Includes 012-04331E

Teacher's Notes
and
Instruction Manual and 5/94
Typical
Experiment Results Experiment Guide for
the PASCO scientific
Model TD-8551A

MECHANICAL
EQUIVALENT
OF HEAT

© 1990 PASCO scientific $5.00

012-04331E Mechanical Equivalent of Heat

Table of Contents

Section .......................................................................................................... Page

Copyright and Warranty .................................................................................. ii
Equipment Return ............................................................................................ ii
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1
Equipment ........................................................................................................ 1
Measuring Temperature with the Thermistor .................................................. 2
History ............................................................................................................. 2
Operation ......................................................................................................... 3
Measuring the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat:
Experiment................................................................................................. 4
Calculations ............................................................................................... 6
Worksheet .................................................................................................. 7
Maintenace....................................................................................................... 8
Thermistor Specifications:
Temperature versus Resistance ................................................................. 9
Biography: Benjamin Thompson—Count Rumford of Bavaria................... 10
Teacher’s Guide .............................................................................................. 11

i
Mechanical Equivalent of Heat 012-04331E

Copyright, Warranty and Equipment Return

Please—Feel free to duplicate this manual

subject to the copyright restrictions below.

Copyright Notice Equipment Return

The PASCO scientific Model TD-8551A Mechanical Should the product have to be returned to PASCO
Equivalent of Heat manual is copyrighted and all rights scientific for any reason, notify PASCO scientific by
reserved. However, permission is granted to non-profit
letter, phone, or fax BEFORE returning the product.
educational institutions for reproduction of any part of
Upon notification, the return authorization and
this manual providing the reproductions are used only for
their laboratories and are not sold for profit. Reproduc- shipping instructions will be promptly issued.
tion under any other circumstances, without the written
consent of PASCO scientific, is prohibited. ä NOTE: NO EQUIPMENT WILL BE
ACCEPTED FOR RETURN WITHOUT AN
Limited Warranty AUTHORIZATION FROM PASCO.
PASCO scientific warrants this product to be free from
defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one When returning equipment for repair, the units
year from the date of shipment to the customer. PASCO must be packed properly. Carriers will not accept
will repair or replace, at its option, any part of the product responsibility for damage caused by improper
which is deemed to be defective in material or workman- packing. To be certain the unit will not be
ship. This warranty does not cover damage to the product
damaged in shipment, observe the following rules:
caused by abuse or improper use. Determination of
whether a product failure is the result of a manufacturing ➀ The packing carton must be strong enough for the
defect or improper use by the customer shall be made item shipped.
solely by PASCO scientific. Responsibility for the return
of equipment for warranty repair belongs to the cus- ➁ Make certain there are at least two inches of
tomer. Equipment must be properly packed to prevent packing material between any point on the
damage and shipped postage or freight prepaid. (Dam- apparatus and the inside walls of the carton.
age caused by improper packing of the equipment for
return shipment will not be covered by the warranty.)
➂ Make certain that the packing material cannot shift
in the box or become compressed, allowing the
Shipping costs for returning the equipment, after repair,
instrument come in contact with the packing
will be paid by PASCO scientific.
carton.

