Specific heat capacity of water

Principle

A measured quantity of water is heated with a heating coil. The electrical heat output is determined. From the temperature increase and the heat energy, the specific heat capacity of water is calculated. This calculation is performed under point 6 of "Evaluation", i.e. determination of the average value of the individual measurements. Optionally, this evaluation point can be skipped and the method in the supplementary problem can be used instead.

In the supplementary problem the specific heat capacity is determined from a plot of the measured values. Additionally, this value is corrected by accounting for the heat capacity of the calorimeter.

Benefits

• Own construction of a calorimeter deepens the understanding
• Student-suitable experiment descriptions with reports available