Hangzhou International School Name: Divay Agarval

Science Class: 9.1 Date: 02.09.24

Summative Lab Report Template

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Title:
Calorimetry Lab

Research Question / Problem (B.i)

The intent of this experiment is to determine the heat index of a given metal and to experimentally discern the
name of such metal. This experiment is based on the concept of specific heat index which is a measure that
reflects the conductivity of heat a metal can retain (“Specific Heat | Definition & Facts | Britannica”). In other
words, how much heat energy (in joules) is needed to change the overall temperature of the metal. By finding
this number, we can compare it to online resources providing the individual heat index for specific materials
and by tracing this number we can find the metal itself (considering this metal isn’t a compound or a
composition of many metals). The importance of this experiment apart from the figuring out what the metal is,
is to also consider what the specific heat index really means and what effects it has on a metal’s physical
properties. Fore says, the metal we were using was never discovered before; this specific heat index would
help us understand its physical properties when it comes to conducting heat, and if we know its melting point,
we can determine how fast or how slow it will reach that molten state given a constant heat source. This time
taken to reach a certain temperature idea can also be applied to figure out how long this metal can reach a
superconductive phase (as some metals exhibit extreme magnetism was cooled down to extreme
temperatures, it basically happens when phonons interact with electrons in the metal to form cooper pairs and
then it’s the quantum properties of cooper pairs that allow them to exhibit superconductive behavior (“DOE
Explains...Superconductivity”)) overall it will help us determine the heat conductivity of this element and how it
reacts to temperature changes which can then help us determine further elements such as the ones
mentioned above.

Hypothesis (B.ii)
If heat is transferred between an unknown metal and water (where the metal is hotter than the water) then the
heat change in water and the metal can help us determine the respective specific heat indexes. This is due to
the First law of thermodynamics which states that the energy in a closed system can never be created or
destroyed and can only be converted from one form to another (Razak); this is quite like law of conservation
of energy but more justified and specific. So, depending on the difference between the heat index of the metal
and water (the specific heat index of water is 4.184 Joules (“2.14: Water - High Heat Capacity”)) we can
determine whether the metal will heat or cool faster than water. If the metals specific heat index is more than
water, then it requires more energy to cool or heat up, therefore if you were to take that metal and put it into
water, then overtime when they finally reach a mutual temperature; the temperature change in the metal (∆T)
would be less than the temperature change in water (∆T) due to this specific heat index. The same
fundamental can be applied if the metal has a lower specific index than water, in which case the temperature
change for the water would be smaller than the temperature change of the metal. This degree of difference
between the temperature changes of both water and metal (∆T) are based on the factors of difference
between the metal’s specific heat index and the waters specific heat index. Another way to specifically
determine what the metal is, is by applying the relationship between specific heat capacity (which is just
specific heat index/ density (“13.2: Specific Heat”)) and atomic mass, which is described by the Dulong-Petit
law, which states the product of specific heat and atomic mass or gram – atomic heat capacity of an element
is always constant (measuring at about 6.4 J/(mol·K) or 6 cal/(g·atom)) (Byjus). Via this property if we
determine the atomic mass of the substance, we can find out the specific heat capacity from which then we
can figure out the specific heat index (though I believe this process is redundant as simply knowing the atomic
mass is enough to figure out the element). The same can be applied if we know just the specific heat index,
from which where we find the specific heat capacity and then determine the atomic mass.
Variables (include units!)

Independent Variable The independent variable in this experiment is going to be the time (in seconds)
taken for both materials to reach mutual temperature (this time is averaged
through our 3 trials). This Is measured using a timer (absolute error of + or –
0.1second). We start measuring this time as soon as drop the metal into the
calorimeter full of water. This time then becomes the x value for a graph if the y
value is the independent temperature of both the metal and water; this time keeps
going until the temperatures of both the metal and water reach a mutual position
on the graph.

Dependent Variable The dependent temperature of this experiment Is the individual temperature of
the water and metal as time goes on (measured by the timer); till the temperature
of both the metal and water reach a mutual point on the graph. It is measured via
the lab thermometer (Celsius). We also average this time through our 3
experiments.