Address: PASCO scientific

10101 Foothills Blvd.
Roseville, CA 95747-7100

Phone: (916) 786-3800

FAX: (916) 786-3292
email: techsupp@pasco.com
web: www.pasco.com

ii
012-04331E Mechanical Equivalent of Heat

Introduction

The principle of the conservation of energy tells us that if a Aluminum Cylinder

given amount of work is transformed completely into heat, with embedded
the resulting thermal energy must be equivalent to the Thermistor
amount of work that was performed. Of course, since work
is normally measured in units of Joules and thermal energy Counter
is normally measured in units of Calories, the equivalence is
not immediately obvious. A quantitative relationship is
needed that equates Joules and Calories. This relationship is
called the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat. Crank
The PASCO scientific Model TD-8551A Mechanical
Equivalent of Heat apparatus allows accurate determination Nylon Rope
of the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat (to within 5%). The
apparatus is shown in Figure 1. A measurable amount of
work is performed by turning the crank, which turns the
aluminum cylinder. A nylon rope is wrapped several times Mass
around the cylinder so that, as the crank is turned, the (≅ 10 kg)
friction between the rope and the cylinder is just enough to
support a mass hanging from the other end of the rope. This Figure 1 Mechanical Equivalent of Heat Apparatus
insures that the torque acting on the cylinder is constant and resistance of the thermistor, the temperature of the cylinder
measurable. A counter keeps track of the number of turns. can be determined. By monitoring the temperature change of
As the cylinder turns, the friction between the cylinder and the cylinder, the thermal energy transferred into the cylinder
the rope converts the work into thermal energy, which raises can be calculated. Finally, the ratio between the work
the temperature of the aluminum cylinder. A thermistor is performed and the thermal energy transferred into the
embedded in the aluminum so that, by measuring the cylinder determines J, the mechanical equivalent of heat.

Equipment
The TD-8551A Mechanical Equivalent of Heat apparatus • Digital Ohmmeter for measuring the resistance of the ther-
includes the items shown in Figure 2. mistor in the aluminum cylinder. (An analog meter can be
used, but accuracy will be significantly sacrificed.)

Mechanical
MANUAL • Refrigerator (or some ice), for cooling the aluminum cyl-
Instruction inder below room temperature.
Equivalent
Manual
of Heat • known Mass of approximately 10 kg which can be sus-
Apparatus pended from the nylon rope. (The apparatus comes with a
container which can be filled with sand or dirt for the 10 kg
Nylon Rope
mass; if this is done, you will need an accurate balance for
measuring this mass. Of course, you can fill the container
Powdered Mass by adding sand in measured increments of 1-2 kg.)
Graphite Container • Thermometer for measuring room temperature is conven-
ient, though the thermistor can be used for this purpose.
Rubber Band • Calipers and a Balance for measuring the mass and diame-
ter of the aluminum cylinder if you wish these measure-
Figure 2 Equipment ments to be part of the experimental process. (Approximate
values are Mass: 200 ± 1.5 grams; Diameter: 4.763 ± 0.02
➤ IMPORTANT: In addition to the Mechanical cm; Diameter including thickness of nylon rope:
Equivalent of Heat apparatus, several other items are
4.94 ± 0.05 cm. These values can be used, but there is
needed to measure the mechanical equivalent of heat.
some variation, so your results will be more accurate if you
These items include:
make the measurements yourself.)
1
Mechanical Equivalent of Heat 012-04331E

Measuring Temperature with the Thermistor

Slip Rings soldered to the copper slip rings (see Figure 3) on the side of
To the cylinder. The brushes provide an electrical connection
Ohmmeter
Banana between the slip rings and the banana plug connectors. By
Jacks plugging an ohmmeter into these connectors, the resistance
of the thermistor, and therefore it's temperature, can be
monitored, even when the cylinder is turning.

Brushes
Although the temperature dependence of the thermistor is
accurate and reliable, it is not linear. You will therefore
Figure 3 Measuring the Cylinder Temperature need to use the table of Temperature versus Resistance that
To measure the temperature of the aluminum cylinder, a is affixed to the base of the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat
thermistor is embedded inside. A thermistor is a tempera- apparatus to convert your resistance measurements into
ture dependent resistor. If the resistance of the thermistor is temperature readings. A more complete version of this
known, its temperature can be very accurately and reliably table, covering a greater temperature range, is given at the
determined. The leads of the thermistor in the cylinder are end of this manual.

