PHYSICS (PHY400)

EXPERIMENT 4
SPECIFIC HEAT

LECTURERS NAME : PM. DR. MAHADZIR BIN HJ.DIN

LAB PARTNER :
DIYANA ATHIRA BINTI ABD WAHI (2012482108)
SITI NORMALIA BINTI SULAIMAN (2012237674)
NURUL NADHIRAH BINTI ROZIAIZAN (2012208888)
NIK NURMAILATUL AQMA BINTI MOHD TERMIDZI (2012202296)

DATE: 17 OCTOBER 2012

EXPERIMENT 4
SPECIFIC HEATS

Objective
To determine the specific heat of a metal

Apparatus
Electronic balance, calorimeter and stirrer, thermometer, boiling water and water
Theory
a) The relationship between heat supplied (Q) to the mass (m), the temperature increase (T)
and the specific heat (c) of the substance is given by the following equation:
- Q = mcT
b) Heat lost = Heat gained

c) Qmetal = -Qwater
mmetal cmetal (Tfm Tim ) = -(mwater cwater (Tfw Tiw) )
Where Tfm final temperature of metal
Tim initial temperature of metal
Tfw final temperature of water
Tiw initial temperature of water

d) Percentage error =

100%

- E is the experimental value and A is the accepted or true value.

Procedure
Part A: The Specific Heat Capacity of a Metal
1. 300mL of water was boiled until it reaches the boiling point. Another 200mL of water
was placed in a different beaker and the constant room temperature of the 200mL of
water was measured.
2. A metal block was obtained. The metal block was ensured to be dry before it was
placed onto a weighing balance and the mass of the metal block was recorded.
3. The metal block was hung using a strong string and was placed into the 300mL of
water that was being heated. The metal block was left in the beaker for about 10 to 15
minutes.
4. While waiting, the calorimeter was weighed and 50mL of water was placed into the
calorimeter. The calorimeter was then re weighed. The difference in weights was
calculated.
5. The constant temperature of the water in the calorimeter was recorded. The metal
block was quickly removed from the boiling water and was placed quickly into the
calorimeter.
6. The 1 to 6 was repeated for two more times.

Part B: Heat of a Solution

1. The new dry calorimeter was weighed to the nearest 0.001 g and 50mL of room
temperature water was placed into it before re weighed.
2. The mass difference was calculated and the temperature of the water inside the
calorimeter was measured.
3. The packet and the sample were weighed.
4. The packet was re weighed after the sample had been transferred to the water inside
the calorimeter.
5. The mixture was stirred until the unknown solid had been dissolved.
6. The final temperature of the water was measured.
7. The step was repeated if the difference is no greater than five degree Celsius.

Data
a) Mass of calorimeter and inner, mcal
b) Mass of calorimeter, water and inner
c) Mass of water, mw
d) Initial temperature of water , tiw
e) Mass of brass block , mm
f) Final temperature of water, tfw
g) Initial temperature of brass block , tim
h) Final temperature of brass block, tfm
i) Uncertainty of reading balance
j) Uncertainty of reading thermometer
k) Specific heat of water

= 0.04828 kg
= 0.2435 kg
= 243.50 48.28
= 25
= 0.2734 kg
= 31
= 90
= 31
= 0.01 g
= 0.1
= 4186 J/kg

Results
i) Heat lost by brass block

= mm cm (tfm tim )
= (0.2734) cm (31 90)
= - 16.1306 J cm

ii) Heat gained by water

= -[mw cw (tfw tiw) ]

= - [ (0.1952) (4186) (31 25) ]
= - 4902.6432 J

iii) Heat lost = Heat gained

mm cm (tfm tim )
- 16.1306 J cm
cm
iv) Percentage error

= -[mw cw (tfw tiw) ]

= - 4902.6432 J
= 304 J/kg
=
=

100%

304385
385

= 21%

100%

= 0.1952 kg

Discussion
In this lab we calculated the specific heat capacity of a metal. In this experiment we used
brass block as the metal. We put the brass block in boiling water for ten minutes to get the
same temperature of the water (100C). Once the brass block reached to right temperature,
we moved it into a cup filled with room temperature water just enough to cover the metal in
order to produce more accurate results. We recorded the starting water temperature and
calculated the temperature change in the water after adding the brass block.Using the masses
of the brass block and room temperature water, the specific heat capacity of water (4186),
and the changes in temperature of the water and the brass block, we could find out the
specific unit of heat capacity of our brass block. We can compare our result with the specific
heat that given in Table 1.

There was error in our final results because the number we calculated for our heat capacity
didnt match the correct value for the specific metal we used.When trying to figure out where
the error came from, we suspected that there was too much water in the cup in order to show
a significant difference in temperature.With too much water in the cup, it throws off the
accuracy of the final temperature because the specific sized metal is only capable of heating
up a certain amount of water relative to its size. The metal used was a brass block and the
specific heat capacity for brass block is 385 J/kg. We thought that maybe because brass
block doesnt hold in heat as well as the other metals, during the transfer from boiling to
normal water, there was a significant amount of heat loss.

Conclusion
As the conclusion, we can compare the specific heat that we get from experiment and the
actual specific heat that were given. Specific heat of metal that we get is 304 J/kg . Specific
heat that we get not same as the actual specific heat that were given but it is close to it. Then
we calculate how close the measured value agrees with the accepted value by calculating the
percentage error. As shown on the data sheet, this is calculated as: |(measured value accepted value) / (accepted value)| * 100%. The percentage error gave us a 21% (a rather
high value). The acceptable range for this experiment is less than 5% . A really good answer
can get within 1%, with perfect agreement between the values yielding a 0% deviation.