Calorimetry Investigation (DEF)

Stage 1: Planning
Title: Calorimeter Experiment (Audrey and Michelle) Introduction: In a chemical reaction, the restructuring of bonds often causes a change in energy. As such, this is able to be measured in energy per grams by the calorimeter, a device used to measure the quantity of heat transferred to or from an object (Unknown, 2013). Similarly, when alcohol is burnt directly under a calorimeter containing water, a chemical reaction occurs. The following variables can affect the amount of energy released from the reaction itself: - material/specic heat capacity of the calorimeter - volume of water inside calorimeter - type of heat source under the calorimeter - distance between heat source and calorimeter I will be investigating the volume of water inside the calorimeter. Aim: The aim of this experiment is to investigate the co-relation between the mass of water (g) inside the calorimeter on the energy/gram (j) of the heat source. Hypothesis: I think that my independent variable will not affect my dependent variable at all. Hence, as the mass of water increases, the energy/gram released from the alcohol burner should not increase/decrease - it should stay the same. Since there is a heavier mass (increased mass of water) to heat up, more energy is required for this chemical reaction to occur. However, as the heat source for the calorimetric process is the alcohol burner, this means that more alcohol is used up when the amount of energy released is increased: the two increase at a proportional rate. As such, since we are nding the change in energy/gram of the alcohol burner, there should be no change in this dependent variable because the amount of fuel used up is increased as well, therefore canceling out the value of the increase in energy release. Apparatus: - Calorimeter - Styrofoam lid - Measuring cylinder - Thermometer - Retort stand - Boss head - Clamp - Lighter - Ruler (cm) - Measuring scale - Alcohol burner

Thermometer Bosshead Clamp Styrofoam Lid

Retort Stand

Calorimeter

Alcohol

Method: 1) Acquire all relevant equipment. 2) Set up the experiment according to the diagram above. Use a centimeter ruler to make sure that the calorimeter is placed 12cm above the top of the alcohol burner. 3) Using the measuring cylinder, measure out 10 mL of tap water and pour it inside the calorimeter. 4) Position the thermometer so that it goes through the hole inside the styrofoam lid. 5) Place the styrofoam lid over the top of the calorimeter so that it acts as a lid. 6) Record the initial temperature of the water in C. 7) Weigh and record the initial mass of the alcohol in grams with a measuring scale (WITHOUT THE LID). 8) Use a lighter to start burning the alcohol (make sure that the alcohol is positioned directly under the calorimeter). 9) Read the markings on the side of the thermometer. Once the temperature of the water has increased by 20C, blow out the ame on the alcohol burner. 10) Weigh and record the leftover mass of the alcohol in grams with a measuring scale (WITHOUT THE LID). 11) Remove the calorimeter from the retort stand with a damp cloth and pour the water away. 12) Repeat steps 3-11 twice more for trials. 13) Repeat steps 3-12, but replace the volume of water with 15mL, 20mL, 25mL and 30mL. 14) Find the change in the alcohol burners mass by subtracting the initial mass of the burner by the nal mass. 15) Calculate the average change in the alcohol burners mass for each mass of water. 16) Substitute the appropriate values into the equation q=mc!t/change in mass of the alcohol burner. I will be measuring: - distance between the alcohol burner and calorimeter: I will use a centimeter ruler to measure a 12cm distance from the top of the alcohol burner to the bottom of the calorimeter

- volume/mass of water: I will use a measuring cylinder to measure out 10-30 mL of water (for each new experiment) - temperature of water: I will be using the markings on the thermometer to nd the initial and nal temperature of the water in C, approximate to one decimal place. - mass of alcohol burner: I will weigh the alcohol burner on the measuring scale in grams, correct to one decimal place. - energy/gram (j) of alcohol used during the reaction: I will use the formula q=mc!t/change in mass of the alcohol burner, where m=mass of water, c=SHC of the water and !t=temperature change in the water. Control Variables: Control Variables Material of calorimeter Why A calorimeter can take different forms (i.e styrofoam, copper, etc).These different materials will have their own specic heat capacity, hence this will affect the nal amount of energy/ gram of alcohol used in the reaction that is calculated from the formula. The amount of energy released will vary according to the specic temperature of water it needs to heat up (i.e more energy used for a 10C increase in water in comparison to a 2C increase), making data inaccurate if not controlled. Energy in the form of heat is easily released and spread into the air. When the distance between the calorimeter and alcohol burner is increased, more heat particles are released into the air, hence more energy will be needed to heat up a body of water. This creates a discrepancy in the results if affected. How I will be using the same copper calorimeter throughout the experiment.

Change in temperature

I will immediately stop burning the alcohol burner once the temperature of the water has been increased by 20C.

Distance between calorimeter and alcohol burner

I will measure a 12cm distance with a ruler from the top of the alcohol burner and the bottom of the calorimeter.

