8Ia/6 How much energy?

8
I It is easy to measure how hot something is by using a thermometer. It is much more
difficult to measure how much heat energy is in something. However, we can measure
a how much energy is put into something. The amount of energy it takes to heat up 1 kg
of a substance by 1 °C is called the specific heat capacity of a substance.

This experiment was set up thermometer 50 W heater thermometer 50 W heater

to find out how much heat
energy is needed to heat up
different materials.

A 50 watt heater is placed

into some liquids and
metals. The heater transfers
50 J of energy every second. 1 kg of water 1 kg block of metal

How liquids are heated. How metals are heated.

? 1 What is the variable which is being changed in the investigation above?

2 a Write down the variables which must be kept the same to keep it a fair
test. (You should be able to write down at least three.)
b How can these variables be kept the same?
One kilogram of each substance was heated for 10 minutes and the temperature
change recorded in the table below.

Substance Temperature change after 10 mins (°C)

water 7
brine (salt water) 10
paraffin 13
aluminium 33
iron 60
copper 75

3 If 2 kg of each substance were heated, what do you think the temperature

changes would be?
The results in the table can be used to calculate the specific heat capacities of
the different materials.
4 a How much energy is transferred by the heater in 10 minutes?
b Calculate the specific heat capacities of the materials above. To do this
divide the energy transferred by the temperature rise.
5 The values you calculated will not be exactly the same as the specific heat
capacities given in text books. Suggest why your values might be different,
and how the experiment could be made more accurate.

S knowledge, numeracy

Exploring Science for QCA Copymaster File 8 414 © Pearson Education Limited 2002