Members: (31) Quilinguen, Pamela Joy * (32) Reyes, Kevin Bryan (33) Reyes, Klevin Roger (34) Rosales,

Camille (35) Samonte, Russel (36) Santos, Christine

Group No: 6 Section: 2B-MT

Date Performed: September 6, 2011 Date Submitted: September 13, 2011

Experiment No. 7 Specific Heat of Metals

Abstract: If an object is brought into thermal contact with another object that is at different temperature, heat will flow out of the object that is hotter and into that which is cooler. As a result, the thermal energy of the hotter object will decrease and that of the cooler object will increase. Heat will continue to flow until both objects attain the same temperature or thermal equilibrium. In this experiment, the specific heat of metal (aluminum) is measured by immersing an aluminum cube of known mass of 42.30 g and initial temperature of 96.0C into the water in the calorimeter of known mass of 220.93 g and initial temperature of 4.0C and measuring the final thermal equilibrium of 8.0C. At thermal equilibrium, the water and the cube are at the same temperature, the heat lost by the cube is equals to the heat gained by the water. Solving for the specific heat of aluminum, the group used c = and obtained 0.249 cal/g C with a 16% percentage error. which was derived from Q =mc T

Guide Questions: 1.) Define the following: a. Heat: In physics and thermodynamics, heat is defined as energy transferred from one body, region, or thermodynamic system to another due to thermal contact when the systems are at different temperatures. It is one of the fundamental processes of energy transfer between physical entities. It is an energy transfer to a body in any other way than work. b. Heat Capacity: It is also known as thermal capacity. It is the measurable physical quantity that characterizes the amount of heat required to change a substances temperature by a given amount.

2.) Why is it desirable to have the water a few degrees colder than room temperature when initial temperature is taken? For best results it is desirable to have the water approximately as many degrees below room temperature when starting the experiment as the mixture will be above room temperature at the end. 3.) Why is the mass of the outer shell of the calorimeter and the insulating ring not included in the data for this experiment? The mass of the outer shell of the calorimeter and the insulating ring is not included in the data for this experiment because we are assuming that the insulator is perfect and therefore, none of the heat is absorbed nor makes it through the insulator into the outer ring. 4.) What does the experiment show about the specific heat of water? The experiment shows that in the specific heat of water, one calorie raises one gram of water to 1C. 5.) How does the heat conductivity of the metal used in this experiment affect the accuracy of the results? Since we are measuring temperature change, we have to wait longer until the temperature settles if the heat conductivity is low. Accuracy will never be attained if there is a heat leakage going on. 6.) Why should the hot metal be dry before it is introduced into the cold water? The hot metal should be dry before it is introduced into the cold water because the water clinging to the metal contains heat too. Since we wanted to get the specific heat of the metal only, the water should be removed to avoid an overestimation. 7.) 837 calories of heat are required to heat 100.00 grams of copper from 10C to 100C. What is the specific heat of copper? Q = mc T c of copper =

c of copper = c of copper =

specific heat of copper = 0.09 cal/g C