RAMADEVI PUBLIC SCHOOL

Class10 Physics
CALORIMETRY

(A)HEAT CAPACITY, SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY AND ITS MEASUREMENT

 Heat is the internal energy of molecules constituting the body. It flows from a hot body
to a cold body when they are kept in contact.
 S.I. unit of heat is joule and other units are calorie and kilo-calorie
 One calorie is the quantity of heat energy required to raise the temperature of 1 g of
water from 14.5oC to 15.5oC.
 One kilo- calorie is the quantity of heat energy required to raise the temperature of 1kg
of water from 14.5oC to 15.5oC.
 1calorie=4.2J. 1 kilo-calorie=1000calorie=4200J
 Temperature is a parameter which tells the thermal state of a body. It determines the
direction of flow of heat when two bodies at different temperatures are placed in
contact.
 S.I unit of temperature is Kelvin. The other common unit is degree Celsius. TK=273+toC
 Factors affecting the quantity of heat(Q) absorbed to increase the temperature of a
body depends on (1) the mass of the body, Q α m (2) the increase in temperature of
the body Q α ∆t and (3)the material of the body.
 The heat capacity of a body is the amount of heat energy required to raise its
temperature by 1oC or 1K. It is denoted by C’. Its S.I unit is JK-1. C’=Q/∆t
 The specific heat capacity(C) of a substance is the amount of heat energy required to
raise the temperature of unit mass of that substance through 1oC or 1K.Its S.I unit is
Jkg-1K-1 C=Q/m∆t
 Heat capacity C’= mass m x specific heat capacity c
 The substance with low specific heat capacity shows a rapid and high rise in
temperature thus it is a better conductor of heat.
 The heat capacity of a vessel is 30JK-1, it means that 30J heat energy is required to raise
the temperature of that vessel by 1K.
 If specific heat capacity of copper is 0.4Jg-1K-1, it means that the heat energy required to
raise the temperature of 1g of copper by 1K is 0.4J.
 Water has an unusually a high specific heat capacity 4200Jkg-1K-1.
 A calorimeter is a cylindrical vessel which is used to measure the amount of heat gained
by a body when mixed with other body.
 Calorimeter is made up of copper because (i) copper is a good conductor of heat and
(ii) copper has low specific heat capacity.
 In calorimeter to reduce the heat loss due to radiation, the outer and inner surfaces are
polished. To avoid the heat loss by conduction, the space between calorimeter and the
jacket is filled with poor conductor such as wool, cotton etc. It is covered with wooden
lid to avoid the heat loss by convection.
 When a body is mixed with other body ,If no heat energy is lost to the
surroundings ,then Heat energy lost by hot body= Heat energy gained by the cold
body. This is called the principle of method of mixtures or the principle of
calorimetry. This principle is based on the law of conservation of energy.
 Hot water bottles are used for fomentation because water has high specific heat
capacity, so a hot water bottle provides more heat energy for fomentation over a longer
period.
 Water is used as an effective coolant in car radiators and generators because it has high
specific heat capacity hence water can extract more heat from the surroundings
without much rise in its temperature.
 In cold countries water is used as heat reservoir due to its high specific heat capacity,
water can impart a large amount of heat before reaching to its freezing point.
 All plants and animals have high water content in their bodies, because of its high
specific heat capacity water maintains nearly the same temperature of their bodies in
all seasons.
 By making the base of cooking pan is made thick, its heat capacity becomes large due
to which it gets heated slowly and it imparts sufficient heat energy and keeps the food
warm for a long time.
 By making the base of an electric press thick and heavy, the heat capacity becomes
large and it remains hot for a long duration even after the current is switched off.

(B) CHANGE OF PHASE AND LATENT HEAT

 The change from solid to liquid phase by the absorption of heat at a constant temperature
is called melting.
 The constant temperature at which a solid changes to liquid is called the melting point of
the solid.
 Most of the substances like lead, wax etc. expand on melting, but some substances like
ice contract on melting.
 The melting point of the substances which contract on melting decreases by increasing
pressure whereas the melting point of the substances which expand on melting , increases
by the increase in pressure.
 The melting point of a substance decreases by the presence of impurities in it.
 The change from liquid to solid phase with the liberation of heat at a constant
temperature is called freezing or fusion.
 The change from liquid to gas phase on absorption of heat at a constant temperature is
called vaporization. The particular temperature at which vaporization occurs is called
boiling point.
 The change from vapour to liquid phase on liberation of heat at constant temperature is
called condensation and the particular temperature at which the condensation occurs os
called condensation point.
 For a pure substance, melting point and freezing point are identical . Also, the boiling
point and condensation point are identical.
 All liquids expand on boiling, hence volume increases on boiling.
 The boiling point of a liquid increases with the increase in pressure and decrease with
the decrease in pressure.
 The boiling point of a liquid increases by addition of impurities to it.
 The quantity of heat energy absorbed or liberated by the unit mass of the substance for
the change in its phase at a constant temperature is called the specific latent heat.
 The specific latent heat of ice is 336Jg-1. It means that 1g of ice at 0oC absorbs 336J of
heat energy to convert into water at 0oC.
 Snow on a mountains does not melt all at once, the reason is ice has high specific latent
heat of fusion hence it changes into water slowly as it get heat energy from sun.
 Drinks get cooled more quickly by adding pieces of ice than ice cold water because 1 g of
ice at 0oC takes 336J of heat energy from the drink to melt into water at 0oC. Therefore
cooling produced by 1 g ice at 0oC is much more than that by 1 g of water at 0oC.
 It is generally much cold after a hail-storm than during or before the hail-storm .This is
because after the hail-storm, ice absorbs the heat energy required for its melting point
from the surroundings, so the temperature of the surroundings falls further down and we
feel more cold.
 Heating curve for water-

Y
100 -----B BOILING C

20 A

X
From the above curve AB represents the rise in temperature from 20oC to 100oC. At B boiling
starts and the temperature does not rise further. The part BC represents