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Calorimetry Lab Report

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Introduction:
Calorimetry is defined as the measurement of heat transfer and the amount of heat gained or lost due to chemical reactions, changes of state, or the formation of a solution (Calorimeter 1). The process of calorimetry is conducted inside of a calorimeter (Kieber 27). A calorimeter is an insulated system that thwarts heat exchange from the system to its surroundings (Toolbox 3). The main goal of this experiment is to use calorimetry to determine the specific heat of an unknown metal by using a coffee cup calorimeter, which is two Styrofoam cups nested together, and measuring the transferred heat when hot pieces of the unknown metal are submerged in cold water (Kieber 28).
Materials and Procedures:
The materials used for this experiment were as follows:
• Metal samples in test tubes with stoppers (Al and Cu)
• Paper towels
• Test tube holder
• Scale
• Two beakers
• Bunsen burner
• Flint lighter
• Ring stand
• Wire gauze
• Thermometer
• Coffee cup calorimeter
• Lab computer with MicroLab data acquisition system
The group was assigned copper for this experiment. A stoppered test tube of copper was obtained, and the test tube along with its contents and stopper were weighed together and recorded (Kieber 28). The copper was then poured …show more content…

The observed temperature was recorded beside Ti of water on the data sheet. The probe was removed from the calorimeter cup and placed in the beaker of boiling water. However, the probe did not directly touch the metal because the probe would not give an accurate temperature (29). This temperature was recorded to the nearest 0.1 degrees Celsius on the data sheet beside Ti of the metal. Finally, the probe was removed from the boiling water and wiped dry. After the probe returned to room temperature, 23 degrees Celsius, it was returned to the calorimeter cup until the next step in the procedure

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