SPECIFIC HEAT AND TEMPERATURE OF A HOT BODY

INTRODUCTION:
Specific Heat and Temperature of a Body is to determine the specific heat of
lead shot (a solid piece of metal may be substituted)by the method of
mixtures, and also to determine the temperature of a red-hot piece of metal
whose specific heat is known.
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the experiment the student should be able to:
a. determine the effect of Hot Cold environment on the body;
b. describe the spectrum emitted by a hot body;
c. and explain the basic theory that underlies the emission of hot- body
radiation;
MATERIALS:
Burner, calorimeter(complete with stirrer),metal cup containing 400 g shot,
piece of metal with copper- wire hook, support rod, thermometer(in degrees
C),thermometer(in tenths of degrees C), set of weights, towel, boiler, boiler
stand, laboratory balances.
PROCEDURE:

A. Specific Heat of Metal

1. Fill the boiler about half full of water and set the cup, containing about
400 g of dry shot, in the opening at the top of the boiler. Place a
thermometer, T1 which reads at least to 100 degree Celsius, in the
shot and start heating the water while the following manipulations are
made. The shot need to be weighed accurately at this time.
2. Weigh the inner cup of the calorimeter plus stirrer when empty, and
again when about two-thirds full of water at a temperature about 5
degrees Celsius below room temperature.
3. When the water in the boiler has been boiling for about five minutes
and the temperature of the shot has become constant, record the
reading of thermometer T1.
4. Now stir the water in the calorimeter and read thermometer T2, to the
nearest tenth of a degree. Record the temperature and quickly, but
carefully, pour the hot shot (or other metal) into the calorimeter and
stir the mixture immediately, then record the highest temperature

reached. It may take several seconds for equilibrium conditions to be

attained.
5. Weigh the calorimeter cup and its contents (water + shot) and record.
From this weighing and the previous one, the weight of the shot can be
determined.
6. Strain the water off the shot through a towel and spread the shot out
to dry while performing the remainder of the experiment, unless some
other method of drying is designated by your instruction. The shot
must be dry when checked in at the storeroom.
7. Make the following solution a part of your report. Equate the heat lost
by the hot shot to the heat absorbed by the cold water and its
container, showing clearly the position of each item of data required in
the equation. Solve for the specific heat of the shot and compare with
the accepted value given in the Appendix.

B. Temperature of a Hot Body

8. Weigh a solid piece of metal and record the kind of material of which it
is made.
9. Place a metal rod in the steam outlet O of the boiler and suspend the
piece of metal from the end so that it will hang in the hottest part of
the flame (just above the inner cone). Allow it to heat while computing
results for part A.
10.
Weigh the calorimeter when about two- thirds full of water which
is 10 degrees 15 degrees Celsius below room temperature. Avoid
cooling enough for dew to collect on it. Use a thermometer which reads
to 100 degrees for this experiment.
11.
When the metals becomes as hot as possible, read and record
the temperature of the cold water, remove the thermometer, and
quickly drop the hot piece of metal into the calorimeter. After the metal
has cooled to a safe temperature, record the equilibrium temperature
of the mixture.
12.
By using the specific heat of the hot piece of metal equate the
heat lost to the heat gained, and compute the temperature of the hot
metal.

REPORT SHEET
Name: May lyn T. Fabroa
Course & Year: BSED III
SPECIFIC HEAT AND TEMPERATURE OF A HOT BODDY
DATA & OBSERVATION:
Measurement being
made
Kind of metal used
Weight of
calorimeter + water
+ metal
Weight of
calorimeter + water
Weight of metal
used
Weight of empty
calorimeter
Weight of cold water
Temperature of hot
metal
Temperature of cold
water
Temperature of
mixture
Specific heat of
calorimeter
Specific heat of
metal being heated
Specific heat of

Specific heat of shot

Temperature of hot
body

(calculated)

(calculated)
(table)

(table)

metal being heated

QUESTIONS:
1. How much is the water equivalent of your calorimeter?
2. Set up the equation used for the calculation of specific heat
of shot, and show how it may be simplified by the use of the
water equivalent of the calorimeter.
3. Name some possible sources of error in your experiment.
4. What precautions might be taken to improve the
experiment?
5. If wet shot had been poured into the calorimeter of cold
water, how would the value obtained for the specific heat
have been affected? Why?
6. If dew were collected on the outside walls of the calorimeter
containing the cold water in part B, how would the calculated
temperature have been affected?
7. What evidence do the results of the experiment give to
prove that water has a much higher specific heat than the
metal shot?
8. Does this experiment suggest a method by which the
temperature of a furnace might be obtained approximately?
Explain?
9. If the temperature of the heated metal had been 1000
degrees Celsius, what would have been the resulting
temperature of the mixture in part B.
10.
If you had started with water at room temperature in
either part of this experiment, explain how your results
would have been affected. Why is this case?