Control Variables Type of heat source

Why Different heat sources possess different levels of thermal energy, hence affecting the actual amount of energy being used to heat up the water and making data unreliable. The alcohol burner comes with a lid. If I choose to measure the mass of the alcohol burner with a lid during one trial, and without the lid for another, this will not be accounted for in the mass recorded, hence data will be affected.

How I will use an alcohol burner as the heat source for the whole experiment.

Method of measuring the mass of the alcohol burner

I will be weighing the mass of the alcohol burner WITHOUT the lid for each trial.

Stage 2: Data Collection

Mass of Water vs Energy Released Table Mass of Water (g) Change of Alcohol Burner Mass (Final Mass - Initial Mass) (g) Average Change of Alcohol Burner Mass (g) Energy/gram released from alcohol burner (j) (q=mc!T/change in alcohol burner mass)

Trial 1 10 15 20 25 30 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3

Trial 2 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.4

Trial 3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3

2786.7 6270.0 8360.0 6966.7 8360.0

Stage 3: Data Processing

Mass of water vs Energy Released Graph

9000

6750 Energy/gram of fuel (j)

4500

2250

10

15 Mass of water (g)

20

25

30

Stage 4: Conclusion
Initially, the aim of the experiment was to nd out the effect of the independent variable (mass of water in grams) on the dependent variable (energy/gram of fuel in joules). According to my data, increasing the mass of the water results in an increase of energy/ gram in the fuel (as seen by the trendline), hence sharing a positive relationship. For example, when the mass of water within the calorimeter was 10g, the average energy/ gram released by the ethanol fuel (or alcohol burner) was 2786.7 J. On the other hand, when the mass of the water reached 30g, the resulting average energy/gram increased to 8360.0 J. However, I disagree with this conclusion while maintaining my previous hypothesis: that the independent variable should not affect the dependent variable in this experiment. I can prove that the conclusion drawn from my data is wrong because of the unreliability of the results. Firstly, there is no clear or logical pattern in the results. Assuming that the relationship between my independent and dependent variable is positive, the energy/gram used by the alcohol burner should always be increasing when the mass of water is increased. However, this is not the case because the 4th data point is an anomaly. Rather than increasing, the energy/gram released from the fuel decreases from 8360 J to 6966.7 J, even though the mass of water is increased by 5g (to 25g). Furthermore, the energy/ gram of the alcohol burner remained at 8360 J when the mass of the water reached 20g and 30g. Again if we were to assume that the dependent variable should always be increasing when the independent variable is as well, this does not t such a pattern. Secondly, I can show that data is not credible from the line of best t. In an accurate experiment, the data points would be positioned closely to the trendline. However, in this graph, the 1st and 3rd data points are placed relatively far away from the line of best t thus showing that the experiment was not very accurate. Thirdly, the nature of the experiment itself was unreliable. Although the heat source was positioned under the

calorimeter, some of the energy was released into the surrounding environment, therefore resulting in heat loss. From this we can see that while the mass of the alcohol burner may have changed, not all of the energy was actually funneled into the calorimeter. Also, the calorimeter itself has a specic heat capacity that affects the amount of heat absorbed by the water. These two aws are not accounted for in the data, hence proving that it is extremely inaccurate. On the other hand, my hypothesis can be reinforced by scientic explanations. I have stated that the heavier the mass of the water within the calorimeter, the more energy required to heat it up to a certain temperature (in this case, 20). This is because more heat from the fuel needs to be transferred to more water molecules in order to raise its temperature. The mass of alcohol used is proportional to that of the amount of energy released from the chemical reaction; hence the more energy required, the more alcohol used. Since the formula states that we need to divide q=mc!T (amount of energy) by the change in mass of the alcohol burner to nd energy/gram, even if the amount of energy released is increased, this is balanced by the increased mass of alcohol that is used up, hence the reason why there is no change to energy/gram regardless of the mass of the water. Thus, I can conclude that my hypothesis is scientically correct.

Stage 5: Evaluation
Source of Error As I stated previously in my conclusion, the experiment was mostly inaccurate because of heat loss: the energy released from the alcohol burner was not funneled directly into the calorimeter, instead it was partially lost to the surroundings. Therefore, there would have been a discrepancy with the actual energy/gram released from the alcohol burner since we could not measure it accurately. Improvement A bomb calorimeter would be more effective in measuring energy/gram, because the water is locked within an insulated container, while the heat source is contained outside of it within another container. This means that there is no heat loss, thus making the measurements highly accurate.

Source of Error Another aw in the experiment could be due to human error. We were using temperature change to measure !t, however, we had to physically count the markings on the side of the thermometer to determine the value of this number. Since this is not a precise/ reliable method of measuring the temperature, the data could easily have been affected.

Improvement We could have used a waterproof digital thermometer - the temperature would be automatically displayed on the thermometers screen, leaving no space for human error.

For further investigation, I could look at the effect of the distance between the calorimeter and heat source on the energy/gram released. To do this, I would change the height between the two from 5cm to 20cmm, allowing me to nd the co-relation between these two variables.