Investigating the Heat Capacity of Metals

Investigating the Heat Capacity of Metals

Aim:

My aim is to measure the specific heat capacity of 4 metals and find

out if they all have the same specific heat capacity or different.

Prediction:

The specific heat capacity is the amount of heat energy needed to

raise 1kg by 1 C and is measured in joules.

My prediction is that the metal with the least massive atoms will heat

up more quickly because they require less heat energy to make the

molecules move around and heat up. The weight of the atoms is an

important factor, that's because the atoms may heat up at different

rates. The bigger the atom the more slowly it will take to heat up and

the more heat energy is needed to make the molecules get hotter and

move around.

Preliminary Investigation

In this short investigation, I will time the temperature every 30

seconds until it will reach 20 C higher than the starting temp that I

will have recorded. After that I will turn off the heater and time how

long the temperature keeps on rising, also recording the highest

temperature before the metal cools back down again.

The equipment I will need is an immersion heater, a thermometer

(either 1 C or ½ C increments). Ideally ½ C increments will be the

best and most accurate to use. The immersion heaters will be set at 12

volts, 66 watts/joules per a second. The 4 metals will heat up at

different rates because they have different densities. The test

result;

Brass!

Time

Every 30s

Temp In C

Starting temp = 20 ½

Amps

Voltage

30s

20 ½

- 4.95

- 13.58

1.30s

23

- 4.94

- 13.57

2.00s

26

- 4.95

- 13.61

2.30s

30

- 4.95

- 13.56

3.00s

34

- 4.