The Finding out the specific heat capacity of a

aluminium cylinder
Introduction: My objective is to conduct an experiment to determine an
aluminium cylinder's specific heat capacity. Using a Vernier heat sensor to
which I will link my Surface Pro device, which has Logger Pro installed. A
digital reading with a few decimal places is produced by the usage of the
thermal sensor. I discovered that after a while of inserting the thermal heater,
the water's temperature begins to increase. After that, the temperature
continues to climb consistently at a similar rate.

Research question : To determine the specific heat capacity of aluminium

cylinder.
Observations:
As I started off my experiment I had to connect the thermal heater with a
power pack which I connected to a voltmeter and an ammeter which helped
me to gather the values of the voltage and the current provided to the thermal
heater. I had to measure the starting voltage, current and temperature to start
of my experiment. I also measured the mass of the aluminium cylinder. Then I
calculated the final voltage and current to find the average voltage and
current.
My values for the average velocity was: 8.635V
My value for the average current was: 3.225A
Starting temperature: 23.1℃

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Above figure showing the apparatus for the experiment (https://www.elevise.co.uk/g-o-gp-h-p1-s1-q16-a.html)

2
Figure 1 –Graph showing Temperature Vs Time

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Graph analysis: From the above graph there are certain things we can
observe. Firstly, the temperature doesn’t increase immediately. This is due to
the fact of water’s high heat capacity. It takes time to overcome the heat. Now
from the graph we can see that there is a steady increase in temperature.
With the help of the steady increase I can calculate the gradient of the graph
y 2− y 1 rise
with the equation this basically represents the . From the formula I
x 2−x 1 run
can find the gradient as 2.0 ℃/min . This means that the temperature of water
was being increased by 2°C every minute. From the graph we can also see
that after some time there starts to be a curve which foreshadows show
temperature increase.

Now we can calculate the specific heat capacity with the help of equations as
below:

Firstly, the power transferred by an electrical current is:

P=VI

As the physics equation for finding the electrical energy is:

E=Pt

Hence we can get the equation below:

E=VIt

Where E is energy (J), V is Voltage (V), I is the current (A) and t is the time in
(sec)
E=mc ∆ T

Where E is energy (J), m is mass (g), c is the specific heat capacity ( Kg℃
J
)
and ∆ T is in ℃
Therefore,

VIt=mc ∆T

I will be needing an average voltage and average current In order to calculate

the specific heat capacity.
Formula to calculate average voltage:

4
 V 1+V 2
2
8.62+8.65
=8.635 V
2

Formula to calculate the average current:

( I 1+ I 2 )
2
3.21+ 3.24
=3.225 A
2

In order to find change in temperature I need to do the following:

Temperature at the end−Temperature at the start

As I put in the values I get:

61.1−23.1=38 ℃

To calculate time I need to convert minutes into seconds:

20 ×60=1200

Mass of the aluminium cylinder was 1018.31 g

As I put in the values of the equation:

8.635 V ×3.225 A ×1200 sec ¿ 1018.31 g × c ×38 ℃

Now I will make c the subject

( 8.635V × 3.225 A ×1200 sec )
=c
1018.13 g × 38℃

We can now calculate it to get c=0.863746848 ( g J℃ )

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As the required 2 significant figures:

0.86 ( g J℃ )(2 S . sf .)
Calculating the percentage uncertainty:
The real value of specific heat capacity of aluminium is 0.89J/g°C.
To calculate percentage uncertainty:
0.89−0.86
×100=3.3707 %
0.89

Absolute uncertainty: 0.033707 x 0.89 = 0.03 J/g°C

To conclude, I have used a immersion heater to heat up the water and then
heat up the aluminium cylinder. I have used a Vernier temperature sensor to
measure the temperature which is connected to my surface pro. This helps to
give me precise results. I have then taken the values obtained from the
experiment and then used equation VIt =mc ∆T to calculate the specific heat
capacity. I have successfully managed to gain a value for specific heat
capacity of the aluminium cylinder. I have got 0.86J/g°C. The official value of
the specific heat capacity of aluminium is 0.89J/g°C.

Evaluation:
I was able to calculate the specific heat capacity and reach a reliable
conclusion by using a method that was acceptable for this inquiry. The data
quality was excellent for the data range that was obtained, but the time range
could not be increased because the aluminium cylinder would become too hot
and pose a risk to the student. The time it took to heat up was another factor
in why a wider range of temperatures was not collected. I could have waited
until the maximum temperature is reached and the temperature rise isn’t
anymore. This could have provided me more data and have extended the
experiment even more. However, because I was unable to determine the
specific heat capacity of aluminium in an absolute value, there were
undoubtedly some mistakes committed when carrying out the experiment.

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Strengths
I have used an insulation around the
cylinder to make sure the heat does
not escape.
I have found the value of aluminium
cylinder to two decimal places.
I have made sure that logger pro
was measuring the temperature at
about 7 times per minute.
I made sure to not mess with the
temperature sensor while executing
the experiment.
Weakness
I didn’t put an insulation over the
cylinder which meant some heat did
escape from the cylinder.
The weighing scale may not have
been set to absolute zero which
mislead the experiment to get the
mass of the cylinder a bit extra than
expected.
7 times per minute is good to
measure but if more values were to
be collected then it would mean that
more precise values are available.
If there was some messing with the
temperature sensor I would have
obtained anomalies and this would
have led to wrong temperature
changes and therefore wrong value
for specific heat capacity.

There are some risk hazards included in this experiment such as:
1. The aluminium cylinder is hot so make sure that you are not touching it
until a while after the experiment.
2. We are using. So make sure that there are no water spills on the ground
to prevent any slippery conditions.
3. The cylinder is heavy as well which makes it dangerous if it is rolled
around the table or if dropped on legs it will lead to dangerous injuries.
Ways I could have improved my experiment:
1. Made sure the weighing scale is at absolute zero before putting the
aluminium cylinder on it.
2. Made sure the temperature sensor from the start to the end was at the
same place and no anomalies are logged.
3. Made sure there was insulation at the top of the cylinder.
4. I could have done this experiment again to find the same values to get
an average of the specific heat capacity.
5. I could have made sure that the immersion heater is entirely in the
cylinder and none of it is coming out.