Specific Heat of Solids

V.I.A. Beltran, P.M.P. Medina, A.S. Garcia,

A.M. Cai
Ateneo de Manila University
Quezon City
[email protected]

Abstract Every substance needs a unique amount of energy

per unit mass to change the temperature of that
The experiment was conducted to explore the
specific substance by 1.0˚C.
concept of specific heat and specific heat values
among different materials. Calorimetry was the
If a quantity of energy E is transferred to a
technique used to determine the values of specific
substance with mass m, thereby changing its
heats. This process measures the transfer of heat
temperature by ∆T = Tf - Ti, the specific heat c of
from the unknown sample into the water in an
the substance is defined by:
insulated container. The identity of unknown 𝐸
metals was determined by comparing the 𝑐 = 𝑚∆𝑇 (1)
calculated specific heat value and the provided where c is the specific heat
literature value. Sample A with a calculated where E is the amount of energy transferred to
specific heat value of 0.217 was identified as the system
aluminum. Sample B with a calculated specific where m is the mass of the substance
heat of 0.092 was determined to be copper. Lastly, where ∆T is the temperature change
sample C with a specific heat value of 0.038 was
deduced to be tungsten. Real-life applications of From this definition of specific heat, we can
specific heat were discussed. express the energy E needed to raise the
temperature of a system with mass m by ∆T as
I. Introduction
We experience heat in our daily lives–from 𝐸 = 𝑚𝑐∆𝑇 (2)
cooking our food, warming up our bodies, and
even warming up a whole planet as the sun One of the techniques used to measure the
radiates heat to Earth. Heat involves a transfer of specific heat of a solid or a liquid is to raise the
internal energy from one location to another [1, temperature of the substance to a certain value,
2]. When a system and its environment have a place it into a container with cold water of known
temperature difference between them, the mass and temperature, and then measuring the
transfer of energy is referred to as heat. The temperature of the combination of water and
symbol Q or E represents the amount of energy sample after it has reached thermal equilibrium
transferred between the system and its (when there is no more exchange of heat energy
environment. between water and the sample). Ideally, the vessel
should be a good insulator so that energy does not
Historically, scientists defined heat in terms of the leave the system, and thus the system would be
temperature change it produces in an object. isolated. Vessels with this property are referred to
Calorie (cal) is a unit of energy used to describe as calorimeters. The analysis using this technique
the amount of energy necessary to raise the is called calorimetry [2, 3].
temperature of 1 g of water through 1˚ Celsius [2].
This technique used to determine the specific heat
This value is not uniform throughout all of a substance relies upon the principle of
substances. The amount of energy required to conservation of energy since the isolated system
raise the temperature for an arbitrary substance requires that the net result of the energy transfer
by 1˚C varies among different substances [2]. would be equal to zero [1, 2]. This means that if
one part of the system loses energy, then another
part would have to gain the energy due to the the mass of the calorimeter plus the water was
entire system being isolated and the energy has calculated. The mass of the water was calculated
nowhere to go. by subtracting the mass of the calorimeter from
the mass of the calorimeter containing water.
This principle can be written as: Figure 1 shows the experimental set-up.

𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝐴 = 𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝐵 Figure 1. Experimental set-up. Thermometer on

( )𝐴
𝑚𝐴𝑐𝐴 𝑇𝑖 − 𝑇𝑓 = 𝑚𝐵𝑐𝐵 𝑇𝑓 − 𝑇𝑖 ( (3) )𝐵 the left reads the initial temperature of water
and final temperature. Thermometer on the right
reads the instantaneous temperature of heated
water.
where mA is the mass of substance A
mB is the mass of substance B
(Ti -Tf)A is the change in temperature of
substance A
(Tf -Ti)B is the change in temperature of
substance B
cA is the specific heat of substance A
cB is the specific heat of substance B
Before submerging the unknown sample in the
boiler, the temperature of the boiling water was
The objectives of this lab include defining specific measured. This is assumed to be equal to the
heat, using calorimetry to experimentally initial temperature of the unknown metal. Next,
determine the specific heat of unknown metals, to the unknown sample was immersed in boiling
infer from the data and calculations of the metal water. A styrofoam lid was used to provide
samples, and to discuss real-life applications of insulation so that heat would not escape the
specific heat. system. The unknown sample was left in the
boiling water until the temperature has stopped
II. Methodology increasing.

