https://www.pasco.com/prodCatalog/TD/TD-8551_mechanical-equivalent-of-heat-apparatus/index.

cfm

https://www.baylor.edu/physics/doc.php/110747.pdf

https://www.scribd.com/doc/185491445/lab-report-mechanical-equivalent-of-heat

https://www.saddleback.edu/uploads/mse/physics/4C_labs/mechanical%20equivalent%20of
%20heat.pdf

https://www.phywe.com/en/mechanical-equivalent-of-heat.html

Overview

This Mechanical Equivalent of Heat Apparatus provides an updated version of

one of Joule's most important experiments, converting mechanical work to
thermal energy.

Features

 Crank Counter -- Counts the number of turns on the handle.

 Thermistor -- Embedded in the cylinder, it has lower thermal mass

 Durable Construction -- Constructed primarily of steel and aluminum,

there's virtually nothing to break. The thermistor is protected in the cylinder.

Includes

 The base, cylinder, crank and counter with a built-in table clamp
 3.6 meters of flat nylon rope
 A 1-gallon can that can be filled with a measured mass of sand or water (if 10
kg of laboratory masses are not available)
 Laboratory manual including theory, step-by-step instructions and data tables

How It Works

The apparatus is simple and accurate. Turn the crank to perform a measurable
amount of work. The crank turns an aluminum cylinder. A flat nylon rope is
wrapped several times around the cylinder. As the crank is turned, the friction
between the rope and the cylinder is just enough to support a mass hanging from
the other end of the rope. This ensures that the torque acting on the cylinder is
constant and measurable. A counter keeps track of the number of turns of the
crank.
The work required to turn the cylinder is converted to thermal energy by the
friction between the cylinder and the rope. The thermal energy is measured by
monitoring the temperature of the cylinder using the embedded thermistor. The
ratio between the work performed and the thermal energy produced and
transmitted to the cylinder determines the mechanical equivalent of heat. With
this apparatus, the equivalence of work and heat is easily established to within
5%.

Principle

In this experiment, a metal test body is rotated and heated by the friction due to a tensed band of
synthetic material.The mechanical equivalent of heat for problem 1 is determined from the defined
mechanical work and from the thermal energy increase deduced from the increase of temperature.
Assuming the equivalence of mechanical work and heat, the specific thermal capacity of aluminium
and brass is determined.

Benefits

 Elegant set-up to measure conversion of mechanical energy in thermal energy

 Perfect as demonstration experiment and very suitable as an introductory student

experiment

Tasks

1. Determination of the mechanical equivalent of heat.

2. Determination of the specific thermal capacity of aluminum and brass.

What you can learn about

 Mechanical equivalent of heat

 Mechanical work

 Thermal energy

 Thermal capacity

 First law of thermodynamics

 Specific thermal capacity