Experiment one – Water equivalent of the calorimeter:
Goal and Instruments
Goal
The purpose of the experiment is to calculate the equivalent mass of a calorimeter
using the properties and formulas of the calorimetry.
Instruments
Calorimeter with stirrer
• A calorimeter is any device used to measure quantities of heat. It doesn’t allow
exchange of heat with the outside.
Laura Gagliano e Kristian Iliev IIIF
Experiment one – Water equivalent of the calorimeter:
Instruments
Digital thermometer
- Sensitivity : 0.1°
- Capacity : from –40° to 150°
Pot holders
Beaker
• A beaker is a graduated jar made of glass or plastic
- Sensitivity : 50ml
- capacity : 250 ml
Laura Gagliano e Kristian Iliev IIIF
Experiment one – Water equivalent of the calorimeter:
Instruments
Graduated cylinder
– Sensitivity : 2 ml
– Capacity : 250 ml
Bunsen burner
A bunsen burner is a sort of camping stove that
produces a gas flame
Laura Gagliano e Kristian Iliev IIIF
Experiment one – Water equivalent of the calorimeter:
Step’s description
•Measure a mass m1 of water in a graduated container and than pour it in the calorimeter;
•Spot with a digital thermometer the equilibrium temperature t1 between
the water and the calorimeter;
•Prepare in a beaker a second mass m2 of water;
•Rest on the camping stove the beaker to heat the water, until a temperature t2 near the boiling point;
Patricia Prutean, Alessia Tobia and Lorenza Vespasiano IIIF
Experiment one – Water equivalent of the calorimeter:
Step’s description
•Pour hot water in the calorimeter
and close the lid;
•Blend the two waters, at different
temperatures, with the help of a stirrer;
•Measure the equilibrium temperature
of the two waters with the digital thermometer;
• You must repeat more times the experiment with
different initial masses and temperatures.
Patricia Prutean, Alessia Tobia and Lorenza Vespasiano IIIF
HERE  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_29z_29m-Y
Alternative link
http://dailymotion.virgilio.it/video/xdn6f7_calorimetry-the-water-equivalent-of_tech
Experiment one – Water equivalent of the calorimeter:
Tables and data
This first table contains the data collected in the laboratory
m1 (kg)
0.230
0.220
0.240
0.200
0.110
M2 (kg)
0.200
0.150
0.250
0.250
0.150
T1 (°C)
19.3
19.1
19.0
19.6
19.3
T2 (°C)
80.0
85.0
75.0
80.0
80.0
Te (°C)
47.0
45.4
46.5
53.2
52.5
Physical situation
S1
S2
cal
m2
m1
heat
transfer
T1
m1=water mass
m2= hot water
T2 >> T1
Valerio Marconi e Niccolò Mascaro IIIF
Experiment one – Water equivalent of the calorimeter:
Tables and data
Processing the data
T1 < Te < T2  is the baseline of our experiment;
Q2 (out ) = Q1 (in)
From which it follows that
m2 c (T2 − Te ) = m1c(Te − T1 ) + me c(Te − T1 )
Mass equivalent:
To calculate the error during measurement of the specific heat
of the solid, we use the formula to calculate the root mean
square deviation
Standard deviation of mass equivalent:
And finally we calculated the relative error, obtained by the
ratio of the absolute error and average measurements:
Relative error of mass equivalent:
Valerio Marconi e Niccolò Mascaro IIIF
Experiment one – Water equivalent of the calorimeter:
Tables and data
m1
∆m1
m2
∆m2
0.230
0.002
0.200
0.002
19.3
0.1
80.0
0.1
47.0
0.1
0.220
0.002
0.150
0.002
19.1
0.1
85.0
0.1
45.4
0.1
0.240
0.002
0.250
0.002
19.0
0.1
75.0
0.1
46.5
0.1
0.200
0.002
0.250
0.002
19.6
0.1
80.0
0.1
53.2
0.1
m2
0,200
0,150
0,250
0,250
T1
19,3
19,1
19,0
19,6
T2
80,0
85,0
75,0
80,0
∆T1
T1
Te
me
47,0 0,008
45,4 0,006
46,5 0,019
53,2 - 0,001
T2
Σm e / n
0,008
0,008
0,008
0,008
∆T2
∆Te
Te
me
0,007
0,007
0,007
0,007
∆Rm
1,149
1,149
1,149
1,149
This table contains all data processed and all the variables that should be
calculated for the experiment (goal).
Valerio Marconi e Niccolò Mascaro IIIF
Experiment one – Water equivalent of the calorimeter:
Conclusions
By performing the experiment we can see that whenever the measurements are performed
in the laboratory they are influeced by two main types of errors:
Accidental errors: errors of reading affecting the measure to excess or defect
 Systematic errors: errors due to imprecision of measuring instruments that affect only one
way, or always to excess, or always defect.
In this experiment there was a mistake, especially when the mass at higher temperature was
transported in the calorimeter.
In fact a certain amount of heat was dispersed, and that influenced the experimetal data.
For this you may find that the physical laws, particularly in this experiment the thermal
balance, refer to ideal models can not be reproduced in reality due to the presence of
such errors.
Alessio Biagini e Giovanni Nitoglia III F