ANALYSIS

In this experiment, entitled Heat and Calorimetry, we are required to determine the specific heat of metals and the latent heat of fusion of ice using a common insulating material, the calorimeter. In the first part of the experiment, the mass of the following are measured: the two metals (aluminum and copper), the inner calorimeter and the water in the calorimeter. We immersed the metal in the boiling water, allowing it to absorb for a long time for it to attain its heat absorption limit and to heat up the calorimeter when transferred. Before we put the hot metal to the calorimeter, its initial temperature is being measured. We obtain a temperature of 62oC for Aluminum and 63oC for Copper. The initial temperature of water is also measured and we obtain a temperature of 28oC for Aluminum sample and 29.75oC for Copper sample. After taking some data, we immediately put the hot metal in the water in calorimeter and measure the final temperature of each of the metals, obtaining 29oC and 30oC respectively. It is evident that Copper dissipates more heat than that of the Aluminum. These results clearly explained on why Copper has a small specific heat which can easily raise the temperature with just small amount of heat. In part 2 of the experiment, some parts are similar procedures from part 1 but we are asked to get the latent heat of fusion of ice. Before we put the ice in the calorimeter, we allow enough ice to melt to bring the temperature of the ice water to the melting point of ice and make an assumption of 0oC for the initial temperature. The mass of the ice is obtained by subtracting the total mass from the water and the calorimeter. The latent heat of fusion is computed according to its derived equation and the values obtained for trials 1 and 2 are 83.03 cal/g- Co and 81.66 cal/g- Co. A source of error in part 1, the fact that Aluminum should have the more absorbed heat than copper, could be the room temperature which affects the measurement of the temperature. But again, as previously discussed, this can be prevented by allowing the metals to absorb heat for a long time, thus, minimizing its errors.

CONCLUSION
After the experiment, I can conclude that a metal has a property that can absorb and dissipate heat. This property, which is the specific heat, depends on most of the metals like the Aluminum and Copper. Also, the specific heat of each metal can only be measured in such temperature-sensitive materials because of its very small actual values that cannot be easily measured on other metals. In the last part of the experiment, a relationship can be seen between the ice and the latent heat. The greater the mass of ice, the lesser its latent heat of fusion. Excess water can affect the mass of the ice, so we should wipe it off first in order to prevent an additional mass to the total mass. This should minimize the error if given concern and not taken for granted. In performing the experiment we should consider some factors in order to not repeat the experiment. First is the knowledge that Aluminum conducts more heat than Copper. Secondly, Copper metals and other metals with low specific heat are usually the ones that dissipate or emit more heat. And lastly, in both experiments, we should focus in measuring the initial and final temperatures.