History

It may not seem strange to us today that there is a thing his reasoning a step further, stating his belief that only if
called energy that is conserved in all physical interactions. heat were a form of motion would it demonstrate the
Energy is a concept we have all grown up with. A hundred properties he had observed.
and fifty years ago it was not so evident that there should be
It was not until the experiments of Joule in 1850, however,
an intimate, quantitative relationship between such appar-
that Rumford's ideas about the nature of heat gained popular
ently unrelated phenomena as motion and heat. The
acceptance. Joule performed a variety of experiments in
discovery that heat and motion can be seen as different
which he converted a carefully measured quantity of work,
forms of the same thing—namely energy—was the first and
through friction, into an equally carefully measured quantity
biggest step toward understanding the concept of energy
of heat. For example, in one experiment Joule used falling
and its conservation.
masses to propel a paddle wheel in a thermally insulated,
Count Rumford of Bavaria, in 1798, was the first to realize water-filled container. Measurements of the distance
that work and heat were related phenomena. At that time, it through which the masses fell and the temperature change
was commonly believed that heat resulted from the flow of of the water allowed Joule to determine the work performed
a massless fluid-like substance called caloric. It was and the heat produced. With many such experiments, Joule
believed that this substance resided in objects, and that demonstrated that the ratio between work performed and
when they were cut, ground, or otherwise divided into heat produced was constant. In modern units, Joule's results
smaller pieces, the pieces could not hold as much caloric as are stated by the expression:
the original object. The resulting release of caloric was
1 calorie = 4.186 Joule.
what we experience as heat.
Joule's results were within 1% of the value accepted today.
While boring cannon for the Bavarian government,
(The calorie is now defined as equal to 4.184 Joule.)
Rumford noticed that heat was produced even when the
boring equipment had become so dulled from use that it was It was this series of experiments that led Joule, along with
no longer boring into the iron. The heat therefore was not several others, to the more general theory that energy is
dependent on the breaking up of the metal into smaller conserved in all physical processes.
pieces. In fact, this meant that a limitless amount of heat
could be produced from the iron and boring equipment, an
idea that was inconsistent with the belief that heat was the
result of the release of a substance that resided in the ➤ NOTE: See the short biography at the end of
material. Rumford realized that a connection existed this manual for more information on the life of
between the motion of the bore and the heat. He even took Benjamin Thompson—Count Rumford, of Bavaria.

2
012-04331E Mechanical Equivalent of Heat

Operation

Step by step instructions for using the Mechanical

Equivalent of Heat Apparatus are given on the following Aluminum Cylinder
pages. However, the apparatus will last longer and give
better results if you follow the guidelines listed below:
➀ Before performing the experiment, spray the surface
of the aluminum cylinder lightly with the included dry
powdered graphite. Dry powdered
graphite
The graphite ensures that the rope slides smoothly on
the cylinder, making it easier to provide a steady, Figure 4 Lubricate Cylinder
even torque, and greatly decreasing the wear on the
aluminum cylinder.
Be sure the table is level.
After several applications, the friction rope will be-
come impregnated, so you needn't continue to apply
the lubricant at every use.
➁ Mount the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat on a
level table.
If the apparatus is not level the rope will tend to slip
and bunch up on the cylinder, which makes it difficult
to maintain a steady torque.
➂ When turning the crank, never raise the mass higher
than about 3 cm from the floor (no higher than you
would care to have it fall on your little toe).
If the mass is raised higher, the crank can snap back Figure 5 Level Table
when released, which is not healthy for the equip-
ment, or for nearby people. Also, if it is allowed to
climb, the rope will likely start overlapping the next
turn which makes it climb even higher, producing a
dangerous situation

Do not raise mass

more than about 3
centimeters above
floor.

