Thermodynamic Lab : Specific Heat Of Metal

JULKARNAIN BIN IDRIS

BK17160246

Group 4

HK08 Mechanical Engineering

Faculty Of Engineering

Universiti Malaysia Sabah

Content

Table Of Content
No. Title Page
1 Introduction 1
2 Objectives 4
3 Procedures 4
4 Equipment 4
5 Setup Of Apparatus 5
6 Result And Discussion 6
7 Conclusion 7
8 References 8
9 Appendices 9
Introduction

When a substance is heated, the motion of its individual particles increases, resulting in an
increase in temperature. The more heat that is added per gram of substance, the greater the
temperature change. The relationship between the heat added, the mass of a substance, and
the temperature change it undergoes is known as specific heat.

Specific heat is defined as the amount of energy necessary to produce a temperature change of
1°C per gram of substance. The specific heats of different substances vary, and therefore this
quantity may be useful in identifying an unknown.

The measurement of heat changes is called calorimetry. In this lab, calorimetry will be used to
determine the specific heat of an unknown metal. This will be done using a coffee cup
calorimeter containing water.

A calorimeter is insulated so as to minimize any loss of energy to the surroundings. Therefore,

when a heated piece of metal is placed into the calorimeter, all of the energy should be
accounted for. In other words, the energy released from the metal should be gained by the
water, with no loss to the surroundings. This is based on the Law of Conservation of Energy,
which states that energy is neither created nor destroyed. We will assume no heat loss to the
calorimeter.

There are five measurements that must be made to determine the specific heat of the unknown
metal:

1. Determine the mass of the piece of metal.

2. Heat the metal piece to a known temperature and measure this

temperature precisely. This is the initial temperature of the metal.

3. Determine the mass of the water in a calorimeter.

4. Measure the temperature of the water in the calorimeter. This is the

initial temperature of the water.

5. Place the metal piece into the water of the calorimeter and measure the highest temperature
reached by the water. This is the final temperature of both the metal and the water.

3
The energy change of water is calculated by rearranging the specific heat equation. The specific
heat of water is 1.00 calorie/gram°C.

Since the energy gained by the water equals the energy released by the metal, the specific heat
of the metal is calculated as follows:

In this experiment, you will use a coffee cup calorimeter to measure the specific heat (specific
heat capacity) of a metal. You will then compare your experimental value to the known value,
and calculate percent error. Specific heat, an intensive property, can be used to identify a
substance. It is defined as the amount of energy, measured in either calories or joules, needed
to raise the temperature of 1 gram of a substance by one Celsius degree.

A calorimeter is an insulated container which is used to measure energy changes. The

calorimeter is insulated to reduce the amount of heat loss to or from the surroundings. In a
calorimeter, heat is transferred from a hotter substance (metal) to a cooler one (water), and a
temperature change is observed of the water. If we assume no heat is lost to the surroundings,
and that the water and metal end up at the same temperature. In equation form, the sum of the
thermal energy changes is zero:

qwater + qmetal = 0

This assumes that no heat is lost to the surroundings or absorbed by the calorimeter. We can
neglect this heat in this laboratory because it will be close to zero. In words, we can rewrite this
equation as:

Heat gained by the water = Heat lost by the metal

qwater = - qmetal

Since we will measure the mass of the metal, the mass of the water in the calorimeter, the initial
and final temperatures of the water and the metal; and we know the specific heat of water, we
can then substitute into the equation above and solve for the specific heat of the metal:

[Mass of the water (g) x Specific Heat of water (4.184 J/g deg. C) x ΔT of the water] =

- [Mass of the metal (g) x Specific Heat of the metal x ΔT of the metal]

4
Theory

If you mix hot and cold water together, the temperature of the final mixture will be between the
two temperatures of the component liquids. The exact value of the final temperature depends on
how much hot water is added to how much cold water and the specific temperatures of each of
the liquids. If you throw a hot branding iron into a pail of cool water, you know that the
temperature of the iron will go down. You also know that the temperature of the water will rise--
but will its rise in temperature be more, less, or the same as the temperature drop of the iron?
That is, will the temperature of the water rise as much as the temperature of the iron goes
down? Or will the changes of temperature instead depend on the relative masses and the
thermal properties of the iron and the water?