Constants 1. Volume of water used in the calorimeter (60ml)

2. The type of metal used
3. The type of calorimeter (double layered Styrofoam cups)
4. Initial temperature of metal
5. Initial temperature of water
1. 2 x Styrofoam cups
2. 2 x lab thermometer
3. 1 x 60ml tap water
4. 1 x metal sample (copper)
5. 1 x 100ml graduated cylinder
6. 2 x 150ml beaker
7. 1 x Hot plate
8. 4 x paper towels
9. 1 x electronic balance
10. 2 x stopwatches
11. 2 x paper towels
 12. 1 x tongs
13. 1 x Insulating gloves
14. 1x Safety glasses

Safety (B.iv)

1. Always wear safety equipment to avoid unnecessary injuries such as burns.

2. Make sure your lab environment isn’t messy or slippery to further avoid injuries
3. When in proximity of hot materials, retain caution at all time and wear heat protective PPE’s when
needed (ask supervisor); especially around hot materials
4. To ensure a clean environment, dispose of materials (if needed) according to regulations.
5. Keep work area well ventilated
6. Follow all guidelines provided by the supervisor
7. Ensure that the calorimeter doesn’t allow any leaks of water.
8. Have a first aid kit within the lab
9. Follow all guidelines provided by supervisors at all time
10. Make sure the lab environment is well lit
11. In case of an injury seek immediate attention without any delays.
12. Take care of glass materials, make sure they don’t fall or break
13. Tie your hair back, make sure it doesn’t get in the way
14. No eating or drinking in the lab as it can interfere with the experiment and/or can be grounds for injury

Materials
1. 2 x Styrofoam cups
2. 2 x lab thermometer ( + or – 0.5°c)
3. 1 x 60ml tap water
4. 1 x metal sample (copper)
5. 1 x 100ml graduated cylinder (+ or – 0.1ml)
6. 2 x 150ml beaker
7. 1 x Hot plate
 8. 4 x paper towels
9. 1 x electronic balance (+ or – 0.01 grams)
10. 2 x stopwatches (+ or – 0.1 sec)
11. 2 x paper towels
12. 1 x tongs
13. Insulating gloves
14. Safety glasses

Method/ Procedure (B.iii)

1. Measure the mass of the empty calorimeter. Record the mass in your data table
2. Measure out exactly 60ml of tap water into your graduated cylinder and pour that into your double
layered Styrofoam cup. Record the Temperature of the water using the thermometer And write down
this temperature as your initial temperature for water.
3. Use your thermometer to accurately measure the initial temperature of the water and record in your
data table.
4. Take the beaker fill it up with water and place it on the hot plate to warm up till 95° Celsius. Once the
beaker has reached 95°C take your piece of metal place it on to the electronic balance and note down
the weight on your data table.
5. Place the piece of metal within the 100-milliliter beaker which should at this point be at around 95°C,
make sure to avoid burns by utilizing the insulation glove and place in the thermometer so that it
touches the piece of metal.
6. Once this piece of metal reaches about 95°C quickly take it out and place it into your water filled
Styrofoam cup using the tongs, take care to avoid burns!
7. Immediately start the timer and place a thermometer into the calorimeter (2 Styrofoam cups)
8. Once it seems as if the temperature of the water within the calorimeter and the temperature of the
metal seemed to be equal and unchanging, stop the timer and record both the temperature of the
water and the metal into your data table. Along with the time within the timer.
9. Drain the water within the calorimeter into the sink.
10. Dry off the metal with the paper towel
11. repeat this experiment two more times with the untouched piece of metal And write down the values of
each data point within their respective boxes within their respective trial numbers. Calculate the
 averages of each measurement.

