SPECIFIC HEAT
CAPACITY
Chemistry
Name
Experiment #16
Date: ___Mods:__
Specific Heat Capacity
Partner name
OBJECTIVE
 To find the specific heat capacity of a
piece of metal
PROCEDURE
For each of the two metals (1 metal each day):
1. Mass an empty calorimeter
2. Fill with just enough water to cover metal and mass
again
3. Record initial temperature of the cup of water to the
nearest .5 or .0 degree
4. Record the initial temperature of the metal by
measuring temp of the water in the pot
5. Quickly transfer metal that has been in pot for 1 min
to cup
PROCEDURE (CON)
6. Record the increase of the temperature to the nearest
.5 or .0 degree
7. Dry the metal off and mass it
8. Return metal to pot
9. Repeat Steps 1-9 for Trial 2.
DATA
Al Trial 1
Mass empty
calorimeter
Mass
calorimeter
and water
Temperature
of metal
initially
Temperature
of water
initially
Highest temp
of water after
adding metal
Mass of dry
metal
Al Trial 2
Cu Trial 1
Cu Trial 2
CALCULATIONS
 Calculate the specific heat of aluminum (Al):
- m1 ∆T1 c1 = m2 ∆T2 c2
(leave 10 lines)
 Percent error (Al)
(leave 10 lines)
 Calculate the specific heat of copper (Cu):
- m1 ∆T1 c1 = m2 ∆T2 c2
(leave 10 lines)
 Percent error (Cu)
(leave 10 lines)
CONCLUSION
 We found the specific heat capacity of
aluminum to be _________. The actual value
is ________. The percent error is _________.
We found the specific heat capacity of copper
to be _________. The actual value is
_________. The percent error is _________. (2
more sentences)