured in joule (J) M is the mass of the object measure in (g) C is the specific heat capacity in (Jg-1 c-1) is the temperature difference in (c) 2.THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF A LIQUID Conduction is the process whereby heat is transferred directly through a material, any bulk motion of the material playing no role in transfer. The most important way in which heat is transferred through a liquid is by convection. This occurs through the bulk movement of its molecules in the form of a convection current. In this experiment, however, I am investigating how heat can be conducted through a liquid by setting up the apparatus to minimize the possibility of a convection current being set up. In this case, I will expect the conduction process to occur because heated molecules will move faster, collide with other molecules and so transfer their energy. If it requires more energy to make a molecule of greater mass increase in velocity by the same amount as a less massive, one then I expect conduction to occur at a lesser rate in this case. By
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comparing this simplified aspect of thermal conductivity with specific heat capacity, I might find that there is a relationship. The thermal conductivity of a substance is defined in the following way:
Figure 1: Flow of Heat by Conduction
Q /t = { kA (1 - 2)} / x
When a steady state is reached, the heat transferred through the material every second depends on its area of cross section (A) and upon temperature difference (1 - 2) across a distance x. k is the thermal conductivity of the material. In my experiment, I will set up a glass tube to minimize the possibility of a convection current forming. I will measure the temperature at two points, equidistant from the outlets of the hollow tube, until these are constant. ( Refer figure 2 )
Figure 2: Glass Tube
In every case I will assume that the rate of heat supplied is constant. So that we have:
kl 1 / (1 - 2)
The values of 1/ (1 - 2) which I record will be in inverse proportional to the thermal conductivity of the liquids I am investigating. The SI unit of thermal conductivity is (J s-1 m-1 c -1).
THE EXPERIMENTS
Five liquids were chosen and for each liquid the specific heat capacity and the relative thermal conductivity were measured. The liquids chosen were: (1) Distilled water. (2) Salty water1 (300ml tap water + 60g of salt) (3) Salty water2 (300ml tap water + 40g of salt) (4) Refined oil. (5) Paraffin oil. EXPERIMENT (1) 1. MEASURING THE SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY OF THE FIVE LIQUIDS APPARATUS: A copper calorimeter, an ammeter, a voltmeter, a thermometer, distilled water, paraffin oil, salt, refined oil, conducting wires, a battery power source, measuring cylinders, beakers, stop watch, a weighing scale and a rheostat. VARIABLES: Controlled: current provided Dependent: voltage and temperature. Independent: time, specific heat capacity of the liquid and the calorimeter. First, the mass of the copper calorimeter was measured with a weighing scale. Then 100 ml distilled water was poured in it. The initial temperature of the water was recorded and the apparatus was set out as shown in the diagram below:
Figure 3: Electric Circuit Set-up for Measuring Specific Heat Capacity
The experiment was started by putting the plug key on the circuit. At the same time, the time on the stopwatch was recorded. The rheostat was used to control the current passing. Thus the current was kept constant through out the experiment. The water inside was being stirred continuously so that heat was gained by whole amount of the water rather than partially. After 10minutes the circuit was disconnected and the final temperature of the water was recorded. The voltage and current value were also noted down. The whole experiment was repeated with each of the five liquids. HOW TO WORK OUT THE SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY OF A LIQUID To work out how much energy is needed to heat up a liquid, I will need the following information: Energy in =Voltage * Current * Time Energy in = Energy absorbed by the liquid + Energy absorbed by the calorimeter Energy absorbed by the liquid = Mass of the liquid * Specific heat capacity of the liquid * Temperature rise. Energy absorbed by the calorimeter = Mass of the calorimeter * Specific heat capacity of the calorimeter * Temperature rise To make things easier in my working, I am going to use the following variables: Current (measured in Amperes) I Voltage (measured in Volts) V Time (measured in seconds) t Temperature difference (c) Specific Heat Capacity (Jg-1 c-1) C Specific Heat Capacity of liquid Cl Specific Heat Capacity of calorimeter CC Mass (g) M Mass of liquid Ml Mass of the calorimeter MC So the energy = Energy absorbed by the liquid + Energy absorbed by the calorimeter. I * V * T = Ml* CC * + MC* CC*
Cl = {(I * V * t) M l * CC *} / (Ml* ) ------------eqn (1) Cl = C [V/V I/I t/t 2Ml / Ml ( )/ MC / MC]---eqn (2)
EXPERIMENT (2)
COMPARING THE CONDUCTIVITY OF THE FIVE LIQUIDS: APPARATUS: A hollow glass tube (25cm long and 2cm in diameter), two steel cylindrical boxes (20cm high and 11cm in diameter), a burner, two stands, two thermometers, ice, water and the five liquids. VARIABLES: Controlled: time. Dependent: temperature Independent: time. Two glass-corks were used to close the outlet of the hollow glass tube and were fixed with a strong adhesive. Then a hole was made in each cylindrical box so that the glass tube could be inserted horizontally. After inserting the glass tube, each hole was sealed with the same strong adhesive to avoid water leakage, which was poured in the boxes afterwards. The whole set up was done as the figure below:
Figure 4: Set-up for Measuring Relative Thermal Conductivity
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The water and the ice water were poured into the respective boxes and the experiment was started by lightening the burner. The flame was kept constant so that the rate of transfer of heat was constant. The heat was supplied continuously until the temperatures in both the thermometers were constant. The final temperature was noted down. The temperature noted down from the hole near the boiling water is 1 and the temperature noted down from the ice water hole is 2. The whole experiment was repeated for the remaining four liquids. HOW TO WORK OUT THE RELATIVE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF LIQUIDS The thermal conductivity of a liquid is inversely proportional to the value of (1 - 2 ) Measuring the value 1/ (1 - 2 ) gives us the relative thermal conductivity.
Relative kl = 1 / (1 - 2) -----------------------------eqn. (3) kl = 2/ (1 - 2) 2 ----------------------------eqn. (4)
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SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS

