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Timothy Moore
Mrs. Tammy Moore
VHSG Online Chemistry
10 February 2009
CALORIMETRY
Experiment 2.2 (Wile, 59,60)
Creating and Using a Calorimeter to Determine the Identity of an Unknown Metal
ABSTRACT
In this lab I used a simple calorimeter to identify an unknown metal. I gathered initial and time
versus temperature data. I calculated the heat absorbed by the water and calorimeter and the heat
released by the metal. I calculated the heat capacity (also known as specific heat) of the unknown
metal. I used this information and a reference listing the heat capacity of common metals on the
internet to determine that the metal was [insert your metal here after your lab is completed].
[Add and remove page breaks as needed to make the sections of the lab report read well without
odd divisions from one page to another. Every time you see something in [brackets] you
should input your own data, observations, or conclusions and remove the bracket symbols]
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INTRODUCTION
Chemists use and apparatus called a calorimeter to find the heat capacity of substances.
The device has a simple design including insulating materials such as Styrofoam, ice water, the
unknown, and a thermometer. I will construct this device and use it to find the identity of an
unknown metal by computing its heat capacity and checking my experimental result with a chart
of heat capacities of various metals.
[Do some of your own internet research on calorimeters after your lab and enter anything that
would be valuable to your reader to help them understand the lab you did. Cite your sources by
putting the last name in parenthesis right after the information you used and add them to the
bibliography at the end of the report. Feel free to use the Word 2007 Reference tools or use the
Son of Citation website to help you format the bibliography entry into proper MLA format]
MATERIALS AND METHODS
MATERIALS

A thermometer

chunk of metal such as a lead sinker or large nut (minimum of 30 g)

Two Styrofoam cups

Styrofoam plate

Kitchen tongs

Tap water that is at boiling point
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CALORIMETER SET UP:
Setting up the calorimeter lab involved heating the water to boiling and placing the metal
object in it so that its initial temperature would be 100 degrees Celsius.
While the water and metal are heating, I constructed the calorimeter. The calorimeter is
simply two Styrofoam cups nested one inside the other with a Styrofoam lid. In this lid a hole is
centered that is just large enough to allow a thermometer to fit into the calorimeter (see fig. 1)
[You must replace the temporary photo of the calorimeter below with a photo or sketch of your
own calorimeter. Note that in the image provided the lid is made of paper. Use Styrofoam. If you
use paper, adjust the materials list and set up procedures. You will not need a ring stand, but I
wanted to show you what it would look like with ‘real’ lab gear.]
Figure 1
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GATHERING INITIAL DATA:
The two Styrofoam cups with its lid was then weighed and the mass recorded in the table
below (mass of calorimeter). Room temperature water was added to the calorimeter and the
entire device was measured again. The mass of the water was determined by taking this measure
minus the calorimeter's mass before adding the water. This was then added to the data table (see
the Initial Data table in the Results section).
THE UNKNOWN METAL WAS ADDED TO THE CALORIMETER:
The metal was carefully removed from the boiling water using the tongs. It was then
added to the calorimeter. The lid was place on the top and the thermometer placed in the hold
located in the lid. Temperature readings were taken at 30 second intervals until the temperature
leveled out and began to drop a bit (see the Time vs. Temperature table in the Results section).
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RESULTS
Initial Data
Heat capacity of water
1.00 cal/g ˚C
Heat capacity of Styrofoam
11.95 cal/g ˚C
Mass of metal in grams
[place your data here]
Mass of the calorimeter
[place your data here]
Mass of the water
[place your data here]
Initial Temperature of Water
[place your data here]
Time vs. Temperature Data
Time (minutes)
Temperature ([˚C or ˚F depending on your
thermometer])
0 (initial temperature)
[remember that this should be room temp
water]
30
[put your data in this column]
01:00
01:30
2:00
2:30
3:00
3:30
4:00
4:30
5:00
Add more rows if needed
CALCULATING THE HEAT CAPACITY:
Heat Absorbed by the water:
qwater = mwater cwater ΔTwater
qwater = [use your data collected in the lab to complete the calculations]
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Heat Absorbed by the Calorimeter:
qcalorimeter = mcalorimeter ccalorimeter Δtcalorimeter
qcalorimeter = [use your data collected in the lab to complete the calculations]
Heat of the Metal (heat absorbed by water and calorimeter):
qmetal = qcalorimeter + qwater
Calculated Heat Capacity of the Unknown Metal:
qmetal = mmetal cmetal Δtmetal
[value from the heat of the metal step] = [put in your values – you are solving for cmetal]
qmetal = [place your final calculated value here]
DISCUSSION
The computed heat capacity of the unknown metal was [place your final computed value
here]. Using a heat capacity or specific heat of common substances chart (Hester) I determined
that the unknown metal was [insert conclusion here].
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BIBLIOGRPAHY
Hester, Jerry. Physics Labs: Specific and Latent Heat. 27 January 2006. 07 February 2009
<http://phoenix.phys.clemson.edu/labs/223/spheat/index.html>.
Wile, Dr. Jay L. Exploring Creation With Chemistry. Vol. ed. 1. Chelsea: Sheridan Books, Inc,
2000.