Physics Lab Activity—Determination of Specific Heat

Objective: To measure the specific heat of several substances.

Materials: Platform balance, standard masses, thermometer, aluminum calorimeter,

metal specimens, goggles, (Bunsen burner & tongs--teacher only)

Background: The specific heat is a measure of how much heat energy is needed to
increase the temperature of a unit of mass by one temperature unit.

Procedure: Read through the entire procedure first. Then proceed with step one.

1. Measure the mass of the inner cup of the calorimeter and record this value in
your data table. (It is not necessary to remove the black ring that separates the
inner cup from the outer cup, but make sure the cup is dry)
2. Fill the inner cup to a depth of around 2-3 cm with tap water.
3. Measure the mass of the calorimeter cup and the water, then calculate the mass
of the water. Record your data.
4. Assemble the calorimeter cup.
5. Record the temperature of the water just before coming up to get the metal
specimen. Measure all temperatures to the nearest 0.1oC.
6. Wearing goggles, bring the assembled calorimeter to the front of the room to get
the metal specimen.
7. Replace the calorimeter lid and stir the water gently while monitoring the
temperature. The temperature of the water should rise several degrees as the
system reaches thermal equilibrium. This may take about a minute.
8. Make another very precise measurement of the final temperature and record it in
the data table.
9. Remove the inner cup from the calorimeter and measure the mass of the cup, the
water, and the metal specimen. Use this to calculate the mass of the specimen.
10. Use the law of heat exchange to determine the specific heat of the metal
specimen, showing your work in the space provided.
11. Refer to the table of accepted specific heat values and attempt to identify what
type of specimen you received. (The appearance of the metal may also aid your
identification). Record the name of the material, and the accepted specific heat
value.
12. Calculate percentage error.
13. If time permits, conduct a new trial with a different specimen.

Conclusion:
After completing the lab, don’t forget to answer the conclusion questions at the end of
the student data sheet!
Determination of Specific Heat Name__________________
Student Worksheet Date_____Per___Table___

Data:

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4

Mass of calorimeter
cup (kg)

Mass of cup &

water (kg)

Mass of water (kg)

Initial temperature
of water

Initial temperature
100.0oC 100.0oC 100.0oC 100.0oC
of specimen

Final equilibrium
temperature

Mass of cup, water,

& specimen

Mass of specimen

Show calculations of specific heat here (including heat exchange diagrams)

Results:
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4
Calculated specific
heat (J/kg/oC)

I think my specimen
is . . .
Accepted value of
specific heat
(J/kg/oC)

Percent error

Table of Specific Heats (J/kg/oC)

Water 4180 Gold 310 Graphite 710
Aluminum 897 Tin 210 Glass 840
Platinum 130 Copper 390 Asphalt 920
Beryllium 1830 Iron 460 Air 1005
Brass 377 Bananas 3350 Wood 1700
Goose 2550 Bacon 1510 Bone 440

Conclusion: Answer the following questions in complete sentences on your own

paper.

1. Discuss your results. Did the calculated values agree reasonably well with the
accepted values? Did your accuracy improve as you did additional trials?

2. Identify some possible systematic errors for this lab that could affect the accuracy
of your results.

3. How many significant digits were you able to keep in your temperature
measurements? How many should you keep after calculating the change of
temperature for the water and the calorimeter? (This is why it was important to
make the temperature measurements as precisely as possible)

4. Calories are another commonly used unit of heat energy. Use the conversion
factor 1.0 J = 0.239 cal to convert the specific heat of water to cal/g/oC. Why might
this be a convenient unit to use?

BONUS: Advanced Error Analysis. Go to the website to see the three 1 point Bonus
Questions!
A. One possible source of systematic error in this activity is loss of heat from the system as
the metal specimen is transferred to the calorimeter, and while waiting for it to reach
equilibrium. Would this effect lead to your results being lower or higher than the accepted
values? Were your results consistently shifted in that direction?

B. Suppose that metal specimen cooled off by 8.0 oC while being transferred to the
calorimeter. By what percentage would this change your results? Now figure out the
maximum error caused by measuring the initial and final temperature of the water to within +/-
0.5oC.

C. When the specimen is transferred to the calorimeter it is not dry, so some water at approx.
100oC is also part of the system. Estimate the amount of mass of water on the hot specimen
(you may want to make a simple measurement to improve your estimate!) and figure out how
much this might affect your result. Given your answers to A, B, & C do you feel like your
percentage errors are reasonable for this activity? Discuss what you feel are the most
important procedural modifications if you wanted to improve the precision and accuracy of
you results.