Name ______________________________________________________________ Class ______________ Date ______________
Specific Heat of Metals Lab
Introduction: The Specific Heat (c) of a substance is the amount of heat needed to raise one gram of the substance one degree
Celsius. If a substance has a high specific heat than it will take a lot of energy (heat) to change its temperature. Water has a very high
specific heat. In this experiment you will determine the specific heat of two metals. The metals will be heated up with a hot water
bath and then transferred to your calorimeter where you will monitor the temperature change of a known mass of water. The heat lost
by the metal is equal to the heat that the water in the calorimeter has gained. By setting the two heat equations equal to each other you
will be able to calculate the specific heat of the metal.
Heat gained by water (q = ( m water ) ( c water ) ( Twater )) = Heat lost by the metal (q = ( mmetal ) ( cmetal ) (Tmetal ))
Procedure:
1) Place a sample of each metal into a water bath on a hot plate and start heating. Allow metal to sit in hot bath for about 10 minutes.
2) While the metal is heating up in its bath, Put about 50 mL of distilled water in your calorimeter and use an electronic scale to
determine the mass of the water. Record the mass of the distilled water in your data table.
3) Record the temperature of the 50mL of water in the calorimeter to the nearest 0.1oC.
4) Record the temperature of the hot water bath (also the temperature of the metal) to the nearest 0.1 C. This is the also the
initial temperature of your metal
5) Remove one of the metal samples from the hot water bath and QUICKLY place the metal into the calorimeter.
6) Monitor the temperature and record the highest temperature that the water achieves. This is also the lowest temperature for
that metal.
7) After the temperature is recorded, remove the metal from the calorimeter and pour the water into the sink.
8) Place the metal on a paper towel to dry. When the metal is dry find its mass and record the value in your data table.
9) Repeat steps 2-8 with the other metal.
Data:
Metal Symbol
Tin (Sn)
Lead (Pb)
Mass of metal used (grams)
Mass of distilled water in cup
(grams)
Temperature of Hot Bath (C)
(also Initial temp of Metal)
Initial temperature of Water
in Calorimeter (C)
Final temperature of Water in
Calorimeter (C)
(Also Final temp of Metal)
Calculations:
1) Calculate the temperature change (TH2O) for the 100g of water in the calorimeter for each metal.
Sn:
Pb:
Name ______________________________________________________________ Class ______________ Date ______________
2) Calculate the temperature change for each metal used. (Tmetal)
Sn:
Pb:
3) Knowing that the heat gained by the water = heat lost by the metal. Use the mass of water, S.H of Water (4.18 J/g C), and the
Temperature Change of the water (TH2O) for the heat gained by the water. Use the mass of metal and the temperature change of
the metal (Tmetal). Solve for the specific heat of the metal.
( m water ) ( c water ) ( Twater ) = ( mmetal ) ( cmetal ) (Tmetal )
Sn:
Pb:
4) Look at the table of actual values on the board for the metal you used. Calculate the percent error for each metal.
% error =
Sn:
(exp – actual)
actual
x 100
Pb:
5) Which metal would take the most heat to raise 1 gram of the metal by 1 C?
6) During your experiment, the heat lost by the metal was assumed to have been transferred to the water in the calorimeter. At what
point in the experiment could some of the heat been lost to the air?
7) A thermodynamic equilibrium is established when two substances come to the same temperature. Two thermodynamic
equilibriums were established in this experiment. When did they occur and what substances came to the equilibrium?