For this experiment, the following materials were Ice was added into the water inside the
used: calorimeter, water, triple beam balance, calorimeter. The initial temperature of the water
digital thermometers, ice, solid samples (3 metals, in the calorimeter was recorded, after which the
and a boiler unknown sample was then transferred into the
calorimeter (Figure 2). The digital thermometer
To experimentally determine the specific heat of was used to mix the water in the calorimeter. The
the three unknown metals, calorimetry was used. temperature was recorded once it had stopped
To compute for the specific heat of an unknown increasing. This was recorded as the final
sample, the following values were measured: the equilibrium temperature of the water and the
masses of the unknown sample and water, the unknown sample.
initial and final temperatures of the unknown
sample and water.

The mass of an unknown metal was measured in

grams using a triple beam balance. Next, the mass Figure 2. Metal is submerged in the calorimeter
of the calorimeter was measured in the triple
beam balance as well. Lastly, water was added and
 This value was assumed to be the energy lost by
the unknown metal. Next, the specific heat of the
metal was computed by using equation 3.
( )𝐴 (
𝑚𝐴𝑐𝐴 𝑇𝑖 − 𝑇𝑓 = 𝑚𝐵𝑐𝐵 𝑇𝑓 − 𝑇𝑖 )𝐵 (3)

( )𝐴 (
𝑐𝐵= 𝑚𝐴𝑐𝐴 𝑇𝑖 − 𝑇𝑓 /𝑚𝐵 𝑇𝑓 − 𝑇𝑖 )𝐵
= (2976. 48 𝐽)/[(199. 0 𝑔)(68. 9𝐶˚)]
= 0.217085427 cal/gCo
Since the specific heat of water is already known,
equation 3 was used to calculate the specific heat
The same computations were repeated for the
of the unknown sample, which was used to
determine the identity of the metal by comparing other two samples, as shown below.
it to the provided table of specific heat values
(Table 1). Energy gained by water in sample B:
𝐸 = 𝑚𝑐∆𝑇 (2)
The same procedure was repeated for the other = (242.4 g)(1cal/g C˚)
two unknown samples. (5.6 C˚)
= 1357.44 J
III. Data and analysis of the data Specific heat of unknown sample B:
( )𝐴 (
𝑚𝐴𝑐𝐴 𝑇𝑖 − 𝑇𝑓 = 𝑚𝐵𝑐𝐵 𝑇𝑓 − 𝑇𝑖 )𝐵 (3)
The principle of conservation of energy was used
to compute the specific heat of the unknown ( )𝐴 (
𝑐𝐵= 𝑚𝐴𝑐𝐴 𝑇𝑖 − 𝑇𝑓 /𝑚𝐵 𝑇𝑓 − 𝑇𝑖 )𝐵
metal. The unknown metal was hotter than the
water in the calorimeter, so the energy gained by = (1357. 44 𝐽)/[(188. 4 𝑔)(78. 3𝐶˚)]
the water is equal to the energy lost by the metal, = 0.09201910015 cal/gC˚
as shown in equation 3. The energy gained by the
water was then computed using equation 2. The Energy gained by water in sample C:
literature value of 1.00 cal/gC˚ as the specific heat 𝐸 = 𝑚𝑐∆𝑇 (2)
of water was used. = (196.0 g)(1cal/g C˚)
(3.7 C˚)
In measuring the initial temperature of the = 725.2 J
unknown sample, the temperature of boiling
water was measured. Although the literature value Specific heat of unknown sample B:
for this is 100˚C, the measured temperature was
only 98.6˚C. This may be because the water was
( )𝐴 (
𝑚𝐴𝑐𝐴 𝑇𝑖 − 𝑇𝑓 = 𝑚𝐵𝑐𝐵 𝑇𝑓 − 𝑇𝑖 )𝐵 (3)

boiled in a container, and the specific heat of the ( )𝐴 (

𝑐𝐵= 𝑚𝐴𝑐𝐴 𝑇𝑖 − 𝑇𝑓 /𝑚𝐵 𝑇𝑓 − 𝑇𝑖 )𝐵
container affected the overall specific heat of the
system. = (725. 2 𝐽)/[(231.6g)(80.7 C˚)]
= 0.038801249 cal/gC˚
For the calculation of specific heat of sample A,
the values found in Table 3 were used. The energy Once the specific heat of the unknown metals was
gained by the water was first computed: calculated, its identity was determined by
𝐸 = 𝑚𝑐∆𝑇 (2) comparing the computed specific heat value with
= (286.2)(1.00 cal/gC˚) the literature values of some metals as shown in
(10.4C˚) Table 1.
= 2976.48 J
Table 1. Specific Heats of Some Metals [1,2]
 most liquids. Water in bottles is also used in
Solid Specific heat (cal/gCo)
vaccination storage as it helps maintain the
Aluminum 0.215 temperature of the vaccines since it provides an
additional cold thermal mass needed to maintain
Copper 0.0924 safe and stable temperatures [4].

