Coffee Cup Calorimeter Experiment

At this time, you should have already calibrated your coffee cup calorimeter. You will need to know the heat capacity of your coffee cup calorimeter to complete this experiment. If you have not already done so, calibrate the coffee cup calorimeter. You should also have verified (by using the built in check) the heat capacity value that you will be using.

Now, make sure you have a coffee cup calorimetry worksheet, and follow the directions on it carefully. Think about what you are doing and you will be able to properly determine either the heat of solution of one of the compounds from the list below or a specific heat capacity of a metal.

You may perform only one of the experiments below at a time.

Heat of Solution

In the following experiment, you will determine the heat of solution (DHsol'n) for an ionic compound in water. In order to do so, it is important for you to pay attention to the sign of the temperature change and to keep careful track of units. Remember this is a calorimetry experiment. The fundamental relationship that you will use is:

0 = qcal + qwater + qsol'n

In this case qcal = Ccal x DTcal and
q water = mass water x DT water x 4.184 J/oC g
qsol'n = DHsol'n

Now enter the heat capacity of your calorimeter, select a mass of ionic compound, volume of water, and a compound (record this information). Begin the experiment, record the results and follow the directions on the worksheet to arrive at an accurate result.

Enter heat capacity (in J/oC) of the calorimeter: J/oC

Enter a mass between 1.00g and 5.00g (ex. 2.98): g

Enter the volume of water (40.0 - 100.0 ml) to use: mL

Click on button to begin experiment.

Select a compound
NH4Cl NaCl
NaC2H3O2 NaOH
KCl KCLO4
KOH NH4C2H3O2

Specific Heat Capacity of Metals

In the following experiment, you will determine the specific heat capacity (Cp) for a metal. A specific heat capacity, sometimes called just a specific heat, has units of J/oC g. Remember, liquid water has a specific heat of 4.184 J/oC g. In order to determine the specific heat of the metal, you will drop a known mass of metal at an elevated temperature into a known mass of water at a cooler temperature. It is important for you to pay attention to the sign of the temperature change and to keep careful track of units. Remember this is a calorimetry experiment. The fundamental relationship that you will use is:

0 = qcal + qwater + qmetal

In this case qcal = Ccal x DTcal and
q water = mass water x DT water x 4.184 J/oC g.
qmetal = massmetal x DTmetal x Cp metal J/oC g.

Now enter the heat capacity of your calorimeter, select a metal, set the initial (elevated temperature) of the metal, choose a volume of cool water, and set the initial temperature of the water (record all of this information). Begin the experiment, record the results and follow the directions on the worksheet to arrive at an accurate result.

Enter heat capacity (in J/oC) of the calorimeter: J/oC

Select a metal:

Enter the mass of the metal between 5 and 10 grams, to 3 decimal places (ex. 7.459): g

Select the initial temperature of the metal: oC

Enter the volume of water (10.0 - 50.0 ml) to use: :mL

Select the initial temperature of the water: oC