Figure 6 Don't Raise Mass too High

3
Mechanical Equivalent of Heat 012-04331E

Experiment: Measuring the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat

➤ IMPORTANT: Unscrew Knob and remove Cylinder

➀ For best results, read this procedure through thoroughly before
attempting the experiment
➁ A tube of powdered graphite lubricant is supplied with the
equipment. Spraying the aluminum cylinder lightly with this
before beginning the experiment will greatly reduce the wear
on the aluminum surface.
➤ NOTE: An experimental worksheet is provided at the end of
this section for recording data and calculations.
➀ Clamp the apparatus securely to the edge of a level table or
bench, as shown in Figure 7.
➁ Unscrew the black knob and remove the aluminum cylinder. Figure 7 Clamp to Table and
Place the cylinder in a refrigerator or freezer, or pack it in ice, Remove Cylinder
to bring the temperature down to at least 10 C° below room
temperature.
The cylinder is cooled so that, when it is heated by friction, the midpoint of the high and low
temperatures will be at room temperature. In the first half of the experiment, therefore, heat
will be transferred from the room air into the cooler cylinder. As the cylinder heats beyond
room temperature though, heat will be transferred out of the cylinder back into the room
atmosphere. By letting the change in cylinder temperature be symmetrical about the room
temperature, the quantity of heat transferred to and from the cylinder and room should be
approximately equal.
➂ While the cylinder is cooling, plan the desired temperature variation of the experiment. Ideally,
the temperature variation of the cylinder should be from 7-9 C° below room temperature to the
same amount above room temperature. Therefore, measure and record the room temperature,
and then determine and record the initial and final temperatures you wish the cylinder to reach
during the experiment. (You can record your data on the data sheet provided at the end of this
section.)
➃ Using the table of Resistance versus Temperature for the thermistor, determine the resistance
value which will correspond to each of your recorded temperatures. (A table covering most
temperature ranges is listed on the apparatus. A more complete table can be found near the end
of this manual.) Also determine the resistance measurement which corresponds to 1 C° below
the final temperature. You will want to start cranking more slowly as the temperature ap-
proaches this point, so that the final, equilibrium temperature will be close to your chosen final
temperature.
➄ When the cylinder is sufficiently cool, slide it back on the crank shaft. Be sure that the copper
plated board is facing toward the crank. Also make sure that the pins on the drive shaft fit into
the slots on the plastic ring on the cylinder, then replace the black knob and tighten securely.
➅ Plug the leads of the ohmmeter into the banana plug connectors as shown in Figure 8. Set the
ohmmeter to a range that is appropriate to the thermistor resistances that correspond to your
chosen temperature range.
➆ Wrap the nylon rope several turns around the aluminum cylinder (4-6 turns should work well)
as shown in Figure 9. Be sure that the rope lies flat against the cylinder and hangs down the
slot provided in the base plate. Tie one end of the rope, the end nearest to the crank, to the 10
kg mass as shown.
4
012-04331E Mechanical Equivalent of Heat

➤NOTE: When the cylinder is cold, water may Ohmmeter

condense on its surface. Dry the cylinder Banana Plug
Connectors
thoroughly with a cloth or paper towel before
wrapping the rope, so that all of the heat goes
into heating the cylinder and not into evaporating
the condensed water.

⑧ Set the counter to zero by turning the black knob

on the counter.
⑨ Watch the ohmmeter carefully. When the
resistance reaches the value corresponding to
your starting temperature, start cranking (clock-
wise, facing the crank side of the apparatus).

