Hing Deng

IB Chemistry SL
6th period
3/34/10
Identifying a Metal with their Specific Heat Capacity Lab

Introduction:
In this lab, the specific heat capacities of various metals are tested in order to find what
type of metal the washer is that is given. This unknown washer could be anything from
Aluminum, Chromium, Iron, Lead, Manganese, Nickel, Silver, Tin, Titanium, and Zinc. The
independent variables are the metals previously listed. The dependent variables are the
temperatures that will be obtained after the metals are individually tested. The controlled
variables are the type of water used, beaker used, thermometer used, and the Styrofoam cup
used.

Materials:
 1 aluminum metal washer
 1 chromium metal washer
 1 iron metal washer
 1 lead metal washer
 1 manganese metal washer
 1 nickel metal washer
 1 silver metal washer
 1 tin metal washer
 1 titanium metal washer
 1 zinc metal washer
 1 Styrofoam cup
 1 beaker
 400 mL of cold water
 1 thermometer
Procedure:
1.) Fill a medium sized beaker appx 2/3 full of water and set it to boil.
2.) Determine and record the mass of the metal sample (washers) given to your group.
3.) Tie a look of thread through the collected mass of washers to facilitate transferring them
later.
4.) Place approximately 300 mL of cold water into a cup to be used as your cold water stock
for the lab.
5.) Place the metal sample into the boiling water, taking care to leave the thread accessible
for retrieval. Allow time for the temperature of the sample to completely equilibrate.
Measure and record the boiling temperature of the water.
6.) Measure 75.0 mL of water from the stock and place it into your Styrofoam cup
Calorimeter. Measure and record the temperature of the cold water.
 7.) Remove the metal sample from the boiling water, quickly shake off any water droplets
and immediately introduce them to the cold water. Measure and record the temperature at
which the temperature reaches equilibrium.
8.) Dump out the water from the Styrofoam up calorimeter. Repeat steps 6-8 twice for a total
of three trials.

Data collection and processing:

Group # ΔT H2O ΔT M H2O M q(H2O) q(washers C(washers)
(°C) Washers (g) Washers (J) ) (J) (J/g °C)
(°C) (g)
2 +5.16 -80.83 75 19.9 1617.66 -1617.66 1.006
4 +4.3 -77 75 45.1 1348.05 -1348.05 0.388184
6 +6.33 -76 75 58.25 1990 -1990 0.449
8 +5.67 -74.33 75 66.6 1777.55 -1777.55 0.359
10 +8.56 -73.1 75 101.509 2683.56 -2683.56 0.361
12 +10.3 -69.6 75 123.50 3762 -3762 0.448
14 +12.1 -61.13 75 133.42 3793.35 -3793.35 0.4651

The average J/g °C was 0.497. The average J/g °C is 0.412. The other average in another class
got the average of average J/g °C as 0.381. The averages are calculated by adding the entire °C
calculations and dividing by three since there are three different categories. C was derived from
the equation C = q (J)/m(g)ΔT(°C). The ΔT was derived from the initial temperature and the
final temperatures of the H2O and the washers. The equation for q is Q = CM∆T which was used
to calculate the q of the H2O and the washers. The uncertainty is calculated by taking the smallest
increment and dividing it by two which is then ± 0.1°C.

Conclusion:
It was discovered that the unknown washer was Zinc as the average J/g °C of C is between 0.381
and 0.412. The C of Zinc is 0.388 J/g °C. None of the other metal’s C values are closer. One
possible error for this lab is the heat could be escaping through the environment therefore
altering the data. This is not something that can be fixed so this error is inevitable.