Essay On Thermochemistry

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Name: Sonoma Bryan
Partner: Matthew Cleveland
Drawer Number: 18
Thermochemistry Lab
Chemistry 101
Section: CHE 101-002
04/14/14

Thermochemistry is the study of the heat associated with chemical reactions and physical processes heat changes that accompany physical and chemical processes. (textbook) During the first portion of this lab the caloric content of a snack food was found by burning it and measuring how much heat was released. For the second part of this lab, a styrofoam calorimeter was used to measure the specific heat of an unknown metal and that information was used to identify the sample. A calorimeter is a tool used in thermochemistry can be used to measure the heat exchanged between the system and surroundings for a variety of reactions.

Specific heat: The specific heat (s) of a substance is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 g of the substance by 1°C.()

Some of unfamiliar units that are used in this lab are Joules, calories, and Calories. All of these units measure energy, heat, and work.
I Joule=4.18 calories 1 Calorie or kcal=1,000 calories

Safety
Aluminum is slightly hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), non-hazardous in case of ingestion, and non-hazardous in case of inhalation.
Lead is slightly hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of ingestion, and of inhalation. May also cause damage to the following organs: blood, kidneys, central nervous system

Zinc is slightly hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of ingestion, and of inhalation.

Nickel is hazardous in case of inhalation, slightly hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant, sensitizer), and of ingestion. May also cause damage to the following organs: kidneys, lungs, liver, and upper respiratory tra...

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...at from the metal was lost from the transfer of the metal from the test tube submerged in the boiling water to the water in the calorimeter. This loss of heat would have lowered the temperatures that were measured, and overall made it seem like the substances that were being observed were releasing less heat then they actually were capable of. Another more specific source of error that was encountered, was during the first snack trial. The chip that was used was curled and needed relighting several times. This addition of heat to the system of the water was not from the chip burning, but from the lighter that was used. This means that during the first trial in the snack burning portion of the lab the change in heat recorded was higher than it should have been. This means that it was recorded that the chip was outputting more energy than we could conceivably measure.

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