Principle
The dependence of heating a liquid on its specific heat capacity should be established in this experiment. In these experiments, the liquids' masses and their thermal input are the same. Thus, the specific heat capacities obtained are not absolute, but can be given in relation to water. The liquids are heated with a heating coil to ensure that each experiment is conducted with the same thermal input. If a butane burner with a constant flame were to be used, this condition would generally not be fulfilled since the temperatures of - e.g. - the support ring, the wire gauze and the beaker have an influence on the measuring results.
Benefits
- Own construction of a calorimeter deepens the understanding
- Student-suitable experiment descriptions with reports available