Department of

PHYSICS

EXPERIMENT 106
Specific Heat

NAME: Lacson, Joshua Vince B.

COURSE/YEAR:ME-1 STUDENT NO: 2016141988
Subject/Section: PHYS101L Group No. 4 Seat No. 4
Date of Performance: June 22, 2019
Date of Submission: June 29, 2019
Criteria Score
Data Sheet with sample computation (40
points)
Guide Questions (GQ) (10 points)
Interpretation of Results (Analysis)
(15 points)
Error Analysis (5 points)
Conclusion (15 points)
Application (10 points)
Graph/figure (5 points)

Prof. Kathleen Castillo

Instructor
GUIDE QUESTIONS (For Group Report)

1. When is a system considered to be in thermal equilibrium? When does heat transfer from

one body to another stop?

- System is considered in thermal equilibrium when a higher temperature object which

is in contact with a lower temperature object will transfer hear to the lower

temperature object. The objects will approach the same temperature, and in the

absence of loss to other objects, they will then maintain a constant temperature. The

heat transfer from one body to another will stop if they remove from each other

because there no more will be a connection to transfer the heat.

2. List down 2 sources of error in this experiment and you suggested solutions for these.

Source of error: allowing the thermometer having contact to an object.

Solution: the thermometer must have not contact to the calorimeter cup or metal when

getting the temperature of the water or the solution. Same as when getting the

temperature of boiling water, thermometer must not have contact to the beaker because

the thermometer will not read the temperature of the water.

Source of error: gaps or holes of the calorimetry

Solution: the calorimetry should be close perfectly because if there are gaps or holes it

allows the heat to escape the system which will cause the wrong temperature.
Interpretation of Results (Analysis)

This experiment involves the energy which is transferred from one object or substance to

another in physical contact resulting from a difference in temperature, better known as heat.

Temperature change and phase change may be the results from heat transfer.

Thermodynamics tells us that when a substance is heated, the motion of its

individual particles increases, resulting in an increase in temperature. The more heat that is

added per gram of substance, the greater the temperature change. The relationship between the

heats added, the mass of a substance, and the temperature change it undergoes is known as

specific heat.

 Specific Heat= Energy change in calories / (Mass in grams ｘ Temperature

change in Celsius)

Specific heat is defined as the amount of energy necessary to produce a temperature

change of 1°C per gram of substance. The specific heats of different substances vary, and

therefore this quantity may be useful in identifying an unknown. The measurement of heat

changes is called calorimetry.

In this lab, calorimetry will be used to determine the specific heat of an unknown metal.

This will be done using a calorimeter containing water. A calorimeter is insulated to minimize

any loss of energy to the surroundings. Therefore, when a heated piece of metal is placed into

the calorimeter, all of the energy should be accounted for. In other words, the water, with no loss

to the surroundings, should gain the energy released from the metal. This is based on the Law of

Conservation of Energy, which states that energy is neither created nor destroyed. We will

assume no heat loss to the calorimeter.

  Energy released by metal=Energy gained by water.

On the first part of the experiment, the mass of the metal, calorimeter, and water were

taken which is 37.6 g, 47.3 g, and 155.4 g respectively. The changing variable is the initial

temperature and the final temperature of each variable, which were taken using a thermometer.

The initial temperature of the metal is 97 oC, and the initial temperature of the calorimeter and

water is 30 oC and 30 oC respectively, which should be equal. In determining the Specific Heat

of the aluminum metal, we used the equation for Specific Heat and followed the concept and

laws of thermodynamics.

The group obtained an experimental specific heat of 0.2065 cal/gCo of the aluminum

metal, which is close to the actual specific heat of the metal, which is 0.2171 cal/gCo. With this

result, the group was able to obtain a 4.88 % percentage error, which shows that the group

followed the steps correctly and that the group was able to perform the experiment in a

controlled environment resembling the ones done by scientists.

Error Analysis

One factor that may have affected the experiment is the temperature of the laboratory. To

achieve accurate results, the experiment must be done at room temperature. Another factor is the

calorimeter having gaps and holes which allows the heat to escape the system.

