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Are you in Hot water or up to Your Neck in Sand?
Energy Transfer in a Closed System
When one gram of any material changes in temperature one degree up Celsius or one degree down
Celsius, the amount of ENERGY transferred is called the Specific Heat of that material.
To raise the temperature of one gram of water one degree Celsius, you must BURN one calorie of
energy. That’s what a calorie is.
Predict: Which will transfer heat and cool more slowly, thereby having a higher specific heat, Water or
Sand?
Safety: You are working with hot water and by state law, must wear safety glasses.
Materials needed:
1 calorimeter.
Hot water
1 Graduated cylinder
sand
Procedure:
I.
II.
Write an hypothesis regarding your prediction and experiment.
III.
Write down what you know about the difference in temperatures between water and sand.
IV.
Experiment:
V. and VI. Observe what happens during the experiment. You will need to design a data table to record the
change of water and sand temperature over time.
a. Record everything that happens that affects the experiment or the results of the experiment.
b. Keep accurate and neat records
1. Place 75 ml of 75 degree C water in the calorimeter.
a. Record the beginning temperature.
b. Record the temperature every 30 seconds for 5 minutes and record the information on your data
table.
c. Empty the calorimeter and repeat the process.
2. Place 75 ml of sand into the calorimeter
a. Record the beginning temperature.
b. Record the temperature every 30 seconds for 5 minutes and record the information on your data
table.
c. Empty the calorimeter and repeat the process.
Using the averages of the two experiments, make a graph showing the change in temperature over time for the
water and the sand.
VI. Write a conclusion answering the following questions.
Questions:
1. Why did you conduct each experiment 2 times?
2. Was your hypothesis supported by the results?
3. What could you have done to make the experiment more accurate?
4. What other information do you need?
5. What conclusions about the climate of the Earth can you make from this experiment?