Calorimetry is that branch of heat which deals with

its measurement. the useual units of heat are calorie

or kilocalorie
1. SPECIFIC HEAT
This is also called ' Heat Inertia' of a substance
1.1 Specific Heat of solid & Liquid (s) : If a solid or a
liquid is heated till the change of the state, there is
no change in their volume hence the work done is
zero. Hence there is only one specific heat of solids
and liquids which is constant.
1.

Definition : The amount of heat needed for an

unit increase in the temperature of unit mass of
a solid or liquid is called it's specific heat
Unit : kilocalorie / kg-C or calorie/g-C

E=

fRT
E
and Cv =
2
T

CV =

Rf
2

(8) Amount of heat needed to increase the

temperature of n moles of gas by dT at constant
volume is
d = ncv dT.
(9) Amount of heat needed to increase the
temperature of 1gm of gas by 1 0C at constant
volume is called gram specific heat at constant
volume.
(10)

(Cv)gram =

1 Kcal / Kg-C = 1 Cal/g-C

2.

If mass of the body is 'm' and specific heat is 's'

then amount of heat needed to increases it's
temperature by dT is given by Q = msdT
kg-C

3.

Specific heat of water = 1 kcal /

Cal/ g-C = 4.18 103 J/kg-C

= 1

4.

Kelvin can also be used instead of C is size of

both uints is same.

1.2 Specific heat of gas (C)

(1) There are many processes possible to give heat
to a gas. A specific heat can be associated to
each such process which depends on the nature
of process.
(2) The number of possible specific heats for a gas
is infinite and the value of specific heats can
very from zero (0) to infinity ( ).
(3) Generally two types of specific heat are
mentioned for a gas (a) specific heat at constant volume (Cv)
(b) specific heat at constant pressure (Cp)
(4) These specific heats can be molar or gram,
depending on the amount of gas considered to
define it
(5) The molar heat capacities of a gas are defined as
the heat given per mole of the gas per unit rise
in the temperature
(6) The molar heat capacity at constant volume,
Q

denoted by Cv is Cv =
nT
(7) If, at absolute temperature T , total energy of a
gas E , degree of freedom of gas = f

(C v ) molar
M

or (Cv)molar = M(Cv)gram
where M = molecules wt . of gas
(11) Amount of heat needed to increases temperature
of 'm' gm of gas by dT at constant volume is

m
dQ = m (Cv)gram dT =
(C )
dT
M v molar
(12) Amount of heat needed to increase temperature
of 1mole of gas by 10C at constant pressure is
called molar specific heat at constant pressure.
(13) Cp = Cv + R, for one mole.
where R = universal gas constant
(14) Amount of heat needed to increase temperature
of n moles of gas by dT is at constant pressure
dQ = nCp dT
Note : If gas is heated at constant pressure, then C v can
be replaced by Cp in above discussion. Hence

CP
M
or Cp = M (Cp)gram
(15) Specific heat for other processes
(a)

(Cp)gram =

mT

(a) adiabatic s = 0, as Q = 0 but T has some

value
(b) isothermal s = , as T = 0 but Q has some
value
(16) Specific heat for any process is given by
pdV
pdV
C = Cv +
= Cp R +
ndT
ndT
(for the n mole of gas)
42

Example :

4. LATENT HEAT

(1) If process is isochoric , then dV = 0

Latent heat of fusion of a substance is the quantity

of heat (in kilocalories) required to change its 1 kg
mass from solid to liquid state at its melting point
(For ice latent heat of fusion = 80 kilocal/kg).
Latent heat of vaporization of a substnce is the
quantity of heat required to change its 1 kg mass
from liquid to vapour state at its boiling point.
For water latent heat of vaporisation = 536 kilocal/kg

C = Cv
(2) If process is isobaric , then

pV = nRT

pdV
= nR
dT

C = Cv + R = Cp

(for one mole)

