CALORIMETER

Pre-Test

1. How does the calorimeter work? (10 points)

2. Why the outer part of the calorimeter is made of isolator? (10 points)
3. How many types of calorimeter? Explain it and give the picture! (20
points)
4. Explain about the conservation of heat energy! (15 points)
5. (a) How much energy is required to bring a 1.0-L pot of water at 20°C to
100°C? (b) For how long could this amount of energy run a 60-W
lightbulb? (10 points)
6. To measure the specific heat of lead, you heat 600 g of lead shot to 100˚C
and place it in an aluminum calorimeter of mass 200 g that contains 500 g
of water initially at 17.3˚C. If the final temperature of the mixture is
20.0˚C, what is the specific heat of lead? (The specific heat of the
aluminum container is 0.900 kJ/kg∙K). (15 points)
7. An engineer wishes to determine the specific heat of a new metal alloy. A
0.150-kg sample of the alloy is heated to 540°C. It is then quickly placed
in 0.400 kg of water at 10.0°C, which is contained in a 0.200-kg aluminum
calorimeter cup. The final temperature of the system is 30.5°C. Calculate
the specific heat of the alloy! (15 points)

A. Aims
1. Determining the amount of electrical energy received by the calorimeter.
2. Determining the amount of heat energy released by the calorimeter.
3. Determining the value of electrical equivalent of heat.

B. Theory
Heat is the transfer of energy due to a difference in temperature. During
the seventeenth century, Galileo, Newton, and other scientists generally
supported the theory of the ancient Greek atomists who considered thermal
energy to be a manifestation of molecular motion. During the next century,
methods were developed for making quantitative measurements of the amount
of energy transferred because of differences in temperature, and it was found
that if objects are in thermal contact, the amount of energy that is released by
one object equals the amount that is absorbed by the other object. This
discovery led to a theory of in which heat was modeled as a conserved material
substance. In this theory, an invisible fluid called “caloric” flowed out of one
object and into another, and this caloric could be neither created nor destroyed
(Tipler and Mosca, 2008: 592).
When energy is added to a system and there is no change in the kinetic or
potential energy of the system, the temperature of the system usually rises. (An
exception to this statement is the case in which a system undergoes a change of
state.) If the system consists of a sample of a substance, we find that the
quantity of energy required to raise the temperature of a given mass of the
substance by some amount varies from one substance to another. Specific heat
is essentially a measure of how thermally insensitive a substance is to the
addition of energy. The greater a material’s specific heat, the more energy must
be added to a given mass of the material to cause a particular temperature
change (Serway and Jewett, 2004:608).
𝑄 = 𝑚 𝑐 ∆𝑇
Where is:
𝑄 : Heat (Joule)
𝑚 : Mass (kg)
𝑐 : Specific heat (J/kg∙˚C)
∆𝑇 : Temperature change (˚C)
 Table 1.

Specific heat (at 1 atm

pressure and 20˚C unless
otherwise stated).

Giancoli, 2014: 393-394

To measure the specific heat of an object, we can first heat it to some

known temperature, say the boiling point of water. Then, we transfer the object
to a water bath of known mass and initial temperature. Finally, we measure the
final equilibrium temperature of the system (the object, the water in the bath,
and the water-bath container). If the system is thermally isolated from its
surroundings (by insulating the container, for example), then the heat released
by the object will equal the heat absorbed by the water and the container. This
procedure is called calorimetry, and the insulated water container is called a
calorimeter (Tipler and Mosca, 2008: 594).
The calorimeter principle is to conduct an electrical current on the wire
coil that is inserted into the water. When the current move in the wire (due to
potential difference), the charges collides with metal atom and loses energy.
This electrical is transformed mostly into heat energy. Electrical energy is
defined as:
 𝑊=𝑉𝐼𝑡
Where is:
𝑊 : Electrical energy (Joule)
𝑉 : Potential difference/voltage (V)
𝐼 : Electrical current (A)
𝑡 : Time (s)
In order to determine the electrical equivalent of heat (𝐽𝑒 ) it is necessary to
determine both the total electrical energy that flowed into the wire (𝑊) and the
total heat absorbed by the water (𝑄).
𝑊
𝐽𝑒 =
𝑄

C. Tools and Materials

No. Tools/Materials Quantity
1. Calorimeter 1 unit
2. Ohaus four beam scale 1 unit
3. Stopwatch 1 unit
4. Power supply 1 unit
5. Digital multimeter 2 units
6. Thermometer 1 unit
7. Connecting cables 5 units
8. Alligator clips 2 units
9. Measuring cylinder 1 unit
100 ml, 130 ml, and
10. Water
150 ml (380 ml)

D. Experiment Procedures
1. Prepare all the tools and materials
2. Weigh the empty calorimeter (𝑚𝑘 ).
3. Fill the calorimeter with water, and then weigh the calorimeter after being
filled by water (m). We get the mass of water with this formula:
𝑚𝑤 = 𝑚 − 𝑚𝑘
4. Arrange the power supply with multimeter in parallel (to measure voltage)
and in series (to measure current), connect it to the calorimeter. Insert the
thermometer into the calorimeter, record it as initial temperature (𝑇0 ).
5. Turn on the power supply.
6. Stir the water while looking at temperature changes for 60s, 120s, and
180s. See also the current and voltage on the multimeter screen. Write
down into your worksheet.
 WORKSHEET

Name :

ID Number :

Day/Date :

1. 100 ml water

𝑚𝑘 𝑚𝑤 ∆𝑇 Voltage
No 𝑇0 (⁰C) 𝑇𝑡 (⁰C) I (A) t (s)
(kg) (kg) (⁰C) (V)
1.
2.
3.

2. 130 ml water

𝑚𝑘 𝑚𝑤 ∆𝑇 Voltage
No 𝑇0 (⁰C) 𝑇𝑡 (⁰C) I (A) t (s)
(kg) (kg) (⁰C) (V)
1.
2.
3.

3. 150 ml water

𝑚𝑘 𝑚𝑤 ∆𝑇 Voltage
No 𝑇0 (⁰C) 𝑇𝑡 (⁰C) I (A) t (s)
(kg) (kg) (⁰C) (V)
1.
2.
3.
Has been corrected and approved,
South Tangerang, …………………
Laboratory assistant,

……………………………………..
Post Test

1. Explain your analysis of the law of energy conservation based on yours

experiment!
2. Give three examples of calorimeter application in life. Explain!

References

Giancoli, Douglas C. 2014. Physics 7th Edition. Jakarta: Erlangga.

Serway, Raymond A. and John W. Jewett. 2004. Physics for Scientists and
Engineers 6th Edition. USA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.

Tipler, Paul A. and Gene Mosca. 2008. Physics for Scientists and Engineering
Sixth Edition with Modern Physics. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.