Using equations (1) and (2) and the raw data, the following values for specific heat capacity were calculated and, using the equations (3) and (4), the order of relative conductivity for the five liquids was also determined. The object was not to measure the actual thermal conductivity as this is not possible with these apparatus. What are provided are the relative values of thermal conductivity Raw data can be found in appendices 1 and 2. Serial no. 01. 02. 03. 04. 05. Liquid Paraffin oil Refined oil Distilled water Salty water2 (Less conc.) Salty water1 (More conc.) Specific Heat Capacity (Jg-1 c 1 ) 2.240 0.451 2.410 0.460 3.945 1.062 4.020 1.281 4.153 1.438 Relative Conductivity (c 1 ) 0.044 0.004 0.056 0.006 0.125 0.0311 0.167 0.056 0.250 0.125
Figure 5: The Order of Specific Heat Capacity and Conductivity of the Liquids
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DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS

Comparing the specific heat capacities and the relative conductivity of the five liquids used, I found that there is a definite trend in relationship. The liquid which has the higher specific heat capacity, has a higher conductivity and, the liquid which has a lower specific heat capacity, has a lower conductivity. The relationship can be seen clearly on the graph of specific heat capacity against relative conductivity which is shown below:
Specific heat capacity against relative conductivity

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4.5
Specific heat capacity (Jg^-1 c )
3.5
2.5
2 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 Relative conductivity ( c ^-1)

