Experiment-1 (Cooling Method)
Experiment-1 (Cooling Method)
method of cooling
1.1 Objectives:
The main objective of this experiment is to determine the specific heat of a given liquid by
Newton’s cooling method.
1.2 Pre-lab:
Student should read the lab manual and have clear idea about the objective, time frame and
outcomes of the lab.
1.3Outcomes:
After completing this lab work student will be able to answer the following questions:
What do you mean by the statement specific heat capacity?
Define specific heat capacity a substance. How do you measure the specific heat capacity
of a liquid using the method of cooling?
On what principal Newton’s law of cooling depends?
Explanation of the theory for determining the specific heat of a liquid by the method of
cooling.
What is the principle of calorimetry?
( M 1 S1 +mS)(θ 1−θ2) -1
So, rate of cooling of the liquid = Js
t1
( M 2 S 2+ mS)(θ 1−θ2 ) -1
and rate of cooling of water = Js
t2
According to Newton’s law of cooling, rate of cooling in these two cases is equal. so,
1.6 Apparatus: A calorimeter with a stirrer, a chamber having two walls, a sensitive
thermometer, balance, burner, stop-watch etc.
1.7 Procedure:
1. Clean and dry the calorimeter and weigh it empty with the stirrer only.
2. Heat some water and liquid in two separate identical calorimeters to about 70-750C and
place them in a double walled chamber.
3. Place the calorimeter lids and insert a thermometer into each calorimeter.
4. Gently stir the water and note the temperatures of both the thermometers at an interval of
one minute. Go on doing this till the temperatures fall to about 5 0 above the room
temperature.
5. Now cool the calorimeters to room temperature and weigh them again. Hence determine
the mass of water and liquid.
6. Plot the two cooling curves- one for water and the other for liquid on the same piece of
graph paper with time as the abscissa and temperature as the ordinate.
7. From the curves, determine the time taken by the water and the liquid to cool through the
same range of temperature which should be about 200 C.
8. Considering all the observations, calculate the specific heat of the given liquid.
1.8Results:
Table for Time-Temperature Record
No. of Time (min) Temperature (0C)
observation Water Liquid
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
1.9Calculations:
Sp. heat of the material of the calorimeter, S=… … … … … … … … . cal gm−1 ℃−1
M 2 S2 t 1 +mS( t 1−t 2 )
S1 =
M 1t 2
⇒ S1=−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−¿
Results:
The specific heat of liquid is ………………………….
1.10 Discussions:
1.12 Resources:
For further understanding, students may go through the following resources:
Fundamentals of Physics: 18.4 Absorption of Heat (Chapter: 18, Page: 524,
525).
Practical Physics (by Dr. Giasuddin Ahmed & Md. Shahabuddin): Exp. 26:
To determine the specific heat of a liquid by the method of cooling (Page-146)
Video Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORSZdpbxPHg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIR7b572XAg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5we65e7EOcg