➤ IMPORTANT: There should be only enough Figure 8 Hook up the Ohmmeter

turns of rope around the cylinder so that the
frictional pull on the rope is just enough to lift the 3 - 6 Turns of Rope Cylinder (front view)
hanging mass about 3 cm off the floor - no Constant
higher! To accomplish this, wrap the rope three Tension on
or four turns and crank. Add turns as needed to free end
support the mass while cranking with only very
slight tension on the free end. Attach the rubber Rubber Band
band to the free end of the rope. Now, without
cranking and while keeping the rope taught by Base
the rubber band, tie the other end of the rubber Hanging Mass
band to the eyebolt on the baseplate. If you find on this end
that the large hanging mass continues to rise
more than 3 cm as you turn the crank, remove
Friction
one turn from the cylinder nearest the free end. If Rope
the large hanging mass continues to rest on the
floor, add another turn of rope around the
cylinder at the free end.
Hanging
Mass
Crank rapidly until the temperature indicated by
the thermistor is 1° C less than your designated
stopping temperature, then crank very slowly
while watching the ohmmeter. When the Figure 9 Add Friction Rope and Hanging Mass
temperature reaches your stopping value, stop
cranking. Continue watching the ohmmeter until the thermistor temperature reaches a maximum
(the resistance will be a minimum) and starts to drop. Record the highest temperature attained as
your final temperature.
➉ Record N, the number on the counter—the number of full turns of the crank.
11 Measure and record m, the mass of the aluminum cylinder.
12 With a pair of calipers, measure D, the diameter of the aluminum cylinder. Record the radius of the
cylinder in the worksheet (R = D ).
2

5
Mechanical Equivalent of Heat 012-04331E

Calculations

Calculating W, the Work Performed

The work performed on the cylinder by turning the crank equals τ, the torque acting on
the cylinder, times θ, the total angle through which the torque acts. It would be difficult
to directly measure the torque delivered by the crank. However, since the motion of the
cylinder is more or less constant through the experiment, we know that the torque
provided by the crank must just balance the torque provided by the friction from the
rope. The torque provided by the rope friction is easily calculated. It is just:
τ = MgR
where M is the mass hanging from the rope, g is the acceleration due to gravity, and R is the
radius of the cylinder.
Each time the crank is turned one full turn, this torque is applied to the cylinder through an
angle 2π. The total work performed therefore is:
W = τθ = MgR (2πN);

where M is the mass hanging from the rope;

g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s2);
R is the radius of the aluminum cylinder;
and N is the total number of times the crank was turned.

Calculating Q, the Heat produced

The heat (Q) produced by friction against the aluminum cylinder can be determined from the
measured temperature change that occurred. The calculation is:
Q = m c (Tf - Ti);
where m is the mass of the aluminum cylinder;
c is the specific heat of aluminum (0.220 cal/gC∞);
Tf is the final temperature of the cylinder;
and Ti is the initial temperature of the cylinder, just before cranking.

Calculating J, the Mechanical Equivalent of Heat

J is just the ratio of the work performed to the heat produced. Therefore:
J = W/Q

6
012-04331E Mechanical Equivalent of Heat

Worksheet

Data

Temperature (∞C) Corresponding Thermistor Resistance (Ω)

Room Temperature

Initial Temperature (Ti)

Final Temperature (Tf)

Ideal (pre-selected value)

Actual (Highest Temp)

Tf - 1∞C
(Begin Slow Cranking)

Mass Hanging from Rope: M =__________________________

Mass of Aluminum Cylinder: m = _______________________

Radius of Cylinder: R = _______________________________

Number of turns of crank : N = _________________________

Calculations

Work performed on cylinder: W = τ θ = MgR(2πN) = __________________

Heat absorbed by cylinder: Q = mc (Tf - Ti) = ________________________

Mechanical Equivalent of Heat: J = W/Q = ___________________________

(Acceleration due to gravity: g = 9.8 m/s2; Specific Heat of Aluminum: c = 0.220 cal/g∞C)

Suggested Questions
➀ Compare your value of J with the accepted value (check your textbook).
➁ Discuss any sources of error that you feel might have affected your results. Are some of these avoidable?
What affect would they have on your calculated value for J? Can you estimate the magnitude of the effects?
➂ Is it experimentally possible that the heat absorbed by the cylinder could be greater than the work performed
on it? Explain.
➃ Can your value of J be used for determining how much mechanical energy can be produced from a specified
amount of thermal energy? Why or why not?

