Finding out the specific heat capacity of a aluminum

cylinder
Introduction: My objective is to conduct an experiment to determine an
aluminum cylinder's specific heat capacity. Using a Vernier heat sensor to
which I will link my Surface Pro device, which has Logger Pro installed. A
digital reading with a few decimal places is produced by the usage of the
thermal sensor. I discovered that after a while of inserting the thermal heater,
the water's temperature begins to increase. After that, the temperature
continues to climb consistently at a similar rate.

Research question : To determine the specific heat capacity of aluminum

cylinder.
Observations:
As I started off my experiment I had to connect the thermal heater with a
power pack which I connected to a voltmeter and an ammeter which helped
me to gather the values of the voltage and the current provided to the thermal
heater. I had to measure the starting voltage, current and temperature to start
of my experiment. I also measured the mass of the aluminum cylinder. Then I
calculated the final voltage and current to find the average voltage and
current.
My values for the average velocity was: 8.635V
My value for the average current was: 3.225A
Starting temperature: 23.1℃

1
Above figure showing the apparatus for the experiment

2
Figure 1 –Graph showing Temperature Vs Time

3
Graph analysis: From the above graph there are certain things we can
observe. Firstly, the temperature doesn’t increase immediately. This is due to
the fact of water’s high heat capacity. It takes time to overcome the heat. Now
from the graph we can see that there is a steady increase in temperature.
With the help of the steady increase I can calculate the gradient of the graph
y 2− y 1 rise
with the equation this basically represents the . From the formula I
x 2−x 1 run
can find the gradient as 2.0 ℃/min . This means that the temperature of water
was being increased by 2°C every minute. From the graph we can also see
that after some time there starts to be a curve which foreshadows show
temperature increase.

Now we can calculate the specific heat capacity with the help of equations as
below:

Firstly, the power transferred by an electrical current is:

P=VI

As the physics equation for finding the electrical energy is:

E=Pt

Hence we can get the equation below:

E=VIt

Where E is energy (J), V is Voltage (V), I is the current (A) and t is the time in
(sec)
E=mc ∆ T

Where E is energy (J), m is mass (g), c is the specific heat capacity ( Kg℃
J
)
and ∆ T is in ℃
Therefore,

VIt=mc ∆T

I will be needing an average voltage and average current In order to calculate

the specific heat capacity.
Formula to calculate average voltage:

4
 V 1+V 2
2
8.62+8.65
=8.635 V
2

Formula to calculate the average current:

( I 1+ I 2 )
2
3.21+ 3.24
=3.225 A
2

In order to find change in temperature I need to do the following:

Temperature at the end−Temperature at the start

As I put in the values I get:

61.1−23.1=38 ℃

To calculate time I need to convert minutes into seconds:

20 ×60=1200

Mass of the aluminum cylinder was 1018.31 g

As I put in the values of the equation:

8.635 V ×3.225 A ×1200 sec ¿ 1018.31 g × c ×38 ℃

Now I will make c the subject

( 8.635V × 3.225 A ×1200 sec )
=c
1018.13 g × 38℃

We can now calculate it to get c=0.863746848 ( g J℃ )

5
As the required 2 significant figures:

0.86 ( g J℃ )(2 S . sf .)
Calculating the percentage uncertainty:
The real value of specific heat capacity of aluminum is 0.89J/g°C.
To calculate percentage uncertainty:
0.89−0.86
×100=3.3707 %
0.89

Absolute uncertainty: 0.033707 x 0.89 = 0.03 J/g°C

To conclude, I have used a immersion heater to heat up the water and then
heat up the aluminum cylinder. I have used a Vernier temperature sensor to
measure the temperature which is connected to my surface pro. This helps to
give me precise results. I have then taken the values obtained from the
experiment and then used equation VIt =mc ∆T to calculate the specific heat
capacity. I have successfully managed to gain a value for specific heat
capacity of the aluminum cylinder. I have got 0.86J/g°C. The official value of
the specific heat capacity of aluminum is 0.89J/g°C.