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Thermal Energy Lab

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Question: How are temperature and thermal energy related?
Hypothesis: If hot aluminum and cold water of the same mass mix then the final temperature would be the average temperature of the two initial temperatures because the aluminum cube’s temperature would drop and the water’s temperature would increase and it would average it out.
Materials
Safety Goggles
Beaker
Temperature probe
Data collector
Ice
Hot water
Cold water
3 12-oz foam cups aluminum Cube
Electronic Balance
Tongs
100 ML Graduated Cylinder
Hot Plate Procedure Label two of the foam cups as: HOT and COLD Put in ice and water in the other foam cup that is unlabeled to prepare an ice bath. Connect the temperature probe to the Data Collector and select the …show more content…

(Leave out the ice)
Quickly, pour the hot and cold water into the beaker. Then stir the mixture of the hot and cold water.
Place the temperature probe into the mixture.
When the reading is stabilized, record in the mixture’s temperature in the Table 1 (use °C for the units).
Measure the aluminum cube’s mass on the electronic balance. Record the cube’s mass.
Prepare another ice bath in a foam cup. Place the aluminum cube into the beaker carefully, fill it in with water, just until it covers the cube’s top. Place the beaker with cub on the hot plate, and select high. Place a foam cup on the electronic balance, then click on Zero then pour in close or same amount of cold water from the ice bath. (Leave out the ice) Place the temperature probe into the cold water. When the reading stabilizes, record its temperature into Table 2. Hold the temperature probe (Don’t place it to touch the bottom of the beaker) in the water with the cube, when bubbles forming at the bottom of the beaker. When the reading stabilizes, record data into Table 2. Using the tong, pour out hot water. Then carefully put the aluminum cube into the foam cup of cold water that was measured …show more content…

The beaker of water on the hot plate, when it was boiling it was going through vaporization. Also, the electrical energy transfer into thermal energy to heat up the water. The initial temperature of the aluminum cube was at 40°C and the water’s initial temperature was at 3°C and the final temperature after mixing the two together as at 11.5°C. It only took a small amount of thermal energy to increase the temperature of the aluminum cube to reach 40°C, because it has low specific heat, it heats up faster. When they mixed together, the a little amount of thermal energy that the aluminum cube had was transferred to the water, changing the water’s temperature only by a little. The water’s temperature was changed by not very much because it has high specific heat, so it would need more heat to increase its

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