KARATINA UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES

PHY 112: THERMAL PHYSICS
Experiment no 01: Date:

Name of the Experiment: Determination of the specific heat of a liquid by the method of
cooling

Theory: Newton’s law of cooling can be used to determine the specific heat of a liquid by
observing the time taken by the liquid in cooling from one temperature to another.

Suppose a liquid of mass M1 and specific heat S1 is enclosed within a calorimeter of mass m and
specific heat s. The thermal capacity of the system is (M1S1+ms). If the temperature of the liquid
falls from θ1 to 𝜃2 in time t1, then the average rate of loss of heat is
(𝜃1 − 𝜃2)

(𝑀1𝑆1 + 𝑚𝑠) 𝑡1
If now under
water) the first liquidconditions
similar be replaced byifan
and theequal
timevolume
taken byofthe
second liquid
second of known
liquid to cool specific
through heat (say
the same
range of temperature from θ1 to 𝜃2 be t2, then the average rate of loss of heat is
(𝜃1−𝜃2),

(𝑀2𝑆2 + 𝑚𝑠) 𝑡2
where M2 and S2 are the mass and specific heat of the second liquid, respectively.
Since the conditions are similar, these two rates are equal
(𝜃1 − 𝜃2) (𝜃1 − 𝜃2)

(𝑀1𝑆1 𝑡 = (𝑀2𝑆2 + 𝑡2
or,

+ 𝑚𝑠) 1
𝑚𝑠)
𝑀2𝑆2𝑡1 + 𝑚𝑠(𝑡1
− 𝑡2)
𝑆1 =
𝑀1𝑡2
Apparatus: Double walled enclosure, Calorimeter, Thermometer, Heater, Stopwatch, etc.
Brief Procedure:
1. Clean and dry the calorimeter and measure the mass (m) of the calorimeter and stirrer using a
balance.
2. Pour water up to two-third volume of the calorimeter. Measure the total mass (m") of the
calorimeter, water and stirrer. Calculate the mass (M2) of water.
3. Put the calorimeter on the heater and hold the thermometer bulb in the middle of the water
and raise the temperature around 62 oC. Keep the calorimeter into the double walled
enclosure with the help of a tongs. Close the lid and fix the thermometer with holder so that
its bulb is in the middle of the water.
4. Start the stopwatch when the temperature just falls to 60 °C. Note this temperature in the
table. Go on recording the temperature of water up to 20-25 minutes at an interval of one
minute. Gently stir the water during the whole process.
5. Pour out the water from the calorimeter and wipe it dry. Take experimental liquid in the
calorimeter as the same volume of water. Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 for liquid.
6. On a graph paper, plot curves (both for water and liquid) by taking temperature as ordinate
and time as abscissa (see Graph 1). Calculate t1 and t2 from the graph.
7. Using the given formula, determine the specific heat of the given liquid.

Experimental data:
Table: Time–temperature record for water and liquid

No. of obs. Time (min) Temperature of water (℃) Temperature of liquid (℃)
1 00

2 01

3 02

4 03

5 04

6 05

7 06

8 07

9 08

10 09

11 10

12 11

13 12

14 13

15 14

16 15

17 16

18 17

19 18

20 19

21 20

22 21

23 22

24 23

25 24

26 25
Mass of the calorimeter + stirrer, m = g

Mass of the calorimeter + stirrer + liquid, m= g

Mass of the liquid, M1 = m– m = g

Mass of the calorimeter + stirrer + water, m= g

Specific heat of the water, S2 = 1.00 Cal g-1℃-1

Mass of the water, M2 = m– m = g

Specific heat of the material of the calorimeter (Aluminum), s = 0.2096 Cal g-1℃-1

(Copper), s = 0.0909 Cal g-1℃-1

Temperature vs time

𝜃
Temperature

𝜃
(℃)

Water
2
t
1 Liquid
t
2

Time (min)

Graph 1: Variation of temperature with time

℃ to 𝜃2 = ℃ as obtained from
Calculations:
Time taken by water to cool from θ1 =

℃ to 𝜃2 = ℃ as obtained from
the graph 1, t2 = min
Time taken by the liquid to cool from θ1 =
the graph 1, t1 = min
 𝑀2𝑆2𝑡1 + 𝑚𝑠(𝑡1 − 𝑡2)
Specific heat of the liquid,

𝑆1 =
𝑀1 𝑡2
Error Calculation:

Standard value of the specific heat of turpentine is 0.42 Cal g-1℃-1.

𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 ~
𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒
Percentage error =

× 100 %
𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒
Result:

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