Specific Heat Lab

Name: ______Date: ______

Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to determine the mass of a sample of aluminum using the principles of heat transfer.

Materials: aluminum samples, beaker, water, hot plate, tongs, thermometer, Styrofoam cup, balance

Procedure:

1.  A sample of aluminum will be heating in a test tube placed in a hot water bath at each lab station. Take note of which number sample is at your station: ______

2.  While the metal is warming in the water prepare your calorimeter.

a.  Mass the empty Styrofoam cup and record in the data table.

b.  Fill the cup with approximately 1” of water, and then record the mass on the data table.

3.  After the metal has been heating for approximately 5 minutes, measure the temperature of the boiling water. Because we are leaving the metal in the water bath for several minutes, we will assume that the metal is the same temperature as this hot water.

4.  Place your thermometer into the calorimeter. Be careful that it does not tip over! Record the initial temperature of the water in the calorimeter. Do not take the thermometer out of the calorimeter.

5.  Call Mrs. Falk over to use tongs to remove the metal from the boiling water and quickly place it in the calorimeter.

6.  Stir gently and record the highest temperature reached as the final temperature. (This will be the final temperature for both the water and the metal.)

Data:

Boiling water temperature
Mass of empty cup
Mass of cup & water
Initial water temp. in cup
Final water & metal temp.

Data Analysis:

1.  Calculate the amount of heat gained by the water in the Styrofoam cup and then use this value to calculate the mass of your sample of aluminum. Remember that the heat lost by the metal is equal to the heat gained by the water. The specific heat of water is 4.18 J/g°C and the specific heat of aluminum is 0.897 J/g°C.

Aluminum mass = ______

2.  In this experiment we are assuming that all of the heat lost by the metal is gained by the water, but in reality some of it is not. List two other places the heat could have gone.

3.  List one possible way to minimize the error in this lab. Be specific.

Extra Credit: Ask Mrs. Falk to check how close your calculated aluminum mass is to the actual mass of the sample. +1 point for being within 0.5g.