physics

Question 1

specific heat capacity

Answer 1

• place a beaker on a balance and press zero
• add the oil to the breaker and record the mass of the oil
• place a thermometer and an immersion heater into the oil
• read the starting temperature of the oil
• wrap the beaker in insulating foam to reduce thermal energy transfer to the surroundings
• connect a joulemeter to the immersion heater
• time for thirty minutes
• read the total number of joules of energy that passed into the immersion heater
• read the final temperature of the oil
• calculate the specific heat capacity

Question 2

sources of inaccuracy for specific heat capacity

Answer 2

• thermal energy passing out of the beaker into the air -> use an insulator with a lower thermal conductivity
• not all thermal energy passing into the oil -> ensure that immersion heater is fully submerged
• incorrect reading of thermometer -> use an electronic temperature probe
• thermal energy not being spread through the oil - stir the oil

Question 3

effectiveness of thermal insulators

Answer 3

• place a small beaker inside a larger beaker
• use a kettle to boil some water
• transfer 80cm3 of the hot water into the small beaker
• use a piece of cardboard as a lid for the large beaker
• the lid must have a hole for a thermometer
• next place a thermometer through the hole in the cardboard lid
• the bulb of the thermometer must be in the hot water
• record the starting temperature of the water and start a stopwatch
• record the temperature of the water every 3 minutes for fifteen minutes
• repeat the experiment using the same volume of hot water
• use an insulating material to fill the gap between the two beakers
• use the same mass for each insulating material