In this experiment, you are going to investigate the quantity of heat per gram per
degree(Celsius), known as the specific heat.. Water has a specific heat of 1.00 cal/g°C--
relatively large compared to most substances.

The heat (Q) lost by a specimen, say a piece of metal, submerged in water equals the heat (Q)
gained by the water and by the container. In this experiment we will neglect the heat absorbed
by the Styrofoam container as it is negligible.

5
Objectives

❖ In this laboratory activity we understand the calorimetry measurement.

❖ To determine the specific heat of three metals compare with the accepted value by the
method of calorimetry.

Procedures

1) Place three metals samples into a beaker of water and heat it to at least 70 degree Celsius.
IT DOES NOT BOIL! Use as little water as possible, making sure to completely cover all three
samples.

2) Pour a measured mass of cold tap water into each of the Styrofoam cups. Measure the initial
temperature of water.

3) Quickly remove the metal samples from the hot water and place them into separate
Styrofoam cups of water. (Measure the initial temperature of metal by measuring the
temperature of the water). Be sure the metal is entirely immersed. Place a lid on the cup and
wait a few minutes for the water and metal to achieve thermal equilibrium. Measure the final
temperature.

4) Determine the heat gained by the water. Which is equal to the heat lost by the metal.

5) Knowing the heat lost by the metal, its mass and its change in temperature, can calculate the
specific heat of the metal.

6) Look up the accepted value of the specific heat and calculate a percent error.

Equipment

i. Digital Scale

ii. Water heater

iii. Set of metals

iv. Stainless Steel Gripper

v. Thermometer

vi. Calorimeter (Styrofoam cup)

vii. Container (2)

6
Setup Of Apparatus

Figure 1.0 shows the apparatus setup for the experiment

Commercial solution calorimeters are also available. Relatively inexpensive calorimeters often
consist of two thin-walled cups that are nested in a way that minimizes thermal contact during
use, along with an insulated cover, handheld stirrer, and simple thermometer. More expensive
calorimeters used for industry and research typically have a well-insulated, fully enclosed
reaction vessel, motorized stirring mechanism, and a more accurate temperature sensor.

7
Results And Discussion

Trial #

1 2 3

Name of metal Aluminium Brass Copper

Mass of cold water (g) 203.883-100.494 191.365-42.853 213.546-67.957

=103.389 =148.512 =145.589

Initial temp. of cold water 27 27 28

(°C)

Mass of metal (g) 17.604 175.250 175.480

Initial temp. of metal(°C) 85 84 84

Final temp of metal and 30 31 32

cold water (°C)

Change in temp. of water 3 4 4

(°C)

Heat gain by water (cal.) 310.167 594.048 582.356

Heat lost by metal = _ -310.167 -594.048 -582.356

heat gained by
water(cal.)

Change in temp. of metal 55 53 52

(°C)

EXPERIMENTAL specific 0.0545 0.0755 0.0769

heat of metal (cal./g.°C)

ACCEPTED specific heat 0.21 0.09 0.09

of metal (cal/g.°C)

Percent error 74.05% 16.11% 14.56%

Table above shows the results of the experiment. For aluminum, with mass of cold water
103.389g and change in temperature of metal 55°C, the experimental specific heat of aluminum
is 0.0545 cal./g.°C. For brass, with mass of cold water 148.512g and change in temperature of
metal 53°C, the experimental specific heat of brass is 0.0755 cal./g.°C. For copper, with mass of
cold water 145.589g and change in temperature of metal 52°C, the experimental specific heat of
copper is 0.0769 cal./g.°C. When these results were being compared to the accepted specific
heat of metal which is 0.21 cal./g.°C for aluminum, 0.09 cal./g.°C for brass and 0.09 cal./g.°C for

8
copper, percent error of 74.05% were obtained for aluminum, 16.11% error for brass and
14.65% for copper.

