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Specific Heat Of Solids Lab Report

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Specific Heat of Solids

I. Objective
The objective of the study is to explain, measure and better understand the specific heat of copper and lead using the method of mixtures.

II. Theory
Heat is a form of energy it is either expressed in joules, calories, or kilo-calories According to the law formulated by the French chemists Pierre Louis Dulong and Alexis Thérèse Petit, the specific heat of solids which is characterized as the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance to one degree Celsius specimens are inversely proportional to their atomic weights; that is, the specific heat multiplied by the atomic weight is approximately a constant quantity for all the solid elements. …show more content…

Once again, we assume the system to be thermally insulated from the surroundings, and the heat capacity of the thermometer, which records the temperature, can be neglected. Let the final temperature of the mixture be T3. Energy conservation gives:
Qlost(specimen) = Qgained(Water) + Qgained(Calorimeter)

which yields the unknown specific heat c1 of the specimen as c1 = (m2c2+m3c3) (T3 - T2) m1(T1 ? T3)
We assume that the mixing can be done without loss of heat by the hot specimen to the surroundings.
We will consider a specimen heated to a high temperature is dropped into water contained in a calorimeter cup at a lower temperature. If this system is thermally insulated from the surroundings, the specific heat of the specimen can be determined by equating the heat lost by the metal to the heat gained by both the calorimeter cup and the water contained in it. (http://www.physics1.howard.edu/MSIP/GenLab1/GL1-10.pdf )

III. Diagram/Materials

IV. Procedure

The initial masses of boiler dipper, copper, lead, dipper and shots, inner vessel with water, and water are measured and recorded. The specimens (copper/lead) are heated and the initial temperatures are recorded after which, it is dropped in the calorimeter containing cold water. The temperature rise of the water in the calorimeter is observed and recorded. From the data gathered, the specific

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