Photo or drawing of the lab set-up / apparatus (B.iii)

Data

Data table for data calorimetry experiment

\
Water Initial Initial Final Final Metal Water Time
Volume Water metal Water Metal Mass mass
Temp Temp Temp Temp
Trial 1 60ml 26.3 °c 95°c 28°c 28°c 17.48 g 58.35 g 101 sec
Trial 2 60ml 27°c 95°c 30°c 30°c 17.48 g 57.89 g 170 sec
Trial 3 60ml 27°c 83°c 29°c 29°c 17.66 g 56.34 g 98 sec
Average 60ml 26.8°c 91°c 29°c 29°c 17.5 g 57.53 g 130 sec

Graph
Patterns & Observations (C.i)
The graph given above measures the temperature change (∆T) of both metal and water in a specific time
period. As time increases the temperature of metal decreases whereases the temperature of water increases
until they finally meet at a similar point. This difference between an increment in temperature (water) and a
decrease in temperature (metal) is simply due to their initial temperatures (as one is much higher than the
other). If we look at the change of temperature in the sense of just change (disregarding whether the
temperature is decreasing or increasing) then the change within metal is relatively steeper than that of water
which hints that the metal should have a lower specific index as it requires less energy to change
temperature; but this is all considering that our data is relatively accurate. Therefore, we can say that the slope
of the metal equation is much steeper than that of the waters. The highest temperature of water (which was
its initial temperature) reaches about 91° C and as time goes (0 seconds to 130 seconds) on it settles at
29°C. On the other hand, the initial temperature of water reaches in at 26.8°C and final temperature at 29°C.

Validity of Hypothesis (C.ii)

My hypothesis suggests that depending on the specific heat index found of the metal; the temperature
change within both the metal and water would vary. If the specific index of the metal was higher than
4.184(the specific heat index of water (“Specific Heat Capacity”)) then the temperature change of water would
be more than the temperature change of whereases if the specific heat index of the metal was lower than the
specific heat index of water (4.184 joules per gram Celsius) then the temperature change of the metal would
be higher than that of water. I also further stated that both of elements would do so by reaching a similar
temperature point. When I experimentally compare this hypothesis to my data there aren’t any literal
discrepancies between them. My data stands to prove that the temperature change within the metal was
higher than that of water; therefore, if my hypothesis is accurate, then the specific heat index of the metal
should supposedly be lower than 4.184 joules per gram Celsius. After carefully analyzing the data within the
table and applying the specific heat formula (Q=mcΔT (“13.2: Specific Heat”)), the specific heat index for this
metal comes out to be 0.554 joules per gram Celsius. Now this value for a specific heat index implies that the
metal lost more heat than water gained, which when comparing to the above graph and data points stands to
be true. So even though my hypothesis didn’t estimate anything specific such as how large or how small the
temperature change gap would be between the 2 elements, or the estimated value of the specific heat index
of the metal, it still subjectively stands true as it proposed the outcomes of 2 situations of which 1 of them
came true. ‌

Validity of Method (C.iii)

Based on the method provided above our specific heat index comes out to be approximately 0.554 joules per
gram Celsius, whereases the real specific heat index of the metal we were using should have been 0.377
joules per gram Celsius. According to this information our experiment had a percent error of about 47%,
which should stand to prove the extent of error our experimental procedure proves to exhibit. At a first glance
the experiments biggest issues seem to stand with its open calorimeter concept, the issue here is that some
of the heat from both these elements is lost via this open area to the surrounding air making both final
temperature values of both elements inaccurate. Furthermore, the heat lost to the cups are also ignored,
granted that the cups are bad conductors being Styrofoam (“Is Styrofoam Good for Insulation |
Insulation4Less”), regardless some minor amount of heat must be lost via this way; therefore, the major
problem mainly lies in the experiment being open rather than closed. Another issue that arises with this
experiment Is the immense room for human experimental error, further elaborating; the measurements taken
for this experiment are largely done by humans, meaning issues such as parallax error with the graduated
cylinders (and), improper calibration of a thermometer (noting whether or not the thermometer is accurate)
(Unknown), inconsistencies with the amount of water used in each trial and even timing inaccuracies when
putting both the metal and water into the calorimeter come into play throughout the whole experiment.
Furthermore, the inaccuracies of being able to maintain environmental conditions such as ensuring that every
time you heat up the metal it specifically reaches 95 degrees Celsius or that the initial temperature of water
remains the same as the room temperature, which is assuming that the room temperature remains the same.
Furthermore, they are considering that 1ml and 1 gram of water are same, which is technically true for normal
water (Grams); but what if miraculously one of experiment found a majority content of heavy water within it,
meaning the grams to ml ratio would change as heavy water is 10% heavier (“Heavy Water”). Even though
this is a extremely superficial scenario, this experiment ignores many small scenarios like this, and ignore
many small errors (such as human errors), which is why many of the aspects within this experiment can be
varied to be more suitable and more accurate to the experimental conditions and to reach a valid conclusion
with lower percent error. Some ways to improve this experiment can include adding a lid (preferable airtight,
can be made out of Styrofoam) on the calorimeter, and doing more trial to gather a larger sample set to then
ensure more data to run off of. Furthermore the fact that we don’t know whether this metal is coated or
uncoated is a course for inaccurate data, as the type of coating can affect the heat conductivity of the metal;
they work off the property of using other metals (copper, aluminum or stainless steel), and apply those metals
on the surface of our original metal which then allows the metal to exhibit the applied metals properties
(ProPlate, 1), therefore using a uncoated metal would yield best results. Though I think reengineering this
experiment is a more effective way to come up with reliable data.
Improvements and/or Extensions (C.iv)
New experiment, Title: The measure of the specific head index of an unknown metal (copper)

