Table of Contents

Heat Capacity and Specific Heat ............................................................................................................ 2

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 2
Methodology – Part A............................................................................................................................. 2
Observations and Calculations ................................................................................................................ 2
Sources of Error ...................................................................................................................................... 3
Methodology – Part B ............................................................................................................................. 3
Observations and Calculations ................................................................................................................ 4
Sources of Error ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Heat Capacity and Specific Heat
Introduction

Different substance have different capabilities to store energy. Heat capacity and specific heats are the
measure of substance storing energy for specific temperature difference. It is seen that for many
temperature ranges, internal energy is linear with the delta T. Slope of this Graph is equal to the heat
capacity of the substance. In this experiment, two parts are performed. In first part, Graph is plotted
between cold water percentage and the temperature of the mixture. This will show if the relation is
linear or not. In second part, Specific Heats of different metal samples have been measured.

Methodology – Part A

Hot water and cold water are measured and mixed together. Initial temperatures are measured. Ratio
of hot to cold water will be used to evaluate the mixture temperature.
𝑈𝑚𝑖𝑥 = 𝑈ℎ𝑜𝑡 + 𝑈𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑 = 𝐶𝑉 (𝑚𝐻 𝑇𝐻 + 𝑚𝑐 𝑇𝐶 ) = 𝐶𝑣 𝑇𝑚𝑖𝑥 𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑥
Solving the above expression, we get
𝑚𝑐
𝑇𝑚𝑖𝑥 = 𝑇𝐻 + (𝑇 − 𝑇𝐻 )
𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑥 𝐶
This temperature will be plotted with the Percentage of the cold water in the mixture and relation will
be analyzed.

Observations and Calculations

Table 1: Observations and Calculations

Mass of Hot Mass of Cold Percentage of

Water Water CW TH TC Tmix
150 0 0 65.4 34.5 58.293
125 25 16.66666667 48 30 44.4
100 50 33.33333333 48 23 44.16667
75 75 50 41.5 23.8 38.6916
50 100 66.66666667 37.8 22.7 35.51487
25 125 83.33333333 39.6 23 37.05467
0 150 100 34.2 22.8 32.4672
 Tmix vs Percentage of Cold Water
70
y = -0.216x + 52.315
Temperature of the Mixture

60
R² = 0.8202
50

40

30 Tmix

20 Linear (Tmix)

10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Percentage of Cold Water

Figure 1: Temperature vs Percentage of Cold water

Sources of Error
Part A of the experiment had discrepancy in the experiment due to random and systematic errors.
Systematic Errors may have caused due to the instrumentation error, for instance there might be some
problem in the sensor. Such type of errors affects all the readings equally. Random Errors are due to
the negligence of performer and laboratory conditions. Performer may have not stirred properly or not
measured the temperature at steady state.

Methodology – Part B
In the second part, we have metal samples whose heat capacity is to be measured at constant pressure
process. We cannot measure the heat capacity of the metal directly, instead we require water to measure
it. Hot metal piece is poured into water and temperature change in the water is measured. This device
is known as calorimeter.

Figure 2: Calorimeter
 𝑄𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 = 𝐶𝑝𝑠 𝑚𝑠 ∆𝑇𝑠

𝑄𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 = 𝐶𝑝𝑤 𝑚𝑤 ∆𝑇𝑤

Heat Transfer of water and sample will remain same ideally, by energy of conservation:

𝑄𝑠 + 𝑄𝑤 = 0
Changes in temperature are easily determined by the following relationship:
∆𝑇𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 = 𝑇𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 − 𝑇ℎ𝑜𝑡

∆𝑇𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 = 𝑇𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑 − 𝑇𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘

𝐶𝑝𝑤 𝑚𝑤 ∆𝑇𝑤
𝐶𝑝𝑠 =
𝑚𝑠 ∆𝑇𝑠

Observations and Calculations

Metal Mass (g) ∆Tm ∆Tw Cp
Al 22 0.2 3.5 0.826327
Fe 61 0.3 3 0.521534
Brass 66 1 9 0.535582
Cu 69.4 1.3 13.6 0.438185
Figure 3: Metal Specimen Calculations

Metal Cp Cp Literature

Al 0.826327 0.9
0.5
Fe 0.521534
Brass 0.535582 0.38

Cu 0.438185 0.385

Sources of Error
Part B of the experiment had low discrepancy in the experiment, probably due to random and systematic
errors. In case of Brass it was high due to low resolution of the calorimeter. Calorimeter is not an
accurate device to measure temperature difference because low temperature difference can make high
impact on the readings. Systematic Errors may have caused due to the instrumentation error, for instance
there might be some problem in the sensor. Such type of errors affects all the readings equally. Random
Errors are due to the negligence of performer and laboratory conditions. Performer may have not stirred
properly or not measured the temperature at steady state.