East Doncaster Secondary College
YEAR 11 PHYSICS
PRAC - SPECIFIC HEAT OF ALUMINIUM
NAME: ……………………………………………..
Aim:
To experimentally determine the specific heat of aluminium and compare it with the
accepted value.
Materials: Aluminium block, insulated foam cup, electronic scale, 2 thermometers, 250 ml beaker,
tongs, Bunsen burner, gauze mat, tripod, heat mat.
Method:
1.
Set up the Bunsen burner, tripod, gauze mat, etc.. and start heating 150 ml of water in the 250 ml
beaker. Wait till it boils. Meanwhile ……
2.

Complete the following:
Measure the mass of the foam cup (to the nearest gram)
mcup = ………….. grams

Half fill the foam cup with tap-water and measure the total mass
mcup+H20 = ………… grams

Therefore the mass of the water (to the nearest gram) is
mH2O = …………… grams

Measure the mass of the aluminium block (to the nearest gram)
mAl = ………….. grams
3.
After the water in the beaker is boiling, carefully place the aluminium block in the boiling water
using the tongs (for about five minutes) and use one of the thermometers to accurately measure
the temperature of the boiling water (it won’t necessarily be exactly 100 ºC).
TH2O (boiling) = ………… ºC therefore we can assume TAL (initial) = ………….. ºC
4.
After the tap-water has been sitting in the foam cup for a while, use the second thermometer to
carefully measure the temperature of the tap-water in the foam cup.
TcupH2O (initial) = ………… ºC
5.
Quickly use the tongs to gently transfer the hot aluminium block into the tap-water in the foam
cup. Do not splash the block in and be careful not to burn yourself or anyone else. Gently stir the
water/block around with the second thermometer and observe the temperature of the combination
until it stabilises. This should not take too long.
TcupH2O (final) = ………… ºC is the same as TAL (final) = ………….. ºC
106744424
East Doncaster Secondary College
Results:
1.
We are going to assume that the heat loss to the surroundings is minimal, so:
HEAT LOST BY ALUMINIUM = HEAT GAINED BY WATER
mAl x cAl x TAl = mH2O x cH2O x TcupH2O
where
TAl = TAl (initial) - TAl (final)
cH2O = 4200 J kg-1 ºC-1
TcupH2O = TcupH2O (final) - TcupH2O (initial)
Use the above information to determine an experimental value for the specific heat of aluminium. Show
all of your working in the space below.
CAl = ………………. J kg-1 ºC-1
2.
Look up the stated value of the specific heat of aluminium in the table in your book.
CAl(book) = ………………. J kg-1 ºC-1
3.
Work out the percentage uncertainty of the value that you obtained compared to the stated value.
% uncertainty = your value - book value x 100
book value
4.
Write a conclusion for this practical activity taking into account the %uncertainty that you
obtained and explain where possible improvements could be made.
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