HEAT CAPACITY OF METAL BLOCK & SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY OF OIL BY MIXTURES

i. HEAT CAPACITY OF A METAL BLOCK

ii. SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY OF OIL, BY MIXTURES

APPARATUS
Large mass of metal (about 0.2kg) A, beaker B, copper calorimeter C in insulating jacket D, copper stirrer E,
tripod, gauze, burner, chemical balance, weights, oil (e.g paraffin or castrolite), thread, stop-watch,
thermometer 0-100oC
B

Figure 1: Set up

i. HEAT CAPACITY OF METAL

METHOD
Fill the beaker B with some water, place the metal A inside it, and boil the water, meanwhile, weigh the
calorimeter and stirrer, fill it a bout one-half with tap water, and re-weigh. Take the temperature of the water
in the calorimeter. Take the temperature of the boiling water, and then quickly transfer metal A to the water
in the calorimeter C. Observe the water temperature every 10s until it reaches a maximum and then drops
several degrees below the maximum reached.

MEASUREMENTS
Mass of calorimeter + stirrer m1 (c1 =… Jkg-1K-1) =…kg
Mass of calorimeter + stirrer + water m1 + mass of A =…kg
Initial water temperature t1 =…0C
Final temperature observed =…0C
Final temperature, corrected for cooling t2 =…0C
Temperature of boiling water t =…0C

COOLING CORRECTION
Suppose it took a time x for the water to reach its final temperature when the hot metal was dropped in; then,
approximately, the cooling correction is the temperature drop from the maximum temperature in a time x/2.
Since a metal is a good conductor, it gives up its heat quickly, and the cooling correction may therefore be
negligible.

CALCULATION
Heat lost by metal = Heat gained by water and calorimeter + stirrer. If C is the heat capacity of the metal and
m the mass of water of specific heat capacity
Cw (=4200J/kg/K), then;
…..proceed with calculation of heat capacity of metal…….

CONCLUSION

The heat capacity of the metal was found to be …J/K

1
ERRORS (possible sources)

1. Heat lost by the hot metal on transferring it to the calorimeter;

2. Some hot water is carried over with the metal;
3. Observations of the temperature (e. g. 16.4+ 0.20c) and mass (e. g 194+ 194.6+ 0.1 x 10-3kg )

ORDER OF ACCURACY

ii. SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY OF OIL

METHOD

Add some water to the beaker, place the metal A inside it, and heat the water until it boils. Meanwhile weigh
the calorimeter, fill it about one-half with the oil, and re-weigh. Observe the oil temperature. Take the
temperature of the boiling water, and then quickly transfer A to the oil. Observe the time taken for the oil to
reach its maximum temperature, and then find the temperature drop θ, in half this time. This is the cooling
correction

MEASUREMENTS

Mass of calorimeter m1 + stirrer (c1 =…Jkg-1K-1) =…kg

Mass of calorimeter + oil m1 + stirrer +Mass of A =…kg
Initial oil temperature t1 =…0C
Final temperature, corrected for cooling t2 =…0C
Temperature of boiling water t =…0C
Heat capacity of metal (C) from previous experiment =…JK-1

CALCULATION

Heat loss by metal = Heat gained by oil and calorimeter. If c is the oil’s specific heat capacity and m is the
mass of the oil, then with m and m1 in kg, calculate c from

C x (t-t1) = (mc + m1c1) (t2 – t1)

CONCLUSION

The specific heat capacity (c) of the oil was found to be…J/kg/K

ERRORS AND ORDER OF ACCURACY

….find out….