EEE-416

Laboratory on Fundamental of mechanical engineering

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING.
UNIVERSITY OF CHITTAGONG.
COURSE NO.: EEE- 416
EXPT. NO.

NAME OF THE EXPERIMENT: DETERMINATION OF SPECIFIC HEAT OF A LIQUID BY

THE METHOD OF COOLING.

OBJECTIVE:
TO DETERMINE THE SPECIFIC HEAT OF A LIQUID BY THE COOLING METHOD.

APPARATUS REQUIRED:

 Double walled enclosure

 Calorimeter
 Thermometer graduated to a tenth of a degree
 Heating bath/spirit lamp
 Stop watch
 Balance
 The given liquid (kerosene, paraffin etc.)
Note: Please bring Graph Papers and Offset Papers in the Lab.

THEORY:

When a hot body is placed in a constant temperature surrounding, it loses heat by i) conduction ii)
convection and iii) radiation.
If, however, the body be kept in such a way that the heat lost by conduction and convection may be
neglected, then the quantity of heat emitted by the body in given time (or the rate of loss of heat)
depends only on (a) the temperature of the body and that of its surrounding (b) the area and the
nature of the surface exposed, and is completely independent of the nature of the liquid.

a) Inner view b) Outer view

Fig (01): Copper Calorimeter

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 EEE-416
Laboratory on Fundamental of mechanical engineering
If the difference of temperature between the body and its surrounding is not large, then according to
Newton’s law of cooling, the rate of emission of heat is proportional to the temperature difference.
This principal may be utilized in determining the specific heat of a liquid by observing the time taken
by the liquid in cooling from one temperature to another. The arrangement is shown in fig (01).

Suppose a liquid of mass M1 and specific heat s1 is enclosed with in a calorimeter of mass m and
specific heat s. The thermal capacity of the system is (M1S1+ms).if the temperature of the liquid falls
from θ1 to θ2 in t1 seconds, then the average rate of loss of heat is (M1S1+ms)*(θ1-θ2)/t1.
If now the first liquid be replaced by an equal volume of a second liquid (say water) of known
specific heat under similar conditions and if the time taken by this second liquid to cool through the
same range of temperature (θ1 to θ2) be t2 seconds, then the average rate of loss of heat is
(M2S2+ms)*(θ1-θ2)/t2 where M2 and S2 are the mass and specific heat of the second liquid
respectively.
Since the conditions are similar, these two rates are equal.

(M1S1+ms)*(θ1-θ2)/t1 = (M2S2+ms)*(θ1-θ2)/t2
Or, S1= [M2S2t1+ms (t1-t2)]/M1t2……………………………(1)

Procedure:
1. Clean and dry the calorimeter. Weigh the calorimeter with the stirrer.
2. Put a mark on the inner wall of the calorimeter at a height of about three-fourths from the bottom.
2. Place it on its non conducting supports inside the double-walled enclosure.
3. Fill the calorimeter with hot paraffin or kerosene (given liquid whose specific heat is to be
measured) up to that mark. The temperature of the given liquid should be nearly 70°C.
4. Start reading the thermometer and record it every 1 minute. Use the stop watch to count the time.
Record the data in Table (01).
5. Stop reading the thermometer after that the temperature has fallen at least 35°C. (This should be
about 5°C above the room temperature).
6. Bring the calorimeter with its contents outside and wait till it cools to room temperature. Remove
the lid and the thermometer and weight the calorimeter with liquid and stirrer and hence determine
the mass of the liquid.
7. In the same manner, repeat the above steps, this time filling the calorimeter with water.
Calculation:
Mass of calorimeter+ stirrer, m=……………………..gm.
Specific heat of the material of the calorimeter, s=385 Jkg-1k-1= 0.093 cal g-1°C.-1
Mass of calorimeter + stirrer + water, m΄= ……………..gm.
Mass of water, M2=m’-m=…………………gm.
Specific heat of water, S2 = 4200 Jkg-1k-1 = 1 cal g-1°C.-1
Mass of the calorimeter + stirrer + liquid, m’’=………………….gm.
Mass of liquid, M1=m’’-m = ………………..gm.
Sp. heat of the given liquid, S1=………………???

Table (01): Time-temperature record

Time in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Etc…….
minutes
Temp. of
water in °C.
Temp. of
liquid in °C.

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 EEE-416
Laboratory on Fundamental of mechanical engineering
Plot a graph between the temperature of water versus time, and on the same graph plot a
graph between the temperatures of the given liquid versus time. You should have a graph
like figure (2).
Draw two lines at temperatures (say θ1 and θ2) parallel to the time axis, these lines
should cut the two curves of cooling (for water and the given liquid).

Fig (02): Time vs Temperature graph

Time taken by the given liquid to cool from θ1°C. (……….) to θ2°C. (……………) as obtained
from the graph, tL= t1 =……………..mins.
Time taken by water to cool from θ1°C. (……….) to θ2°C. (……………) as obtained from the
graph, tW = t2 =……………..mins.

Result:
From equation (1)
S1= [M2S2t1+ms(t1-t2)]/M1t2
=………………………………………….
=…………………………………………..
=……………………………………………

Accuracy measurement:
Accuracy = [Practical value*100]/Theoretical value

Theoretical Value of S1(cal g-1°C.-1 ) Practical Value of S1 (cal g-1°C.-1 ) Accuracy (%)

0.51to 0.54(for paraffin),0.64 (for

kerosene)

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 EEE-416
Laboratory on Fundamental of mechanical engineering

Discussions:

Key questions:

01. What is Newton’s law of cooling? In what way this law is applied to this experiment? Explain.
02. What are Specific heat, specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity?
03. Why should you stir the water or liquid during the experiment?
04. What is the chief source of error in this experiment and how to avoid it? Use your own concept
to answer this question.
05. What is the percentage of accuracy of your result in this experiment? Give suggestions to
improve the accuracy.
06. If you eat a fruit pastry fresh from a hot oven, the pastry may be harmless while the fruit filling
scalds your tongue. Use your ideas about specific heat capacity to explain why.
07. You can put your hand in an oven at 200°C and even touch a baking cake, without serious
harm. But you must avoid touching anything in the oven made from metal. Why is it not so
harmful unless you touch metal?
08. In Fiji, some people will walk barefoot over a bed of white-hot pumice coals as part of a
religious ritual. It is meant to demonstrate supernatural powers over pain and heat. Their feet
are generally not hurt. Pumice has a low specific heat capacity, low density and is a poor
conductor of heat.
Explain how each of these properties helps to make a bed of white-hot pumice coals safe to
walk (quickly) over.
09. Find the internal energy difference for a 10 K change in temperature of 5.0 kg water.[hints:
Q=E=ms∆θ]
10. Two holes are made in a 1.0 kg block of aluminium. A 48 W electric immersion heater is
placed in one hole, and a thermometer in the other. Both objects make good thermal contact
with the block. The heater is switched on for exactly 3 minutes and the temperature rises from
20 °C to 29 °C.
Calculate the specific heat capacity of aluminium. [hints: S=Pt/m∆θ]