Specifc Heat Lab Report

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Purpose: The reason for this lab is to find the specific heat of the given metal. The first law of thermodynamics states that matter (or energy) can not be created nor destroyed. In this experiment, water was heated with the metal in it then placed into water at room temperature. A heat change occurred showing that the heat from the metal was transferred through the water. This explains why energy cannot be created nor destroyed. Introduction: Specific heat, by definition, is the amount of energy it takes to raise the temperature of 1 gram of a substance by 1 degree Celsius. For example, the specific heat of water is 4.184 J/g°C; this means that it takes 4.184 Joules of energy to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius. This is not to be confused with heat capacity which is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of a substance (in varying amounts) by 1 degree Celsius. The study of specific heat falls under the category of Thermochemistry which is further divided into the category of Calorimetry. An instrument called a calorimeter is used to measure specific heat. A piece of metal is placed in a container of water. This is then boiled. The piece of metal is then taken out of the boiling water and placed in a calorimeter which contains room temperature water. The heat that was absorbed by the metal is measured by the temperature change the metal causes in the room temperature water. James Joule was one of the first to determine the mechanical equivalent of heat. He did this in the 1870s using a calorimeter of his own invention. The energy (or heat) unit of the Joule was named after him. The invention of an accurate calorimeter can be traced back to American chemist Theodore William Richards. Richards received his PhD from Harvard in 1888. He is credited with the invention of a calorimeter used to measure precise heat

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