The group obtained an acceptable result on the percentage error on the experiment, which

is 4.88%. Although the results are acceptable, there are still several possible causes for the error.

Some sources of error that could have affected the recorded temperature is the temperature of the

room or the surroundings and the amount of liquid present in the tube because the liquid may

absorb the temperature and cause alterations in the readings of the temperatures.

To reduce the percent error, we can try to eliminate other forces such as the air

coming from the air conditioner, avoid using too much water, and take other factors such as the

misreading in the multi-tester. We should also try to keep the equipment in good and clean

condition to keep it from affecting the accuracy of the experiment.

Conclusion

Heat is a form of energy which may be transferred from one system to another or to its

surroundings. When this energy is transferred to another substance, this object may either change

in temperature or phase.

Through following the procedures of the experiment, the researchers were able to utilize

the principles of calorimetry and the Law of Heat Exchange when two objects with varying

temperatures are combined. This law was also used to determine the experimental specific heat

of the brass solid which was 0.0906 cal/g-°C. As the law states, heat transfers from hotter to colder

substances. Integrating this with the principles of calorimetry, the energy lost by the hotter substance

will be gained by the colder substances until the system attains equilibrium. From this concept, the

final temperature of the mixture was obtained, which was also used in solving for the specific heat of

the solid metal. Afterall, this experiment successfully used the principles of calorimetry, specifically

the law of Heat Exchange, when combing objects with different temperatures and used the law of

Heat Exchange in determining the specific heat of the solid metal.

Based from the equation 𝑄 = 𝑚𝑐∆𝑡, it can be concluded that the heat transfer which

corresponds to Q is directly proportional with the mass of the substance and the change in

temperature. Therefore, in relation to the data obtained from the experiment, since the solid metal

brass was subjected to a certain amount of heat, its temperature increased. This law states that t

energy can be converted from one form to another with the interaction of heat, work and internal

energy, but it cannot be created nor destroyed, under any circumstances.

Application

Physics is considered a mechanical engineer's oxygen. Physics generates the fundamental

knowledge needed for future technological innovations that will continue to drive the economic

engines of the world. This is the root of all the world's wonderful inventions and advances in

technology.

In this experiment, the focus is the Specific Heat of a certain substance. Specific heat is

the amount of heat that must be added to, or removed from, a unit of mass for a given substance

to change its temperature by 1°C. Thus, a kilocalorie, because it measures the amount of heat

necessary to effect that change precisely for a kilogram of Specific heat is the amount of heat that

must be added to, or removed from, a unit of mass for a given substance to change its temperature

by 1°C. Thus, a kilocalorie, because it measures the amount of heat necessary to effect that change

precisely for a kilogram of water, is identical to the specific heat for that particular substance in

that particular unit of mass.The higher the specific heat, the more resistant the substance is to

changes in temperature. Many metals, in fact, have a low specific heat, making them easy to heat

up and cool down. This contributes to the tendency of metals to expand when heated (a

phenomenon also discussed in the Thermal Expansion essay), and, thus, to their malleability.

As a mechanical engineer, we would be encountering the concepts of how some engines

work. For this lab experiment, an in-depth knowledge about thermodynamics will help us

determine how some heat engines work and help us create an efficient heat engine ourselves.

An example of a heat engine that is commercially accepted and available are from the

trains, and these engines are the steam engines. A steam engine pulls heat from a high-temperature

reservoir to a low-temperature reservoir, and in the process, work is accomplished. The hot steam
from the high-temperature reservoir makes possible the accomplishment of work, and when the

energy is extracted from the steam, the steam condenses in the low-temperature reservoir,

becoming relatively cool water.

A steam engine is an external combustion engine as opposed to the internal combustion

engine, which at the start of the twentieth century took its place at the forefront of industrial

technology. A steam engine burns its fuel outside the engine, unlike an internal combustion engine.

That fuel can just be firewood, used to heat water and generate steam. The thermal energy of the

steam is then used to power a piston moving inside a cylinder, thus, converting thermal energy to

mechanical energy for purposes such as moving a train.