background [prelab assignment (15 points); due at the beginning of the lab]

what is the temperature of 3.0 g copper that would be put into 20.0 g water to raise the temperature of water by 1.0 C; initial temperature of water is 20.0 C.  [hint:  you'll need to know the specific heat of copper - see experiment at end of ch. 10 in your textbook]  ?

design an experiment to determine the specific heat of copper using the below materials

sketch a data table for your experimental measurements.

 

purpose

experimentally determine the specific heat of a metal

materials

metal cylinder

water; pair of styroform cups; temperature probe; balance

flask, clamp, thread, Bunsen burner, ring stand, metal ring, wire mesh

methods / data analysis

student design

 

Content of lab report  [15 points; no lab report revisions]

results  [10 points]

data table

calculate the specific heat of metal based on your experimental data

discussion  [5 points]

what is a potential nontrival error; be specifc; elaborate on how the error would affect the value of the specific heat of the metal determined in your experiment

resources

lab activity source:  Which is your metal ?  pp. 316 - 317; in:  World of Chemistry.  Zumdahl et al.  2002.

rationale (for nerds) to vary mass of water to affect ΔT (water)