E106: Specific Heat Capacity

E107: Latent Heat of Fusion

June N. Lantacon
( School of Civil, Environmental and Geological Engineering, Mapúa University, Philippines)
Results and Discussion
The first experiment conducted focused on the determination of the specific heat of a metal
specimen. Wherein specific heat c is defined as the amount of heat required to rise the temperature of unit
mass of the substance through 1°C. It can also be mathematically defined in terms of the sensible heat Q .
Q ∆t (1)
Calorimetry on the other hand is the study of assessing the changes of temperature due to heat
transfer because of chemical reactions, physical changes etc., by the means of a calorimeter (Calorimetry,
2019) . It also follows a principle called “Calorimetry Principle” or “Law of Exchange” which states that
the heat lost by a system with a high temperature is equal to the heat gained a system with a low
temperature when in both systems are in contact, and is also expressed by equation 2.

hthh t ꀀ香 h (2)
‫ݎ‬
‫ݎݎ‬t‫ݎ‬ ͳhh (3)
‫ݎ‬
In obtaining the value of the experimental specific heat of the metal, data were gathered and
recorded on the table below.

Table 1. Determining the Specific Heat of a Metal Specimen

Mass of Metal, M m 31.4g Final Temperature of Mixture, tmix 27°C
Mass of Calorimeter, Mc 57.8g Experimental Specific Heat of Metal, Cm 0.1899 cal/g·°C
Mass of Water, Mw 205.1g Actual Specific Heat of Metal, Cm 0.2170 cal/g·°C
Initial Temperature of Metal, tm 100°C Initial Temperature of Calorimeter, tc 25°C
Initial Temperature of Water, tw 25°C Percentage Error 12.48%

The findings of the first experiment suggest that the performed experiment conforms with the
calorimeter principle. The computed experimental value of the specific heat of the metal specimen is
obtained using equation 2, given that the specific heat capacity of the calorimeter and water is 0.2174
cal/g·°C and 1 cal/g·°C respectively. Consecutively, the percentage error is attained via equation 3.

thh apaci
h
ͳǤ th° ͳhh° thǤ ͳ ͳcal/g·°C th° tǤ° Ǥh h tͳhǤcal/g·°C th° tǤ°
h
䁖 th/ ·°

晦䁚 䁚
tttt 䁖
晦䁚
h tͳhh th/ ·° h ͳ ttͳ th/ ·°
ͳhh
h tͳhh th/ ·°
䁖䂷 ꫬ 䃉䂷
 Based on the computed value, h ttͳcal/g·°C is the specific heat of the metal where it increases
its temperature by one degree Celsius. The heat loss refers to the metal’s action since it contains the
higher value of temperature. While the heat gained refers to the water and calorimeter’s action to the
system since it contains a lower value of temperature.

The successive experiment involves the determination of latent heat of fusion of ice. Latent heat
is known to be the opposite form of sensible heat. Sensible heat is mathematically defined as the stated
equation 1 and is also known as the heat exchanged by a thermodynamic system that makes the
temperature of a system rise or fall. On the other hand, as ice melts, latent heat is absorbed by the ice as
its temperature remains unchanged at 0°C. It is also described as the heat needed for ice to undergo
physical change, as it transforms from solid to liquid matter. For the computation of the latent heat, heat
loss and heat gained can be equated wherein it will come up to the exact equation as equation 2, which is
also described as the law of exchange.

Data were gathered in order to come up with a value for the experimental latent heat of fusion of
ice.
Table 2. Determining the Latent Heat of Fusion of Ice
Mass of Calorimeter, Mc 57.8g Initial Temperature of Water, tw 44°C
Mass of Water, Mw 154.2g Final Temperature of Mixture, tmix 24°C
Mass of Mixture, Mmix 241.4g Experimental Latent Heat of Fusion, Lf 89.2828 cal/g·°C
Mass of Ice, Mi 29.4g Actual Latent Heat of Fusion, L f 80 cal/g·°C
Initial Temperature of Ice, ti 100°C Percentage Error 11.61%
Initial Temperature of Calorimeter, tc 44°C

It can be observed on the table above that the temperature drastically changed as the ice is placed
on the inner calorimeter that contains warm water. The change in temperature is caused by the melting of
ice, since the system has undergone heat transfer from the cold (ice) to hot (warm water) and vice versa.
The latent heat of fusion of the ice is computed using equation 2, where the temperature of ice is at 0°C

thh apaci
ꀀ ꀀ ꀀ h
ͳǤǤ t ͳcal/g·°C tǤ° ǤǤ° Ǥh h tͳhǤcal/g·°C tǤ° ǤǤ° tt h
tt Ǥ ͳcal/g·°C tǤ° h° h
 䂷 䂷 th/ ·°

晦䁚 䁚
ctttt 䁖
晦䁚
h th/ ·° tt t th/ ·°
ͳhh
h th/ ·°
䁖䁖 䃉૟

The heat loss refers to the calorimeter and water’s action since it contains higher value of
temperature than of the ice.

Based on the computed value, the heat needed to be absorbed by the ice for it to undergo phase
change is t t t cal/g·°C . Associating it to the actual value of the latent heat of fusion, is it not that
much comparable since it yields an acceptable value of percent difference.
 Figure 1. Setting up the System Figure 2. Computing for the Required Values

Conclusions
In conclusion, there is a huge difference between sensible heat and latent heat. Sensible heat
refers to the energy transferred equals to the specific heat capacity of an object, multiplied by its mass and
change in temperature. As observed in the experiment, the placement of the hot metal to the system
contributed to the alteration of the final temperature of the mixture. Which explains the direct
proportionality relationship of the temperature and sensible heat. However, there are certain values of
specific heat capacity for each substance (Johnson, 2015) . As for the metal specimen in the experiment,
its actual heat capacity is given by the value h tͳhh th/ ·° and the computed value is h ͳ ttͳ th/
·° , yielding to a more than 10% of percent error. By observation, the two values do not vary that much
but there might be some possible source of errors during the experiment. Wherein the metal must have
dropped into the calorimeter quickly and gently, the size of the metal might have also been a source of
error since it is slightly bigger for it to distribute heat to the water and the water level in the calorimeter
must be sufficient to immerse the solid metal on the water.

On the other hand, latent heat is the energy absorbed or released by a system for an object to
undergo phase change when the temperature is unchanged. It is observed on the experiment conducted
that the temperature of the system did not quickly change, for it maintained its temperature until it
completely melted. Comparing the value obtained experimental and actual values of the latent heat of
fusion of ice, it yielded a value of 11.60%. Some probable source of errors might have been the
temperature of the warm water, which might have been too hot to be considered “warm” that is why the
change in temperature resulted to a big number.

In real-life application, a cooling system could be a good example for the topic regarding specific
heat capacity. Water is known to be a good heat reservoir as it serves as a cooling agent to avoid car
engines from overheating. While for the real-life application of latent heat of fusion, steaming siomai or
siopao is an example. Wherein water is boiled at a certain temperature and will transform into steam thus
enables the siomai or siopao to be steamed.

References
Calorimetry. (2019, June 23). Retrieved from Chemistry LibreTexts:
https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook_Maps/Suppl
emental_Modules_(Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry)/Thermodynamics/Calorimetry
Johnson, D. (2015, March 31). Difference Between Sensible and Latent Heat. Retrieved from Freedom:
https://www.freedomhvacal.com/technical-hvac/blog-sensible-and-latent-heat/