Figure 6: Graph: Specific Heat Capacity against RelativeThermal Conductivity of Five Liquids
0.2
0.25
0.3
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On the molecular stage, the molecules of the liquid which have a higher specific heat capacity are vibrating very slowly. The molecules of such liquids take a greater amount of heat to heat up because their molecules vibrate appreciably and collide with neighbours to pass energy to them. It means they can not conduct heat faster then the liquid, which has a lower specific heat capacity, i.e. whose molecules are vibrating faster. But in my result I found totally the opposite pattern. The results are opposite to my hypothesis, which show that there are some more factors (beside the molecular vibration) which also contribute in the thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity of a liquid. Since now I know that there are other factors responsible for the specific heat capacity and the thermal conductivity, I am sure that one of the factors might be the mass of the molecules of a liquid. The reason is simple that mass of the molecules is also the part of a molecular composition and hence is also responsible for vibration of them. However, I have mentioned this before in the theory of specific heat capacity that if the liquid has more mass molecules then we would expect more energy needed to make the temperature of a fixed amount rise by the same amount as a liquid whose molecules are less massive. This discrepancy leads me to recommend a viscosity test for the further understanding of the concept of relationship between the specific heat capacity and the thermal conductivity of a liquid. A viscosity test is used to determine the density of liquid. Simply, it gives us the idea of whether the molecules or massive or not. Hence, if I were to have used this test then the trend I would have found in the specific heat capacity and the thermal conductivity of the liquids would have been explained in terms of the mass of the molecules, too. The error ranges in the values of the specific heat capacity and the relative conductivity are respectively: 20-35% and 9-50%, which show that the values of the relative conductivity is not reliable compare to values of specific heat capacity. However, the large error range in the values of relative thermal conductivity is due to the fact that when a subtraction is carried between two comparable values the final value becomes very less whereas the error is added. So I can say that though I have 50% error range for one value of relative thermal conductivity, it is reliable, too. DISCUSSION OF ERRORS AND SUGGESTIONS ERRORS IN THE VALUES OF SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY The following are the few things I could have done to improve my experiment, and make my findings more accurate. One of the biggest problems in working out the specific heat capacities was HEAT LOSS. If heat loss were to be reduced, than the specific heat capacities, which could be worked out, would be a lot more accurate. Heat loss could have been reduced in many ways:
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(1) Foil could have been added around the calorimeter, which would have reduced heat loss by radiation. (2) Insulation could have been put across the top of the calorimeter. This would have reduced the amount of heat that would have been lost due to convection in the air. (3) The top of the heater that was not in the liquid would have lost heat. All of the heater can not be put into the liquid that is being heated up, so this means there will always be a heat loss here. Since all the liquids were exposed to the surrounding in the same conditions for the same amount of time, I had assumed that heat lost in all liquids would be the same. However, I know that it can not be the same for all different liquids. Heat lost is totally dependent of the molecular composition of the liquid. The liquid which has a good capacity to gain heat, would lose more heat than the liquid that has a lower capacity, because the liquids that can gain heat very quickly also can lose heat very much more quickly as the vibrations of molecules are faster and thus the rate of heat loss will obviously be faster.
This heat lost during experiments can not be avoided fully and also can not accounted totally because it makes a much broader subject, which can not be included in my main extended essay. More materials should have been tested to try and see if all the liquids follow the same pattern related to the specific heat capacity and conductivity. I could have tested some more oils which would have been better to compare rather than testing the water and salty water. I should have taken more readings more frequently, in between the start (0s) and the end (10mins) of the experiment. I could have then worked out the specific heat capacity for each of the time differences, eg.0-5mins, and 0-10 minutes. Once I had the specific heat capacity for each of these, if they were not the same, then I could have worked out the mean and this would have given me a more accurate specific heat capacity.
ERRORS IN THE VALUE OF CONDUCTIVITY: Heat loss contributes errors in thermal conductivity, too. However, it can not be avoided fully though I should have reduced it by some of the following methods: a non-conductive foil could have been wrapped around the glass tube and the still boxes to avoid heat loss by radiation. A thermometer with a least count of 0.1c should have been used. This would have given an accurate temperature reading to one decimal place, whereas the thermometer which I used could only measure as a whole number, or added half if the reading was
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between two of the readings on the thermometer. This would have given better readings for working out the relative thermal conductivity. While the water was boiling in one of the boxes, the horizontal tube was shaking slowly due to the boiling motion of the water. It might have caused a slight heat transfer by convection. Some heavy weight should have been kept on the boxes to reduce the shaking of the horizontal glass tube.
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CONCLUSION
From what I have done so far, I have come to the conclusion that there exists a relationship between the specific heat capacity of a liquid and its thermal conductivity. I have able to find out the existence of a direct relationship: that is, liquid having a higher specific heat capacity shows the higher thermal conductivity and a liquid, having lower specific heat capacity shows the lower thermal conductivity. However, I could not conclude the exact mathematical relationship. One question which is still unresolved in this aspect of the relationship is, How the mass of the molecules of a liquid contributes in its specific heat capacity and the thermal conductivity? A viscosity test might be useful to determine the massiveness of the molecules of a liquid and then to determine whether it is related to either of specific heat capacity or thermal conductivity. Thus knowing the contribution of the mass of the molecules of a liquid in its specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity will be useful to understand the relationship more deeply.
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APPENDIX (1)
Mass of the liquid: Mass of the copper calorimeter: Time (initial): Time (final): 100g 1g 46.5g 0.1g 0s 600 s
1. SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY OF THE LIQUIDS: Ser i-al no. 01. 02. 03. 04. 05. Liquid Distilled water Refined oil Salty water 1 (More conc.) Salty water 2 (Less conc.) Paraffin oil Temperature (t) (Initial) (c) 1c 27 27 27 27 27 Temperature (t) (Final) (c) 1c 39 49 36 37 48 Current (I) (A) 0.05A 1.65 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 Voltage (v) (V) 0.25V 5.00 4.75 3.25 3.50 4.25
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APPENDIX (2)
2. THE RELATIVE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF THE LIQUIDS: Liquid Distilled water Refined oil Salty water1 (More conc.) Salty water 2 (More conc.) Paraffin oil Temperature at steady state (c) 1 2 59 51 62 60 60 68 44 56 54 45 K (1/ (1 - 2 ) in c-1 0.125 0.056 0.250 0.167 0.044
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Book: 1. Cutnell, J. D. & Johnson, K. W., Cutnell & Johnson Physics, 5th ed.; Wiley: New York, 2001. 2. Sears, F.W., Zemansky, M.W. & Young, H.D., University Physics, 6th ed.; Narosa: New Delhi, 1997. Website: 1. http://www.webelements.com/webelements/properties/text/definitions/thermalconductivity.html , 02/11/2001 2. http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/physics/u4a2phy.html, 02/11/2001
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EXTENDED ESSAY - PHYSICS

BHUPENDRA SINGH NAGPURE