7
Mechanical Equivalent of Heat 012-04331E

Maintenance

The Mechanical Equivalent of Heat apparatus requires no Assorted Replacement Parts List
regular maintenance except to lubricate the aluminum
cylinder periodically to ensure that the friction rope slides
freely. Part No. Description

If the slip-ring or brushes become dirty enough so they

648-04336 Friction Cylinder
do not conduct well and affect the thermistor resistance,
just clean them with alcohol (if you have no alcohol 555-04303 Commutator PCB
handy, a damp rag will probably do the trick). 150-027 Thermistor 100K +/- 2°C
620-039 Cylinder Handscrew
003-02861 Brush Assembly
621-020 Crank Handle
699-050 Mechanical Counter
003-04382 Cord Assembly

8
012-04331E Mechanical Equivalent of Heat

Thermistor Specifications:

Temperature Versus Resistance

Res. Temp. Res. Temp. Res. Temp.

(Ω) (∞C) (Ω) (∞C) (Ω) (∞C)

351,020 0 66,356 34 16,689 68

332,640 1 63,480 35 16,083 69
315,320 2 60,743 36 15,502 70
298,990 3 58,138 37 14,945 71
283,600 4 55,658 38 14,410 72
269,080 5 53,297 39 13,897 73
255,380 6 51,048 40 13,405 74
242,460 7 48,905 41 12,932 75
230,260 8 46,863 42 12,479 76
218,730 9 44,917 43 12,043 77
207,850 10 43,062 44 11,625 78
197,560 11 41,292 45 11,223 79
187,840 12 39,605 46 10,837 80
178,650 13 37,995 47 10,467 81
169,950 14 36,458 48 10,110 82
161,730 15 34,991 49 9,767.2 83
153,950 16 33,591 50 9,437.7 84
146,580 17 32,253 51 9,120.8 85
139,610 18 30,976 52 8,816.0 86
133,000 19 29,756 53 8,522.7 87
126,740 20 28,590 54 8,240.6 88
120,810 21 27,475 55 7,969.1 89
115,190 22 26,409 56 7,707.7 90
109,850 23 25,390 57 7,456.2 91
104,800 24 24,415 58 7,214.0 92
100,000 25 23,483 59 6,980.6 93
95,447 26 22,590 60 6,755.9 94
91,126 27 21,736 61 6,539.4 95
87,022 28 20,919 62 6,330.8 96
83,124 29 20,136 63 6,129.8 97
79,422 30 19,386 64 5,936.1 98
75,903 31 18,668 65 5,749.3 99
72,560 32 17,980 66 5,569.3 100
69,380 33 17,321 67