2 THERMAL CAPACITY
(1) Amount of heat needed to increase the
temperature of a substance (any amount) by 1C
is called thermal capacity of that substance.
(2) Thermal capacity = ( mass of body ) x (specific
heat) Hc = ms
(3) Unit = calorie /Cor Kcal/C
Heat capacity at point 'p' =

1
= cot
tan

(4) Thermal capacity is given by reciprocal of slope

of heat temperature curve.as
Hc = mS =

Q
dT

(5) Heat capacity in an isothermal process is infinite

(). e.g. process of melting and vaporisation
(6) If heat capacity of a body is Hc, then heat needed
to rise it's temperature by d is, dQ = Hc d

Specific heat, thermal capacity &

latent heat
Ex.1

The amount of heat necessary to raise the

temperature of 0.2 mol of N2 at constant pressure
from 37 to 337 C will be (A) 1764 Joule
(B) 764 Joule
(C) 1764 Calorie
(D) 1764 erg
Sol.[A]
dQ = nCPdT
dQ = 0.2 7 300
dQ = 420 Calorie
dW = 420 4.2
dW = 1764 Joule
Ex.2
(Cp Cv) will be (A) Maximum for oxygen
(B) Maximum for nitrogen
(C) Maximum for carbon di oxide
(D) Same for all gases
Sol.[D] (Cp Cv) = R, where R is gas constant which is
same for all gases. So (Cp Cv) is same for all
gases.

3. WATER EQUIVALENT OF A BODY

Ex.3
(1) If m gram of a substance is given Q amount of
heat which rises its temperature by T . Now if
on giving same amount of heat temperature of w
gram of water is also increased by T then w is
called water equivalent of body of mass m.
(2) The value of water equivalent of a body is same
as it's heat capacity. The difference is only in
units. e.g If heat capacity of a body is m calorie/
0C then it's water equivalent will be m gram.
(3) Physical meaning : The same amount of heat
has to be given to a body for increasing
it'stemperature by dT as needed for quantity of
water equal to it's water equivalent by same
temperature range.

The ratio of radii of two copper spheres is

2 : 1 and they are kept at same temperature. The
ratio of their heat capacities will be (A) 2 : 1
(B) 1 : 1
(C) 8 : 1
(D) 4 : 1

FG IJ
H K

4
3
r13 S
3
dQ 1
r1
8
2
3
Sol.[C] dQ =
=
=
=
4
r2
1
2
1
r2 3 S
3
Ex.4
5 g of ice at 0C is dropped ina beaker containing
20 g of water at 40C, then
(A) All the ice will not melt into water
(B) All the ice will melt and the resulting
temperature of water will be 0C
(C) All the ice will melt and the resulting
temperature of water will be 25C
(D) All the ice will melt and the resulting
temperature of water will be 16C

FG IJ
HK

43

Sol.[D] Heat required to melt 5 g ice = 5 80 = 400 cal. Heat

available with 20 g water at 40C = 20 1 40
= 800 cal out of this, 400 cal heat will be used to
melt the ice and remaining heat will raise the
temperature. Thus Heat given by water = Heat
taken by ice
20 1 (40 ) = 5 80 + 5 1 ( 0)

(viii) If n1 moles of first gas at a temperarure T 1 are

mixed with n 2 moles of the other gas at a
temperature T 2, the temperature of the mixture
will be
T=

800 20 = 400 + 5

25 = 400
or

Gaseous mixture
Ex.5

400
=16C
=
25

5. GASEOUS MIXTURE
(i) Suppose two non - reactive gases are enclosed
in a vessel of volume V. In the mixture n1 moles
of one gas are mixed with n2 moles of another
gas. If NA is Avogadro's number then number of
molecules of first gas will be N1 = n1 NA and
number of molecules of second gas will be
N2 = n2A2.
(ii) Total mole fraction n = (n1 + n2).
(iii) If M1 is molecular weight of first gas and M 2
that of second gas the molecular weight of the
mixture will be

n1M1 n2 M2
n1 n2

M=

1 2
2
n1 1 n 2 2
(B)
n1 n 2
(C)

n1 2 n 2 1
n1 n 2

(D)

n1 1 ( 2 1) n 2 2 ( 1 1)
n1 ( 2 1) n 2 ( 1 1)

