EXPERIMENT 5: SPECIFIC HEAT

OBJECTIVES
1. To determine the specific heat of a metal
2. To determine the quantity and direction of heat flow for the dissolution of a salt

EQUIPMENT/APPARATUS

Calorimeter, thermometer, beaker 400 ml, test tube, bunsen burner, wire gauze,
graduated cylinder, three finger clamp.

PROCEDURES

Required PPE : Goggles/safety glass, Lab Coat, Shoes, Gloves

NO SEQUENCE OF STEPS POTENTIAL PREVENTATIVE
HAZARDS MEASURES
i Copper (Cu) Copper: Irritant i . Wear proper PPE
Sodium thiosulphate (Na2O3S2) Sodium Thiosulphate: ii. Handle chemicals
Irritant carefully to avoid spillage
iii. Safety Briefing prior to
start of the class
A. Specific Heat of a Metal
1 Weigh 10 g of copper and transfer it into i . Spillage ii. Handle chemicals
a dry test tube. ii. Hazardous chemical carefully to avoid spillage
iii. Contact with hot iii. Wear proper PPE
Place the test tube in a 400 ml beaker. surface iv. Wear leather glove to
Then, fill the beaker with water until it handle hot surface
is well above the level of the metal
sample in the test tube.

Boil the water using a heater and

maintain this temperature for at least 5
minutes so that the metal reaches
thermal equilibrium with the water.

Record the temperature.

2 Weigh the mass of calorimeter. By using i . Spillage i. Handle chemicals

a graduated cylinder, add 20.0 ml of carefully to avoid spillage
water into the calorimeter. ii. Wear proper PPE

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 Determine the combined mass of the
calorimeter and water.

Secure the thermometer with a clamp

and position it below the water surface.
Allow 5 minutes for the system to reach
thermal equilibrium.

Record the temperature over 60 second

intervals.

3 Remove the test tube from the boiling i . Spillage i. Handle chemicals
water and quickly transfer only the ii. Hazardous chemical carefully to avoid spillage
copper into the calorimeter. iii. contact with hot ii. wear proper PPE
surface area
Replace the lid and stir the content
gently.

Record the water temperature as a

function of time (about 30 second
intervals) for 3 minutes.

4 Plot the temperature (y axis) versus time Nil Nil

(x axis) graph.

Determine ΔT from our curve and then

do the calculations indicated on the
report sheet.

B. Enthalpy (Heat) of Solution for the Dissolution of a Salt

5 Weigh the mass of the dry calorimeter. i . Spillage ii. Handle chemicals
ii. Hazardous chemical carefully to avoid spillage
Using graduated cylinder, add 20.0 ml iii. Wear proper PPE
of distilled water into the calorimeter
and record its temperature.

Record the temperature for 60 seconds

with 15 seconds interval.

Reweigh the combined mass of the

calorimeter and water. After that,
position the thermometer below the
water surface.
6 Weigh 5.0 g of the sodium thiosulphate, i . Spillage i. Handle chemicals
Na2S2O3 salt. carefully to avoid spillage
ii. wear proper PPE
7 Add the salt to the calorimeter, replace i . Spillage i . Training on handling of
the lid and stir gently until the salt pipette
dissolves. ii. Handle chemicals

2
 carefully to avoid spillage
iii. wear proper PPE
Read and record the temperature and
time at 15 seconds intervals for 3
minutes.

8 Construct a temperature versus time Nil Nil

curve and determine T.

EXERCISE

1. What is the difference between specific heat and heat capacity? What are the units for
these two quantities? Which is the intensive property and which is the extensive property?
2. A 20.94 g sample of an unknown metal is heated to 99.4oC in a hot water bath until
thermal equilibrium is reached. The metal is quickly transferred to 100 ml of water at
22.0 oC contained in a Styrofoam cup. The thermal equilibrium temperature of the metal
plus water mixture is 24.6 oC. What is the specific heat of the metal?
3. Magnesium metal reacts with hydrochloride acid according to the following equation.
Mg (s) + 2HCl (aq)  Mg Cl2 (aq) + H2 (g)

When 0.425 g of magnesium was added to 150.0ml of 1.00 M HCl in a coffee-cup

calorimeter the temperature of the solution increased from 24.5 to 35.3oC. Given that the
heat capacity of the calorimeter is 125 J/oC and that the density of the HCl solution is 1.00
g/ml, calculate the heat released per mole of magnesium.