9
Mechanical Equivalent of Heat 012-04331E

The Incredible Career of Count Rumford

One of the most incredible men associated with science

was Benjamin Thompson, later titled Count Rumford.
Aside from making as many enemies as friends, this man
amassed a large list of honorary titles and contributed
significantly to scientific knowledge. He never let an
opportunity for advancement escape him and many
claimed he had "no real love or regard for his fellow
men." Nevertheless he was one of the first American
scientists and his career was probably the strangest of all
American success stories.
Thompson was born into a Massachusetts farming family
in 1763. He was a strange boy who fancied he could
build a perpetual motion machine and took great interest
in eclipses. He became an itinerant teacher and was hired
by a wealthy family in Rumford, Massachusetts. After
endearing himself to nearly everyone, Benjamin married
the daughter of the household and was accepted into high
society. So favorably did he impress the local military
officers that he was made a major at age 19. This unde-
served honor made him quite unpopular with the local
citizenry. In fact as the political climate ripened for
revolution, Thompson was arrested "upon suspicion of
being inimical to the liberties of this Country." Perhaps
he was a spy, but most likely he was indifferent to the Benjamin Thompson
revolutionary cause. When released he left his wife and 1763-1814
fled to England.
His charming manner and good looks won the friendship Count Rumford was a careful observer. He installed a
of the War Minister and soon he was elected to the Royal glass door in his fireplace, watched the flame carefully,
Society and named Under Secretary in the War Depart- and soon designed better stoves and better chimneys. He
ment. He returned to America to command the Queen's built up quite a reputation as a nutritionist; he wrote
Horse Dragoons against the colonists. During this time several essays on the benefits of coffee over tea. Many
he strangely enough began systematic lunar observations credit him with inventing the folding bed and he made
and extensive experiments with gunpowder and shell many improvements in the design of lamps. His main
velocity. scientific accomplishment in later life was his large role
At age 30 he returned to England and traveled to Bavaria. in founding the Royal Institution in 1800. It was Count
He won the friendship of the duke of Bavaria and in due Rumford who hired Humphrey Davy as lecturer at the
time was made a Count of the Holy Roman Empire— Institution and it was Count Rumford's money that kept
Count Rumford. Thompson was bright enough and had the Institution going in the beginning. Soon, however,
enough power to apply his cherished ideas of enlightened the Institution became too theoretical for Thompson and
despotism; he established a successful welfare system in he severed connection with it to move to France. He
Munich. died in 1814 of a fever. He left his gold watch to Sir
Humphrey Davy and much of his money to Harvard
This was the time he made his greatest contribution to University.
science. While watching a cannon being bored he noted
the extreme amount of heat produced. After careful Although much of what Benjamin Thompson did in his
experiments he was able to deduce that heat was molecu- lifetime was simply not cricket, he was an "enlightened
lar motion, not a fluid. This was a breakthrough. philanthropist" and did more for society and science than
most men.

Reference: Count Rumford of Massachusetts Written by Steven Janke

Thompson, James Alden
Farrar & Rinehart, New York 1935
10
012-04331E Mechanical Equivalent of Heat

Teacher’s Guide

Experiment: Measuring the Questions

Mechanical Equivalent of Heat ➀ The accepted value of J is 4.184 Joules/calorie. It is
reasonable to expect results within 2% of this value.
Procedure
(Typical results are J = 4.144 Joules/calorie)
➁ It is often helpful to bring the cylinder down to several
➁ Some sources of error might be loss of heat to the en-
degrees below the desired starting temperature. This
vironment, inaccurate measurement of temperature,
allows you time to determine the number of turns of
the fact that not all of the drum is aluminum (and thus
rope needed before actually taking data.
parts of it have a different specific heat), and nonuni-
⑨ It is best to crank the cylinder as rapidly as possible. form temperature in the drum. If the experiment is
This minimizes the time in which heat can escape to done carefully, these are negligible.
the environment
➂ No. If the heat absorbed by the cylinder was more
than the work done on it, PASCO scientific would be
selling perpetual motion machines instead of real
physics apparatus. It is possible that students may
measure the heat as being more than the work done,
but this is experimental error.
➃ Not directly. There are many other factors that will
come into the calculations, including Carnot effi-
ciency.

11
Mechanical Equivalent of Heat 012-04331E

Notes

12
012-04331E Mechanical Equivalent of Heat

Technical Support

Feed-Back Contacting Technical Support

If you have any comments about this product or this Before you call the PASCO Technical Support staff it
manual please let us know. If you have any suggestions would be helpful to prepare the following information:
on alternate experiments or find a problem in the manual
• If your problem is with the PASCO apparatus, note:
please tell us. PASCO appreciates any customer feed-
back. Your input helps us evaluate and improve our Title and Model number (usually listed on the label).
product.
Approximate age of apparatus.
To Reach PASCO A detailed description of the problem/sequence of
For Technical Support call us at 1-800-772-8700 (toll- events. (In case you can't call PASCO right away, you
free within the U.S.) or (916) 786-3800. won't lose valuable data.)
If possible, have the apparatus within reach when call-
ing. This makes descriptions of individual parts much
easier.
• If your problem relates to the instruction manual, note:
Part number and Revision (listed by month and year on
the front cover).
Have the manual at hand to discuss your questions.

13