Question

Describe how you could determine the specific heat of a sample of a solid substance. You may assume that the substance does not react with water. In your answer, make sure to include a description of what equipment you would use and how you would interpret the data you collected.

Answer 1

I would use calorimetry to determine the specific heat.

I would measure the mass of a sample of the substance.

I would heat the substance to a known temperature.

I would place the heated substance into a coffee-cup calorimeter containing a known mass of water with a known initial temperature. I would wait for the temperature to equilibrate, then calculate temperature change. I would use the temperature change of water to determine the amount of energy absorbed. I would use the amount of energy lost by substance, mass, and temperature change to calculate specific heat.

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer on Edg 21'

Answer 2

I would measure the mass of the solid substance. I would prepare a known mass of room temperature water large enough to submerge the solid substance in question. I would place the water in an insulated container. Then I would heat the solid substance to a known temperature. I would measure the temperature of the heated sample and the water. Then I would submerge the sample in the water and allow the sample and the water to reach the same temperature. I would measure this equilibrium temperature. I would interpret the difference in temperature between the heated sample and the equilibrium temperature as the change in temperature in the sample. Given the known mass, the beginning temperature of the water, and the equilibrium temperature I can determine how much energy was transferred from the heated sample to the water. Now the mass of the sample, a change in temperature in the solid substance, and the amount of energy transferred to create the temperature is known. This is sufficient to determine the specific heat of the solid substance