Materials needed:

1. Calorimeter (double-layer insulated container) with a lid

2. High-precision digital thermometer (precision error of about 0.01 Celsius) : (Amazon, Fluke 51 II
Single Input Digital Thermometer)

3. High-precision balance ( precision error of about + or – 0.001 gram): (“Intelligent Weighing PM-100
PM Series Laboratory Classic High Precision Laboratory Balance, 100 G Capacity, 0.001 G
Readability”)

4. 100ml Graduated cylinder (with a higher resolution) (precision error of + or – 0.01ml): (“DWK Life
Sciences KimbleTM KIMAXTM Class a to Contain Graduated Cylinders”)
5. 150ml Beaker
6. Hot plate
7. Tongs
8. Insulated gloves
9. Stopwatch (precision error of about + or - 0.001 sec): (Amazon, Professional Timer Stopwatch, Digital
Sports Stopwatch with Countdown Timer, 100 Lap Memory, 0.01 Second Timing,Water
Resistant,Multi Functional Stopwatch for Swimming Running Training etc)
10. 100ml Water (distilled, to avoid impurities)
11. Unknown and uncoated metal sample (copper)
12. Safety glasses

Steps:
1. Ensure that your calorimeter is empty and clean (if not clean it with water and rinse it out, make sure it
is completely empty). Now measure its weight using the high-precision balance and record its mass
on a data table

2. Measure out precisely 100ml of water using the calibrated graduated cylinder (calibrated refers to
subtracting the value of the empty calorimeter to the weight of calorimeter when its full). Further
 measure the temperature accurately using the high precision thermometer. Then pour it into the
calorimeter.

3. Fill a beaker with normal tap water (enough to completely submerge the metal) and bring the water
upto 95 degree celcius (if it exceeds the temperature then turn off the heat and measure the
temperature of the water every 5 seconds till it reaches 95 using the thermometer)

4. Once water reaches 95 carefully place the metal within the water and constantly measure the
temperature of the METAL in a 5 second interval, again it the temperature exceeds temperature then
turn off the heat and measure the temperature of the metal every 5 seconds till it reaches 95 using the
thermometer

5. Using insulated tongs, quickly place the metal into the calorimeter . Make sure the metal is completely
submerged and then cover the lid.

6. Insert the digital thermometer through the hole provided, and then quickly turn on the timer

7. Record the temperature of the water and the metal in a 10 second interval and note them down in a
progressive manner; do this until the temperature stabilizes (when readings down change over a few
minutes)

8. Once the temperatures in both elements stabilizes note down the final values of their temperatures

9. Repeat this experiment 5 times, remember to reset and recalibrate each measuring tool and to make
sure the calorimeter is empty.
‌

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