Question

Explain the procedure of finding specific heat of solid experimentally.

Answer 1

Aim: To find the specific heat of solid experimentally.

Material Required: Calorimeter, Thermometer, Stirrer, water, steam heater, wooden box and solid whose 'S' to be found

Procedure:

1. Measure the mass of calorimeter with stirrer
2. Now fill one third of volume of calorimeter with water. Measure its mass and its temperature
3. Take few lead shots quickly into the calorimeter (with minimum loss of heat). We will observe that the mixture settles to a certain temperature after some time. Measure this temperature and mass of calorimeter along with contents.
4. Since there is no loss of heat to surroundings,we can assume that the entire heat lost by the solid is transferred to the calorimeter and water to reach the final temperature.
5. Let the specific heats of the calorimeter , lead shots and water be $S_c,S_l,S_w$ respectively, according to the method of mixtures we know that Heat lost by the body=Heat gain by the calorimeter + heat gain by the Water
6. Knowing the specific heats of calorimeter and water, we can calculate the specific heat of the solid (lead shots).