Heat Capacity and Thermal Energy Experiment Objectives: 1.

To confirm the validity of the thermal energy and specific heat capacity concepts presented in class. 2. To design an effective experiment to collect the appropriate data required to determine the specific heat capacity of a piece of metal of your choosing. 3. To perform the experiment, collect accurate data, and calculate the specific heat capacity of your metal. 4. To take your lab design and apply it to an unknown piece of metal. Conduct the experiment, determine a specific heat capacity and predict the composition of the unknown metal based on its measured specific heat capacity. 5. To reflect on your lab design and discuss sources of error in your lab. Materials: Procedure: 1. Wash hands thoroughly with soap, put on lab coat, and put on safety goggles. 2. Gather all the necessary materials to conduct this experiment. 3. Measure the mass of the metal. 4. Heath the piece of metal by placing it in a beaker of water heated by a hot plate. Heat water to a boil and wait four minutes before removing the metal from the beaker. 5. Measure the temperature of the water after boiling for the four minutes. Record the temperature of the water in the observation table #1. 6. Pour __ mL of water into a separate beaker with ice cubes and allow the water to cool for a total of three minutes. Measure the temperature in table #1. 7. Pour the cold water into the Calorimeter and place the metal in aswell. Close the lid of the calorimeter and measure the temperature of the water every 30 seconds during a five minute interval. Record the results in observation table #2. 8. Repeat the above steps one more time in order to find more accurate and precise results. 9. Return the materials used, remove lab coat and safety goggles and wash hands thoroughly with soap.