Experiment No.

302: Heat and Calorimetry

Raagas, Michelle Mae G.
School of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biological Engineering, and Material
Science Engineering
Mapua Institute of Technology, 658 Muralla St., Intramuros, Manila City, Philippines
michellemaeraagas@gmail.com

OBJECTIVE
Each metal has its own specific heat and
determining the specific heat of metal sample is the
main goal of the experiment. Furthermore, it also
aims to determine the latent heat of fusion of ice.
The heat transfer from its surrounding to a system
or body will be tackled on this experiment.

that it will not be time consuming while the other

members are weighing the metal and the
calorimeter.

METHODOLOGY:
With the help of laboratory equipment, experiments
are made possible. Without the help of this devices,
the laboratory results may not be as accurate or
precise as they are.
Figure 2. Weighing of calorimeter

Figure 1. Materials used in the experiment (electric

stove, calorimeter, thermometers, brass metal,
aluminum metal, beaker, weights, digital weighing
scale, ice)

You will also wish to measure the weight of water,

to do this, subtract the mass of calorimeter with
water on it to the mass of calorimeter itself. Also,
the temperature will be taken by the use of
thermometer. When the water starts to boil,
submerge the metal to it and wait again for another
time. Then, put immediately the metal from the
boiling water. Stir and take its temperature, note it
as the final temperature.

Jus like the previous experiment, we did this on at

the corner of the room to avoid high percentage
error.
Calorimetry is the method that is used in this
experiment. Boiling of water will be done first so

Figure 3. Measuring the temperature inside the

calorimeter

Repeat the procedure for the other metal. After

getting all the unknowns, you can now solve the
specific heat of the metal sample.
For the part two of the experiment, we will be using
ice to determine its latent heat. Weigh the
calorimeter with hot water in it to get the mass of
water by difference. Then, put the ice in the
calorimeter be careful in this part because the ice is
limited. Again, measure its final temperature.
Notice that the temperature taken is lower than that
of part 1. (see figure 3 and 4 to compare).

Table 2. Latent heat of Fusion of ice

Trial 1
46.9 g
Mass of calorimeter,!
161.1 g
Mass of water, !
188.1 g
Mass of mixture,
27 g
Mass of ice,
Initail temp. of ice,
0
Initail temp. of calorimeter, 26

Initail temp. of water,

26
Final temp. of mixture, 12
Experimental latent heat of 76.82
cal/g
fusion,
Actual latent heat of fusion, 80 cal/g
!
Percentage error
4.14%
Part 1

Trial 2
46.9 g
150.2 g
169.8 g
24 g
0
26
26
12
81.56
cal/g
80 cal/g
1.92%

!"#$%& + !"!" = 0
! ! !"# ! + ! ! !"# !
! ! !"# ! = 0
Figure 4. Measuring final temperature of water on
part 2
After getting the data you can now solve the latent
heat of ice.
DATA and SAMPLE COMPUTATIONS
Table 1. Determining the Specific Heat of Metals
Type of metal
Mass of metal,m
Mass of calorimeter,
Mass of water,
Initail temp. of metal,
Initail temp. of calorimeter,

Initail temp. of water,

Final temp. of mixture,
Experimental specific heat
of metal,
Actual specific heat of
metal,
Percentage error

Aluminum
44.9 g
46.9 g
117.6 g
100
26
26
31
0.2062490
88 cal/g.c
0.2174
cal/g.c
5.41%

Brass
19.8 g
46.9 g
125.5 g
100
26
26
27
0.09388
cal/g.c
0.0917
cal/g.c
2.32%

! =

! ! !"# ! + ! ! !"# !
! !"# !

For aluminum:
!
=

117.6 1 31 26 + 46.90 (0.217) 31 26

44.9 31 100
= 0.2062 cal/ g.C
%error=

!.!"#!!!.!"#$
!.!"#$

x 100 = 5.41%

For Brass:
!
=

125.5 1 27 26 + 46.90 (0.217) 27 26

19.8 27 100
= 0.09388 cal/ g.C
%error=

!.!"#$$!!.!"#$
!.!"#!

x 100 = 2.32%

Part 2
!"#$%& + !"#$ = 0

! ! !"# ! + ! ! !"# ! + ! !
+ ! ! !"# 0 = 0
! =

! ! !"# ! + ! ! !"# ! ! ! !"# 0

CONCLUSION

!
=

150.2 1 12 26 + 46.9 0.217 12 26 + 24(1)(12 0)

24
= 81.56 cal/ g

%error=

!".!"!!"
!"

x 100 = 1.92%

GRAPH
Temperature vs. Specific Heat
Temp( )

0.21

0.19

0.17

0.15

0.13

0.11

0.09

0.07

0.05

100
90 5
80
70 4
60
50 3
40
30 2
20
1
10
0 0

For the second part, the heat is coming from the

water going to the ice, so expect the final
temperature of the water to decrease.

By the concept of the law of heat exchange, the two

objectives of the experiment was attained. The
specific heat of metals, amount of heat necessary to
increase the temperature of a given mass of a
particular body by some amount, are determined in
the part 1 by the use of the equation of calorimetry
which best describe as whatever heat is being lost
by the body must be equal to the heat being gained
by the body. In addition, we are able to determine
the ices latent heat of fusion which is the amount of
energy absorbed or released by a body during a
change in its physical state that occurs without
changing its temperature.

Aluminum

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Brass

I would like to thank Sir Ricardo De Leon for

making Phy12L a fun and engaging course to learn.
Also, for teaching us the process on what to do.
Moreover, I would also like to thank my
groupmates for having such a great role in this
experiment. All of us are participating and
contributing. In addition, I would like to recognize
their calmness, they did not take the pressure, else,
they make this experiment memorable and fun to do
even if we are the last group that are performing this
experiment. Lastly, I would like to thank the two
laboratory assistant for explaining how to handle
and use properly the equipments

Specic heat
cal/g.

Graph 1. Temperature vs. Specific Heat of

Aluminum and Brass
ANALYSIS OF DATA
Since we perform the experiment at the corner of
our classroom to avoid the effect of the room
temperature on our experiment, we obtained an
error that is less than five percent.
The transfering of metal form the boiling water to
the calorimeter are done quickly to avoid such
errors because as we remove the metal to the
boiling water, the temperature is decreasing as well.
For the first part of the experiment, heat is coming
from the metal which will flow to the water, so for
the final temperature of water it is expected to rise.
By following the formula specific heat of metal is
solved.

REFERENCES
[1] Caparanga, A. R., Baluyut, J. Y., & Soriano, A.
N. (2006). Physical Chemistry Laboratory
Manual, Part 1.
[2] Atkins, P. (2006). Atkins Physical Chemistry,
8th ed., W. H. Freeman, New York
[3] Hoschtim, R. (1996). Thermodynamics and
Thermochemist