Marybeth Brooks Physics Lab III Specific Heat Capacity Lab May 25, 2011 Abstract The specific heat capacity of various metals can be calculated and compared to accepted literature values. Dropping heated metal samples into a calorimeter filled with water and then measuring the change in the temperature of the system accomplished this.
The metal samples were heated in a boiling water bath and were assumed to be at 100 C when they were removed. It was added to a calorimeter and stirrer with a measured mass of room temperature tap water. The temperature was taken through the lid of calorimeter to mitigate heat loss.These temperatures were recorded and used to calculate the specific heat capacity of the metal samples. The specific heat capacity of the aluminum was found to be 1. 44 J/(g*C) and the relative error was found to be 0.
54. The specific heat capacity of the copper sample was found to be 0. 499 J/(g*C) and the relative error was found to be 0. 112.
The specific heat capacity of the iron was found to be 0. 596 J/(g*C) and the relative error was found to be 0. 148. The values found for the copper and the iron were slightly higher than the accepted literature value but still rather close.The value found for the aluminum was much higher than the accepted.
Sample Calculations -see attached sheet. Data Analysis Table of Data collected to measure specific heat capacity. | |Aluminum |Copper |Iron | |Metal mass, g |21. 84 |72. 04 |63. 21 | |Initial Metal Temp, C |100 |100 |100 | |Initial Temp of System, C |21.
5 |21. |20. 5 | |Final Temp of System, C |23. 3 |24. 7 |23.
6 | |Mass of H2O, g |155. 0 |118. 0 |171. 19 | |Mass of Calorimeter and Stirrer,|91.
67 |91. 67 |91. 67 | |g | | | | |Mass of Cal, Stir, and H2O, g |246. 7 |209. 65 |262.
86 | |Calculated Specific Heat |1. 44 |0. 499 |0. 596 | |Capacity, J/(g*C) | | | | |Lit. Value Specific Heat |0.
900 |0. 387 |0. 448 | |Capacity, J/(g*C) | | | |Error Analysis One possible source of error in this experiment was that all the metal samples for the class were placed in the same boiling water. The masses were taken first for each group and then placed into the water bath. The individual metal samples may have had slightly varying masses and therefore could have skewed the results. Another possible source of error may have come from the transfer of the samples to the calorimeter.
It was difficult to quickly move the sample without exposure to the cold classroom. A large source of error was also determined when the calculations of heat for the components took place.The initial temperatures for the water and the calorimeter were not measured and an average room temperature of 20 C was used for the calculations. This could have caused the error in the heat capacity calculations. Conclusion The heat capacity for the various metals was effectively attained in this lab.
The values attained were not exact but a more precisely designed experiment could be designed with tighter controls on the temperatures of all system components. The use of the calorimeter in calculating the total heat lost/gained in the experiment was successful.
