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PHYSICS
EXPERIMENT 106
Specific Heat
1. When is a system considered to be in thermal equilibrium? When does heat transfer from
is in contact with a lower temperature object will transfer hear to the lower
temperature object. The objects will approach the same temperature, and in the
absence of loss to other objects, they will then maintain a constant temperature. The
heat transfer from one body to another will stop if they remove from each other
2. List down 2 sources of error in this experiment and you suggested solutions for these.
Solution: the thermometer must have not contact to the calorimeter cup or metal when
getting the temperature of the water or the solution. Same as when getting the
temperature of boiling water, thermometer must not have contact to the beaker because
Solution: the calorimetry should be close perfectly because if there are gaps or holes it
allows the heat to escape the system which will cause the wrong temperature.
Interpretation of Results (Analysis)
This experiment involves the energy which is transferred from one object or substance to
another in physical contact resulting from a difference in temperature, better known as heat.
Temperature change and phase change may be the results from heat transfer.
individual particles increases, resulting in an increase in temperature. The more heat that is
added per gram of substance, the greater the temperature change. The relationship between the
heats added, the mass of a substance, and the temperature change it undergoes is known as
specific heat.
change in Celsius)
change of 1°C per gram of substance. The specific heats of different substances vary, and
therefore this quantity may be useful in identifying an unknown. The measurement of heat
In this lab, calorimetry will be used to determine the specific heat of an unknown metal.
This will be done using a calorimeter containing water. A calorimeter is insulated to minimize
any loss of energy to the surroundings. Therefore, when a heated piece of metal is placed into
the calorimeter, all of the energy should be accounted for. In other words, the water, with no loss
to the surroundings, should gain the energy released from the metal. This is based on the Law of
Conservation of Energy, which states that energy is neither created nor destroyed. We will
On the first part of the experiment, the mass of the metal, calorimeter, and water were
taken which is 37.6 g, 47.3 g, and 155.4 g respectively. The changing variable is the initial
temperature and the final temperature of each variable, which were taken using a thermometer.
The initial temperature of the metal is 97 oC, and the initial temperature of the calorimeter and
water is 30 oC and 30 oC respectively, which should be equal. In determining the Specific Heat
of the aluminum metal, we used the equation for Specific Heat and followed the concept and
laws of thermodynamics.
The group obtained an experimental specific heat of 0.2065 cal/gCo of the aluminum
metal, which is close to the actual specific heat of the metal, which is 0.2171 cal/gCo. With this
result, the group was able to obtain a 4.88 % percentage error, which shows that the group
followed the steps correctly and that the group was able to perform the experiment in a
One factor that may have affected the experiment is the temperature of the laboratory. To
achieve accurate results, the experiment must be done at room temperature. Another factor is the
calorimeter having gaps and holes which allows the heat to escape the system.
The group obtained an acceptable result on the percentage error on the experiment, which
is 4.88%. Although the results are acceptable, there are still several possible causes for the error.
Some sources of error that could have affected the recorded temperature is the temperature of the
room or the surroundings and the amount of liquid present in the tube because the liquid may
absorb the temperature and cause alterations in the readings of the temperatures.
To reduce the percent error, we can try to eliminate other forces such as the air
coming from the air conditioner, avoid using too much water, and take other factors such as the
misreading in the multi-tester. We should also try to keep the equipment in good and clean
Heat is a form of energy which may be transferred from one system to another or to its
surroundings. When this energy is transferred to another substance, this object may either change
in temperature or phase.
Through following the procedures of the experiment, the researchers were able to utilize
the principles of calorimetry and the Law of Heat Exchange when two objects with varying
temperatures are combined. This law was also used to determine the experimental specific heat
of the brass solid which was 0.0906 cal/g-°C. As the law states, heat transfers from hotter to colder
substances. Integrating this with the principles of calorimetry, the energy lost by the hotter substance
will be gained by the colder substances until the system attains equilibrium. From this concept, the
final temperature of the mixture was obtained, which was also used in solving for the specific heat of
the solid metal. Afterall, this experiment successfully used the principles of calorimetry, specifically
the law of Heat Exchange, when combing objects with different temperatures and used the law of
Based from the equation 𝑄 = 𝑚𝑐∆𝑡, it can be concluded that the heat transfer which
corresponds to Q is directly proportional with the mass of the substance and the change in
temperature. Therefore, in relation to the data obtained from the experiment, since the solid metal
brass was subjected to a certain amount of heat, its temperature increased. This law states that t
energy can be converted from one form to another with the interaction of heat, work and internal
knowledge needed for future technological innovations that will continue to drive the economic
engines of the world. This is the root of all the world's wonderful inventions and advances in
technology.
In this experiment, the focus is the Specific Heat of a certain substance. Specific heat is
the amount of heat that must be added to, or removed from, a unit of mass for a given substance
to change its temperature by 1°C. Thus, a kilocalorie, because it measures the amount of heat
necessary to effect that change precisely for a kilogram of Specific heat is the amount of heat that
must be added to, or removed from, a unit of mass for a given substance to change its temperature
by 1°C. Thus, a kilocalorie, because it measures the amount of heat necessary to effect that change
precisely for a kilogram of water, is identical to the specific heat for that particular substance in
that particular unit of mass.The higher the specific heat, the more resistant the substance is to
changes in temperature. Many metals, in fact, have a low specific heat, making them easy to heat
up and cool down. This contributes to the tendency of metals to expand when heated (a
phenomenon also discussed in the Thermal Expansion essay), and, thus, to their malleability.
work. For this lab experiment, an in-depth knowledge about thermodynamics will help us
determine how some heat engines work and help us create an efficient heat engine ourselves.
An example of a heat engine that is commercially accepted and available are from the
trains, and these engines are the steam engines. A steam engine pulls heat from a high-temperature
reservoir to a low-temperature reservoir, and in the process, work is accomplished. The hot steam
from the high-temperature reservoir makes possible the accomplishment of work, and when the
energy is extracted from the steam, the steam condenses in the low-temperature reservoir,
engine, which at the start of the twentieth century took its place at the forefront of industrial
technology. A steam engine burns its fuel outside the engine, unlike an internal combustion engine.
That fuel can just be firewood, used to heat water and generate steam. The thermal energy of the
steam is then used to power a piston moving inside a cylinder, thus, converting thermal energy to