Silver 0.0562 The difference in the specific heat of water and

the specific heat of sand is responsible for the
Iron, steel 0.108 pattern of airflow at the beach. During the day,
the sun heats up both water and sand, but the
Tungsten 0.0321 lower specific of the sand causes the beach to
have a higher temperature than the water. This
Gold 0.0308
results in the air above land having a higher
Zinc 0.0305 temperature than the air above the water. Due to
Archimedes’s principle, the warmer air floats
upward, creating a movement of cooler air toward
From these, it was determined that the identity of the beach.
sample A is aluminum. Sample B was determined
to be copper. Lastly, sample C was identified as IV. Conclusion
tungsten. A summary of the data can be found
below: Specific heat was determined to be the amount of
energy required to raise the temperature of a
Table 2. Summary of specific heat data specific substance by 1˚C. One technique of
Calculated Literature value measuring a substance’s specific heat is through
specific heat of specific heat calorimetry. Calorimetry involves measuring the
(cal/gCo) (cal/gCo) transfer of heat from one substance to another.
The unknown substance was placed in a
Sample A 0.217 0.215 calorimeter (an insulated container), filled with
water. Once the unknown substance and water
Sample B 0.092 0.0924 have reached thermal equilibrium, the final
temperatures were measured. The assumption
Sample C 0.0388 0.0321 that there is no heat exchange between the
insulated calorimeter and its surroundings was
used to compute for the heat transfer, and
Based on the specific heat of the metals, one thing
ultimately the sample’s specific heat.
to be noticed is that the values for the specific
heat of metals were usually lower than the specific
Real-life applications of specific heat include using
heat of water. This means that metals generally
metals for cooking ware, using water for putting
need less energy for their temperature to be
out fires and in vaccine storage, and the effect of
increased. A practical application for this is using
the difference of specific heat to produce land and
metal for cooking ware. A small amount of energy
sea breezes.
would only be needed to heat a metal pan quickly,
making it efficient for cooking. On the other hand,
water was observed to have high specific heat.
References
This allows water to absorb greater amounts of
energy. This has many applications. One [1] College Physics by OpenStax and Tipler, Paul A.,
application of this is the use of water to put out Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 4th Ed., W.H.
fires as it has a higher specific heat compared to Freeman, (1999)
 [2] R.A. Serway, C. Vuille, College Physics 10th (oC) (oC) (ΔT) (Co)
Edition, Chapter 4, C&E Publishing, Inc., Quezon
City, 2015. 98.3 20.0 78.3
Sample A 188.4
[3] “Calorimetry | Chemistry for Non-Majors.”
Lumenlearning.com, 2021. Calorimet 15.1
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/cheminter/ch er
apter/calorimetry/.
[4] World Health Organization, Vaccine Calorimet 257.5
Management Handbook, Retrieved from er +
https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665 water
/183584/WHO_IVB_15.03_eng.pdf?sequence=1,
Geneva, 2015. Water 242.4 14.4 20.0 5.6

Table 5. Raw data for calculation of specific heat of

‌
Sample C
Acknowledgment
Material Mass Initial Final Change
I would like to acknowledge my group members
temp, temp, in
Angelica Cai, Athena Garcia, and Paulo Medina for
(g) (T i) (T f) tempera
their contributions to the discussion and analysis
ture,
for Activity #5. o o
( C) ( C) (ΔT) (Co)
Appendix
Sample A 231.6 98.3 17.6 80.7
Table 3. Raw data for calculation of specific heat of
Sample A
Initial Final Change Calorimet 14.8
Material Mass er
temp, temp, in
(g) (Ti) (Tf) tempera
Calorimet 210.8
ture,
er + water
(oC) (oC) (ΔT) (Co)
Water 196.0 13.9 17.6 3.7
Sample A 199.0 98.6 29.7 68.9

Calorime 14.1
ter

Calorime 300.3
ter +
water

Water 286.2 19.3 29.7 10.4

Table 4. Raw data for calculation of specific heat of

Sample B
Material Mass Initial Final Change
temp, temp, in
(g) (Ti) (Tf) tempera
ture,