HEAT TRANSFER LAB ASSIGNMENT

CHEMISTRY, SCH4U-H8, UNIVERSITY

QUESTION:
The purpose of this experiment is to learn how heat is transferred, released and
absorbed when two substances are mixed together and to determine specific heat capacity as an
intensive property (that is; a physical property that does not depend on the amount of matter
present). The determination of specific heat capacity can be determined for the unknown through
observations, recordings and calculations throughout the experiment. Based on the information
gathered, the questions were:

Is specific heat an intensive property?

How we can use calorimetry to detect changed in temperature and calculate specific heat
capacity for compound Y?

Which of the two substances will there be heat gain or loss?

Will the specific heat capacity of compound Y increase with increasing initial temperature of
water?

HYPOTHESIS:
This lab activity involved mixing a certain amount of water at different temperatures with
compound Y to determine the final temperature of the mixture. Since all the vessels are
insulated, this lab activity obeyed the first law of thermodynamics. Due to this, the system
doesn’t lose heat to the surroundings. It means that the heat gained was equals to the heat loss.
My hypothesis is that the final temperature of water would always decrease throughout the
experiment and the final temperature of compound Y would always increase, making it easy to
classify the specific heat of compound Y based on the calculation of specific heat capacity and
the information gathered through the lab experiment
MATERIALS:
 250ml Erlenmeyer flask (x3)
 3000ml Distilled water and container (x3)
 100ml Compound Y(x3)
 Thermometer
 Lab bench
 Bunsen burner

PROCEDURE:

1. In the Stockroom, click on the Glassware tab and select a 250 mL Erlenmeyer flask. It
will appear on the lab bench.
2. Right click on the flask and then click on Rename. Name this flask “Water”.
3. Return to the Stockroom. Click on the Solutions tab. Add the 3000 mL of Distilled
Water container to the lab bench.
4. Click and hold the carboy of Distilled Water and move it over on top of the flask
marked "Water." A measurement box will appear. Transfer 50.00 mL of distilled water
into the flask. Return to the Stockroom.
5. In the Stockroom, add the Erlenmeyer flask containing 100.00 mL of Compound Y to
the lab bench. Assume that Compound Y has a density of 1.62 g/ml.
 6. On the lab bench, right click on the flask containing water and choose Thermal
Properties. Click on “Insulate from surroundings” and change the temperature to 40 °C
for Trial 1.
7. Right click on the flask containing Compound Y and choose Thermal Properties. Click
on "Insulate from surroundings" and change the temperature to 20 °C.
8. Click and hold the flask containing Compound Y and move it over on top of the flask
containing water. A measurement box will appear. Transfer 100.00 mL
of Compound Y into the flask containing water. Record the final temperature of the
solution.
9. Record all pertinent data into a well-organized table.
10. Repeat steps 1 - 8 for water at 50 °C (Trial 2)
11. Repeat steps 1 - 8 for water at 60 °C (Trial 3).

VARIABLES:
Dependent Variable
The dependent variable was the final temperature of the solution.
Independent Variable
The independent Variable is deliberately changing throughout the experiment and is used
to test the corresponding dependent variable. In this case the independent variable was
the initial temperature of water.

OBSERVATION:
Through this lab experiment, the specific heat capacity and the amount of substance were taken
into consideration. Through the stimulation, water and compound Y was used and heated in an
insulated chamber to examine how an increase in both compounds affects the specific heat
capacity. For trial 1, at 40°C, the final temperature was 23.4°C. for trial 2, at 50°C, the final
temperature was 25°C and for trial 3, at 60°C, the final temperature was 26.7°C.

RESULTS:

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

Volume of water 50.00mL 50.00mL 50.00mL
Volume of compound 100.00mL 100.00mL 100.00mL
Y
initial temperature of 40°C 50°C 60°C
water
 initial temperature of 20°C 20°C 20°C
compound Y
Volume of water + 150.00mL 150.00mL 150.00mL
compound Y
Final temperature of 23.4°C 25.0°C 26.7°C
water +compound Y

MASS
Water(g) COMPOUND Y(g)

50.00 100*1.62=162

PROPERTIES:
WATER
50 mL of water at an initial temperature of 40 °C for first trial. After the temperature was
increased to 50°C then 60°C for two other trials. Water has a density of 1 g/mL and a specific
heat capacity (c) of 4.18 J/g°C.
COMPOUND Y
100 mL of Compound Y at 20 °C. The density is 1.62 g/ml.

Remember, Heat gained=heat loss for all trials

Now the specific heat capacity can be determined for different trails:

Trial 1
MC∆t(water) = MC∆t (compound Y)
(50.00g) (4.18j/g℃)(-16.6℃) = (162g) (c) (3.4℃)
(-3469.4J) = (550.8g℃) (c)
c = (-3469.4J) / (550.8g℃)
c = -6.3j / g℃

Trial 2

MC∆t(water) = MC∆t (compound Y)

(50.00g) (4.18j/g℃)(-25℃) = (162g) (c) (5℃)
(-5225J) = (810g℃) (c)
c = (-5225J) / (810g℃)
c = -6.4j / g℃

Trial 3
 MC∆t(water) = MC∆t (compound Y)
(50.00g) (4.18j/g℃)(-33.3℃) = (162g) (c) (6.7℃)
(-6959.7J) = (1085.4g℃) (c)
c = (-6960J) / (1085.4g℃)
c = -6.4j / g℃

DISCUSSION:
This experiment involved conservation of energy as well as laws of calorimetry. The most
basic law of the law of the conservation of energy is that energy cannot be destroyed but instead
transferred from one form to another. It also follows the first law of thermodynamics which
states the energy of the universe is constant.
Calorimetry is the science of measuring heat based upon temperature changes as an object
absorbs or loses energy. Under this, we have specific heat capacity which was used in my
calculations above. Specific heat capacity is the amount of energy required to raise the
temperature of one gram of a substance by one degree Celsius. The equation to find it is Q=
MC∆t, where Q is the heat energy, M is the mass of the object, c is the specific heat and ∆𝑡 is the
change in temperature.
From the result, it was seen that heat was lost by the hotter substance and gained by the
colder substance i.e. heat gained by compound Y, and heat lost by water. In addition, as the
initial temperature of water was varied for each trial (increased) and that of compound Y was
kept constant, the temperature of the mixture of water to compound Y increased from trial 1 to
trial 3. Also, from the calculations the specific heat capacity of compound Y was on the increase
for the three trials. This is affected not by the amount of matter present but by the heat gained by
compound Y, because the mass of compound Y used was the same for each of the trial.
CONCLUSION:
The specific heat capacity of compound Y was independent of the amount of matter present.
Therefore, making it an intensive property. Water lost heat and compound Y gained heat. The
specific heat of Compound Y increased for the other two trials as the initial temperature of water
was increased. Therefore, this compound could be an option for designing more effective
coolants. Also, the mass of compound Y was constant throughout the trials and an increase in
temperature for each trial.In conclusion, when heat flows into an object, its thermal energy
increases and so does its temperature.