Required Practical Specific Heat Capacity

• Specific Heat Capacity

  The amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of a substance by 1 degree Celsius
• Units for Specific Heat Capacity

  • J/°C/kg
  • Joules/Degree Celsius/Kilogram
• Equation to calculate temperature change when a substance is heated

  1. ΔE = m c Δ𝛉

  2. Energy (J), Mass (kg), Specific Heat Capacity (J/kg/°C), Temperature (°C)
• How to calculate power of heater if not given

  Connect in parallel with voltmeter, in series with ammeter, then apply P = I x V
• Metal blocks used in experiment

  • Have two holes - one for heater, one for thermometer
• Improving thermometer reading


  Add a few drops of water in the hole with the thermometer to improve thermal contact and ensure even heating
• Measurements recorded during experiment

  Temperature value every 10 minutes from when heater is inserted and switched on
• Graph plotted with data

  Temperature against work done by the heater
• Calculating work done by heater

  Using equation: Energy = Power of heater x Time
• Graph of temperature against work done

  • Should be a linear relationship, producing a straight line
• Why graph may not be linear initially

  There will be thermal inertia whilst block and heater warm up
• What gradient of graph represents

  The inverse of the heat capacity for the metal block
• Obtaining specific heat capacity of metal

  Divide inverse of gradient by mass of metal block
• Difference between heat capacity and specific heat capacity

  Specific heat capacity is the heat capacity measured for a mass of 1 kg
• Reason for wrapping insulation around metal block

  • To reduce heat loss to environment and ensure temperature reading is accurate
• Safety precautions


  • Avoid touching metal
  • Use heatproof mat
  • Avoid spilling water near power supply when adding drops to thermometer hole
• Steps :

  1. Place beaker on a balance and press zero
  2. Add the oil into the beaker and record the mass
  3. Place a thermometer and immersion heater into the oil
  4. Read the starting temperature of the oil
  5. Wrap the beaker in insulating foam and this reduces the thermal energy transfer to the surroundings
• Steps:


  6. Connect a joulemeter and a power pack to the immersion heater

  7. The joulemeter tells us how much joules of electrical energy passes into the immersion heater

  8. Leave the set up for around 30 minutes

  9. Read the number of joules of energy that passed into the immersion heater

  10. Read the final temperature of the oil
• Steps :

  10. read the final temperature of the oil

  11. in order to calculate the specific heat capacity we need to do (Specific Heat capacity = Change in thermal energy over the (mass x temperature change )