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Background Material
Experiments like the hot coffee in the kitchen tell us that if the temperature
of the system is not equal to the temperature of the environment then both
the system and environment temperatures will change until, given time, the
two are in thermal equilibrium, that is, they both have the same
temperature. This change in temperature is due to the transfer of thermal
energy between the system and its environment. This flow of thermal
energy is colloquially called heat, and is denoted as Q.
The direct cause of heat energy being transferred between a system and its
environment is the temperature difference between them. The direction of
heat flow is dictated by the Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics which tells us
that, barring outside influences, heat always flows from a hotter object to a
Q=m c ΔT (1)
By measuring the masses and the temperature changes of the metal and
the water we can determine the specific heat of the metal cmetal given that
we know that the specific heat of water is 4180 J / kg °C.
The heat of fusion of ice experiment in this lab is slightly different because
the ice does not change its temperature while it is melting. Ice remains at
0°C throughout the melting process. The heat gained by the ice from the
warm water goes exclusively to melting the ice. The amount of that heat per
unit mass of the ice is the ice’s heat of fusion Hf .
Pre-lab Question
Suppose you start with 100 ml of water at 60°C and assume the heat of
fusion of ice is 80 cal / g. How much ice could you add such that when all
of it melts the temperature of all the water is just 0°C. When we do the
experiment we want our final water temperature to be above 0 °C so this
answer should give you some idea of the amount of ice to use.
Procedures
The water mixture equilibrates in a few seconds, but the thermometer takes
longer.
Based on that property alone, what kind of metal do you think it is?
Estimate how accurate your mass and temperature measurements are. You
know cwater to four significant digits. Now apply propagation of errors to
estimate the uncertainty in the value of the metal’s specific heat.
This water-to-ice ratio ensures that when all the ice melts the temperature
of the cold water stays above 0°C. This sidesteps having to weigh unmelted
ice.
Analysis
Error Analysis
You will need to use ice from upstairs because the refrigerator in the lab is
not very cold. Here’s some guidance:
Conduct the whole experiment in the kitchen. This gives the ice no time to
warm up before we use it.
Take the calorimeter cups and an extra cup and a thermometer upstairs.
You will need to find the temperature of the ice. Just put the thermometer in
the freezer for ten minutes.
Take the thermometer from the freezer, record the temperature and then
find the temperature of the water. This may take a minute while the
thermometer warms up.
Get enough ice to nearly fill the calorimeter cup with ice water.
Gently stir, keeping a sharp eye on the temperature. The second it reaches
0°C pour the water into the extra cup to separate it from the ice.
Go back to the lab and weigh the water and the ice separately. Some of the
ice may melt during transport. That’s OK. Keep it with its ice.
We have assumed that the calorimeter was ideal, that is, the Styrofoam cup
didn’t absorb any of the heat from the water and it didn’t allow any heat
loss to the surroundings (air, table top, etc.), either through the walls or
through its open top (which includes evaporation). In other words we
assume ALL of the heat transferred out of the hot water went into the ice
and none was wasted elsewhere.
Basically, this just means pouring hot water into the cup, measuring the
temperature, waiting ten minutes and measuring the temperature again.
Then work out the change in the energy content of the water.
The majority of the heat loss was probably through the open top
(Styrofoam is a pretty good insulator).