Druga gimnazija Sarajevo

International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme

Chemistry

LAB REPORT

Capacitance, energy and Temperature

Word count: 1338

Student: Teacher:

Faruk Ibrahimović Stanislava Marjanović

Aim: Determine correlation between capacitance of fluid and its effect on temperature

change.

Research Question: What effect does capacitance of fluid have on the change in

temperature?

Theoretical Background:

What we know as temperature is just the vibration of atoms of an object, the

faster the atoms vibrate, the higher the temperature. Thermal energy is measured as the

sum of the kinetic energy of the atoms. It is measured in joules (J). Temperature is

defined as the mean kinetic energy of the atoms of an object, it is measured in kelvin

and Celsius (°C). Heat is defined as the amount of thermal energy transferred between

two objects. It is measured in joules (J). Specific thermal capacity of a substance is a

constant of every substance which describes its capability to take and receive thermal

energy. It is defined as the quantity of heat absorbed per unit mass of the specific

substance when its temperature increases by 1 degree Celsius. It Is measured in joule

per kilogram Celsius/kelvin. The specific thermal capacity of water is 4.186 J/g°C1. The

specific thermal capacity of extra-virgin olive oil is 2.0J/g°C 2. The formula which

connects heat transfer, mass, specific thermal capacity and change in temperature is Q =

m * c * ∆t. Q here represents the amount of heat transferred, m represents the mass of

the object that the heat is transferred to, c is the specific thermal capacity of the object

and delta t represents the change in temperature of the object.

Hypothesis

- I believe that when the specific thermal capacity is higher then, the change

temperature will be lower.

1
“Specific heat capacity” <https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Specific_heat_capacity> (21 Oct. 2022)
2
Appendix. (2014). The Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Handbook, 349–360. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118460412.app1
 This is because in the formula Q = m * c * ∆t we can see that delta t and c are

inversely proportional.

Materials

- 100ml measuring cylinder, ± 1ml

- 100ml beaker

- 500ml beaker

- 10ml of 99.3% ethanol

- 100ml of olive oil

- 100ml of water

- Lighter

- Gas torch

- Dry piece of wood

- Thermometer, ± 1 degree Celsius

- Wooden clamps

- Roll of aluminium foil

- Paper

Methodology

1. Put 10ml of ethanol into the measuring cylinder and pour it into the 100ml

beaker

2. Put 100ml of water into the measuring cylinder and pour into the 500ml beaker

3. Wrap aluminium foil around and a little over the 500ml beaker, so that it can still

receive air

4. Put the 100ml beaker into the 500ml beaker

5. Turn gas flow up in the gas torch and light a fire with the lighter
 6. Heat up the dry piece of wood with the flame so that there is a bit of flame on the

wood

7. Stick the piece of wood while it’s still on fire into the 100ml beaker with ethanol

so that the ethanol starts burning

8. Put a thermometer into the water and measure the initial temperature

9. Wait till the ethanol burns out completely

10. Measure the final temperature of water

11. Put the beakers out of one another with the wooden clamps and place it on some

paper, wait for them to cool and clean them

12. Repeat the same process but instead of 100ml of water do 100ml of olive oil.

Variables

Independent

- Specific thermal capacity of fluid in 500ml beaker – unit is J/ g°C I do this by

changing the fluid in the 500ml beaker

Dependant

- Change in temperature of the fluid in 500ml beaker – unit is °C – this depends on

the specific thermal capacity in in the 500ml beaker (formula), the temperature

of the air (the air will transfer some of its thermal energy into the fluid), the

thermal capacity of the beaker and thickness of beaker walls (the energy from

the burning of the ethanol isn’t directly transferred but through the beaker), the

amount of energy that the fuel releases (Q in the formula), the mass of fluid in the

500ml beaker (mass is in the formula)

Controlled

- Mass of fluid in 500ml beaker – unit is gram – this is important to keep

controlled because the change in temperature depends on it

- Temperature of air – unit is degree Celsius – change in temperature depends on

it

- The properties of the beakers – the small beaker must transfer the heat from the

fuel into the fluid in the 500ml beaker and the big beaker must keep the

temperature of the water in the water

Safety Issues

Since I was operating with fire, that is burning alcohol, I needed to be careful not

to burn myself. Firstly, I had to light the fuel from a distance so as to not let the flame

burn my hand. Secondly, I had to use wooden clamps to move the beakers around

because they were extremely hot. Similarly, when emptying the water and olive oil, I

had to pour them out carefully as they were also very hot. When cleaning the beakers, I

had to wait some time so the beakers could cool off to the point where I could handle

them with my hands.

Raw Data

Trial 1: water

T0 = 23°C

T1=180°C

V = 100ml = 0.1L

Trial 2: olive oil

T0 = 23°C
T1=120°C

V = 100ml = 0.1L

Processed data

Trial 1: water

∆t = T0 - T1 = 180°C - 23°C = 157°C

m = V*ρwater=0.1l*1kg/l = 0.1kg

Trial 2:

∆t = T0 - T1 = 120°C - 23°C = 97°C

m = V*ρoliveoil=0.1l*0.92kg/l3 = 0.092kg

Uncertanties:

On temperature ±1 °C

On volume ±0.01 ml

On mass ±0.01 kg

Conclusion

At first, it might seem that the results discourage my hypothesis but, due to an

error I made during the process, this result can be explained. Since I put the

thermometer in the fluid, it rested on the beaker in which the fuel was, meaning it

would be impacted by its heat. Which is proven correct by the fact that the temperature

of the water measured 120 degrees Celsius even though it was not boiling. This could

explain the results that I got, since in the trial with the water, the temperature was

higher meaning that the temperature of the fuel beaker was higher. This suggests that

3
Appendix. (2014). The Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Handbook, 349–360. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118460412.app1
the water absorbed less energy due to its capacitance and the beaker absorbed. In the

trial with olive oil, things could have played out similarly but since the capacitance is

lower the temperature of the beaker would be also be lower because the olive oil

absorbed more heat. This is one explanation of the results, but it could also be that some

other factors skewed the results. Overall, the results are mixed and my hypothesis is not

fully supported.

Evaluation

Regarding the systematic errors I made during the experiment, one of them was

the one with the thermometer that I mentioned in the conclusion. I could have fixed it

by taping the thermometer to the bigger beaker or possibly lining the tops of the

beakers with Styrofoam or some other good isolator so it wouldn’t affect the readings.

Aside from that, during the first trial, the ethanol stopped burning for a few seconds and

it had to be re-lit, possibly cooling down the water and skewing the results slightly.

Another error that I had was that I used the same volume of water and olive oil even

though they had different densities in turn making them have a different mass which

affected the final results though not too significantly as their masses were still

approximately the same. I could have fixed this by calculating the volume of olive oil I

needed to pour before pouring it using the formula for density.

Regarding the random errors, one that I had was that the reading on the

thermometers varied from viewing angle and I could have misread the temperatures on

it. This could have been fixed by ducking and viewing them straight on. Another one was

the fact that the air around the beakers affected the temperature of the beaker. I could

have kept the beakers in a place with controlled temperature.

Bibliography

WWW Pages

“Specific heat capacity”

<https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Specific_heat_capacity> (21 Oct.

2022)

Journals

Appendix. (2014). The Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Handbook, 349–360.

https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118460412.app1