Sol.[D] At constant temperature U = U1 + U2

nCv = n1 Cv1 + n2 Cv2
Total number of mols. in the mixture
n = n1 + n2

R
R
nCv = n1
+ n2
2 1
1 1
CP = C v

n 1C v n 2 c v 2
1

nCP = n1 1

n1 n 2

(v) Specific heat of the mixture at constant pressure

will be

CP
= C =
v

n 1C p n 2 c p 2
1

Cp =

n1 n 2

(vi) Ratio of specific heats of the mixture will be

=

n 1 and n 2 moles of two ideal gases of the

thermodynamics constants 1 and 2 respectively
CP
are mixed C for the mixture is v
(A)

(iv) Specific heat of the mixture at constant volume

will be
Cv =

Cp
Cv

(vii) Pressure exerted by the mixture

P = (n1 + n2)

FG m
HM

RT
V

m2
M2

IJ
K

RT
V
1
(where m1 and m2 are the masses of the two
gases respectively)
=

n1C p1 n 2 C p 2
n1C v1 n 2 C v 2

n 1T1 n 2 T2
n1 n 2

Ex.6

R
R
+ n2 2
2 1
1 1

R
R
n2 2
1 1
2 1
R
R
n1
n1
1 1
2 1

n1 1

n1 1 ( 2 1) n 2 2 ( 1 1)
n1 ( 2 1) n 2 ( 1 1)

One mole of monatomic gas ( = 5/3) is mixed

with one mole of a diatomic gas ( = 7/3), the
value of for the mixture is
(A) 1.40
(B) 1.50
(C) 1.53
(D) 3.07

n1C P1 n 2 C P2

Sol.[C] = n C n C
1 V1
2 V2

7
5
1x 1x
2
2 = 1.5
=
5
3
1x 1x
2
2
44

SOLVED EXAMPLE
Ex.1

Sol.

1 g of steam at 100C can melt how much ice at

0C? Latent heat of ice = 80 cal/g and latent heat
of steam = 540 cal/g.
Heat required by ice for melting of m g of ice =
mL = m 80 cal
Heat available with steam for being condensed
and then brought to 0C
= 1 540 100
= 640 cal
m 80 = 640
or m =

Ex. 2

Sol.

Ex. 3

5 g of ice at 0C is dropped in a beaker containing

20 g of water at 40C. What will be the final
temperature?

Sol.

Let final temperatue be =

= 5 80 + 5 1 ( 0)
= 400 + 5
Heat given by water at 40C
= m2c2 2 = 20 1 (40 )
= 800 20

640
8 grams
80

As Heat given

A tap supplies water at 10C and another tap at

100C. How much hot water must be taken so
that we get 20 kg of water at 35C ?
Let mass of hot water = m kg
mass of cold water
= (20 m) kg
Heat taken by cold water
= (20 m) 1 (35 10)
Heat given by hot water
= m 1 (100 35)
Law of mixture gives
Heat given by hot water
= Heat taken by cold water
m 1 (100 35) = (20 m) (35 10)
65 m = (20 m) 25
65 m = 500 25 m
or
90 m = 500
m=

500
= 5.56 kg
90

= m1L + m1c1 1

Heat taken by ice

= Heat taken

800 20 =
20 =

=
Ex. 4
Sol.

400 + 5
400
400
= 16 C
25

5 g ice of 0C is mixed with 5 g of steam at 100C.

What is the final temperature?
Heat required by ice to raise its temperature to
100C,
Q1 = m1L1 + m1c1 1
= 5 80 + 5 1 100
= 400 + 500 = 900 cal
Heat given by steam when condensed,
Q2 = m2L2
= 5 536 = 2680 cal
As Q2 > Q1. This means that whole steam is not
even condensed.
Hense temperature of mixture will remain at 100C

45