Calorimetry

01Calorimetry

Measuring heat changes

This section covers measuring heat transfer from temperature changes and using the equation q = mcΔT.

Calorimetry

Calorimetry uses measured temperature changes to determine the heat transferred during a chemical process. A simple calorimeter may be a polystyrene cup, a vacuum flask or a metal can.

Specific heat capacity, cc, is the energy required to increase the temperature of 1 g1\ \mathrm{g} of a substance by 1 K1\ \mathrm{K}. For water:

c=4.18 Jg1K1c=4.18\ \mathrm{J\,g^{-1}\,K^{-1}}

The heat transferred is calculated using:

q=mcΔTq=mc\Delta T
Symbol Meaning Unit
qq Heat transferred J\mathrm{J}
mm Mass of the substance whose temperature changes g\mathrm{g}
cc Specific heat capacity Jg1K1\mathrm{J\,g^{-1}\,K^{-1}}
ΔT\Delta T Temperature change K\mathrm{K} or C^\circ\mathrm{C}
lidreaction mixturepolystyrene cupthermometersupporting beaker

A temperature difference has the same numerical value in kelvin and degrees Celsius. For example, a rise of 6.8C6.8\,^\circ\mathrm{C} is also a temperature change of 6.8 K6.8\ \mathrm{K}.

Exam Tip: In q=mcΔTq=mc\Delta T, make sure that mm is the mass of the substance whose temperature is being measured. The value of specific heat capacity will be supplied when needed, so it does not need to be recalled. Use the units given consistently and do not add 273273 to a temperature difference.

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