There are a number of reasons why the result gained for brass is inaccurate. There could have
been human error during the experiment; the metal may have not been left in the beaker of
boiling water for long enough, thus not enabling it to reach the same temperature as the water.
Also the time it took to transfer the metal from the beaker of boiling water into the calorimeter
may have been too long, thus letting it cool slightly. Whilst the metal was submerged in the
water inside the calorimeter, the water may have not been stirred enough, thus the heat energy
of the brass might not have transferred properly in the water. Also, whilst the brass was in the
calorimeter, the temperature of the water may not have been allowed to reach a steady
maximum temperature, thus the wrong final temperature was noted, affecting the calculation.

Conclusion

To conclude the experiment, resources of errors must be identified. During the experiment, the
calorimeter wasn’t stirred well. This might influence the separation of cooling temperature in the
experiment. Also, the temperature measured only the center part of the calorimeter. So, it did
not show the whole temperature of all part of calorimeter which could lead to inaccurate data of
temperature recorded.

The specific heat of three metals was determined experimentally. The technique utilized was
calorimetry. A sample of each metal was massed and then heated in a hot water bath. The hot
metal was then poured into a known quantity of water in a calorimeter. The amount of heat
gained by the water was calculated. The heat gained by the water is equal to the heat lost by
the metal. This allows for the calculation of the specific heat of the metal. A sample of
aluminum was determined to have a specific heat of 0.545 cal/g.°C. The accepted value for
aluminum is 0.21 cal/g.°C, which is a 74.05% error. The specific heat of brass was determined
to be 0.0755 cal/g.°C. The accepted value for brass is 0.09 cal/g.°C, which is a 16.11 % error.
The specific heat of copper was determined to be 0,0769 cal/g.°C. The accepted value for
copper is 0.09 cal/g.°C, which is a 14.56% error. Since only one trial was performed for each
metal, the experimental error is large. A better method would be to conduct several trials for
each metal. Another source of error is the volume measurement. The water volume should be
measured using a more precise piece of equipment. The masses should be determined on an
analytical balance capable of measuring to the thousandths place. Other sources of error
include: difficulty reading the thermometer, heat lost to the room due to a crude calorimeter,
human error in transferring the metal shot to the calorimeter. If this experiment were repeated,
the results could be improved by: increasing the number of trials, use of better measuring
devices such as a pipette for volume and an analytical balance for measuring mass. In
conclusion, the specific heats of metal samples can be determined experimentally through the
use of calorimetric methods.

9
References

i. Lab Manual.

ii. en.wikipedia.org.

iii. www.splung.com

iv. Thermodynamics Notes_Chapter 2 Energy And General Energy Analysis_Energy

Transfer By Heat (KM211202- Thermodynamics)
v. Example of Lab Sheet_ Lab Four_Specific heat of a metal
https://www.lssc.edu/faculty/claude_richards/Documents%20%20Downloads/Lab
%2004%20Specific%20Heat%20of%20a%20Metal.pdf
vi. Example of lab report_18b Specific Heat-RGC.doc _ Revised: 4/17/07
http://www.austincc.edu/mmcgraw/Labs_1401/18b%20Specific%20Heat-RGC.pdf

10
Appendices

Calculation of data analysis

For aluminium:

Δ Twater = Tinitial - Tfinal = 30℃- 27℃=3℃

Δ T = Tinitial - Tfinal = 85℃- 30℃= 55℃

Q=mC ΔT = 103.389x1x3 =310.167cal

Q 310. 167
Experimental Specific heat of metal = m×ΔT = 103 .389×55 = 0.0545 cal / g℃

For brass:

Δ Twater = Tinitial - Tfinal = 31℃- 27℃=4℃

Δ T = Tinitial - Tfinal = 84℃- 31℃=53℃

Q=mC ΔT = 148.512x1x4=594.048cal

Q 594 . 048
Experimental Specific heat of metal = m×ΔT = 148 .512×53 =0.0755 cal / g℃

For copper:

Δ Twater = Tinitial - Tfinal = 32℃- 28℃= 4℃

11
 Δ T = Tinitial - Tfinal =84℃- 32℃ = 52℃

Q=mC ΔT =145.589 x1x4= 582.356 cal

Q 582. 356
Experimental Specific heat of metal = m×ΔT = 145 .589 x52 = 0.0769 cal / g℃

Experiment of Specific Heat Of Metal was held in the laboratory

12
Figure above shows data collected after the experiment was done by our group
members.

13