6.

TOPIC: 6.4 HEAT CAPACITY AND CALORIMETRY

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING:
ENE-2 Changes in a substance’s properties or change into a different substance requires an exchange of energy.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
ENE-2.D Calculate the heat q absorbed or released by a system undergoing heating/ cooling based on the amount of the
substance, the heat capacity, and the change in temperature.
ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE:
ENE-2.D.1 The heating of a cool body by a warmer body is an important form of energy transfer between two systems.
The amount of heat transferred between two bodies may be quantified by the heat transfer equation: EQN: q =
mcΔT. Calorimetry experiments are used to measure the transfer of heat.
ENE-2.D.2 The first law of thermodynamics states that energy is conserved in chemical and physical processes.
ENE-2.D.3 The transfer of a given amount of thermal energy will not produce the same temperature change in equal
masses of matter with differing specific heat capacities.
ENE-2.D.4 Heating a system increases the energy of the system, while cooling a system decreases the energy of the
system.
ENE-2.D.5 The specific heat capacity of a substance and the molar heat capacity are both used in energy calculations.
ENE-2.D.6 Chemical systems change their energy through three main processes: heating/cooling, phase transitions, and
chemical reactions.
EQUATION(S):
q = mcΔT

NOTES:
Quantity of heat (q) is the transfer of thermal energy between two bodies that are at different temperatures, from
an object at a higher temperature to one that is colder. There are three factors that contribute to the amount of
heat (q) transferred; they are the mass of the object (m), the specific heat capacity (C) and the change in
temperature (ΔT = Final Temperature – Initial Temperature).

SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY

Definition: Amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance by one ° Celsius.
Each substance has its own specific heat capacity, water has a high specific heat capacity (4.18 J/g °C) while metals
have lower specific heat capacities.
Label: C
Units: joules/gram °Celsius (or Kelvin)

HEAT:
Definition: A form of energy that flows between two samples of matter because of their differences in temperature.
Label: q
Units: Joules or calories

Useful conversions:
4.184 Joules = 1 calorie
1000 calories = 1 Calorie
1000 calories = 1 Kilocalorie
1000 Joules = 1 Kilojoule
You can calculate heat when there is a temperature change using the formula:
q=m C ΔT
q = Heat m = mass C* = Specific Heat Capacity ΔT = Change in Temperature

*Some textbooks use “C” for specific heat capacity, some use “c” and others use “s”.

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 6.4
A calorimeter measures the amount of heat transferred during a reaction. A calorimeter is essentially a device that
stops the transfer of heat between the inside of the calorimeter and the surroundings.
Calorimetry is the measurement of the quantity of heat exchanged. For example, if the
energy from an exothermic chemical reaction is absorbed in a container of water, the
change in temperature of the water provides a measure of the amount of heat added.
The first law of thermodynamics states that in an isolated system, heat cannot be lost
or gained; it can only be transferred. Since a calorimeter is designed to be an isolated
system, the heat lost by one substance is the heat gained by the other. A typical
experiment can be used to find the specific heat of an unknown metal by heating the
metal to a known temperature then placing the metal into a calorimeter containing
water. The heat is transferred from the hot metal to the colder water until they reach
thermal equilibrium. We can measure the heat gained by the water to find the heat lost
by the metal.
q(metal) = -q(water)
Since we know that the formula to calculate heat when there is a temperature change is:
q= m C ΔT
We can substitute to form:
m(metal) C(metal) ΔT (metal) = - m(water) C(water) ΔT(water)

Each substance has its own specific heat capacity. Compare aluminum and lead, the specific heat of aluminum is
0.900 J/g °C while the specific heat of lead is 0.160 J/g °C. Adding 1000 J of energy to 100 grams of each substance
results in different changes in temperature as shown below:
Aluminum Lead
q=mCΔT q=mCΔT
ΔT = q / mC ΔT = q / mC

ΔT = 1000 J/((100 g)(0.900 J/g°C)) ΔT = 1000 J/((100 g)(0.160 J/g°C))

ΔT = 11.1°C ΔT = 62.5°C
You can see that when the specific heat is higher, the change in temperature is lower and vice versa.

Heating a system results in the system having greater energy because energy is flowing into the system, while
cooling a system results in the system having less energy as energy is
leaving the system. You can see this on the heating curve for water (right).

Specific heat capacity is a measure of the amount of energy needed to raise

one gram of a substance by one degree Celsius. Molar heat capacity (Cm) is
the specific heat capacity converted into moles using the molar mass of
that substance. It is a measure of the amount of energy needed to raise
one mole of a substance by one degree Celsius. You may be provided with
either so always check the units given in the problem.

Chemical systems change their energy through three main processes:

heating/cooling, phase transitions, and chemical reactions. We have seen that we can use q=mCΔT to calculate the
heat when a temperature change occurs, in other words when there is a change in the kinetic energy of the
particles. This is shown as the areas with a positive slope on the heating of water curve above.

In the next lesson, 6.5, you will look at how to calculate the heat when phase transition takes place. There is no
change in temperature; the energy is used to change the position of the particles relative to one another, in other
words the potential energy is changing. When a phase change occurs we need to use a different formula to
calculate the heat.

Calorimeter: https://www.ddscalorimeters.com/wp-content/uploads/coffee-cup-calorimeter.png
Heating Curve: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/courses-images/wp-content/uploads/sites/752/2016/09/26195026/ating-
20curve-20of-20water.jpeg

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 6.4
I DO:
Almonds and cashews were burned in a bomb calorimeter containing water.
The following data was collected.
Almonds Cashews
Mass of Calorimeter Water 2000. mL 1000. mL
Specific Heat of Water 4.18 J/g°C 4.18 J/g°C
Initial Temperature of Water 22.5 °C 22.5 °C
Final Temperature of water 40.5 °C 51.3 °C
Mass of Nut burned 6.00 grams 5.00 grams
Calculate the heat gained by the water for each nut.
Almonds
q = (2000. gram)(4.18 J/g°C)(18.0 °C)
q=150. kJ
Cashews
q = (1000. gram)(4.18 J/g°C)(28.8 °C)
q=120. kJ
Calculate the energy for each nut, which provides more energy per gram?
Almonds Cashews
ΔH=q/m ΔH=q/m
150. kJ = 25.0 kJ/gram 120. kJ = 24.0 kJ/gram
6.00 g 5.00 g
Almonds provide more energy per gram.
https://chem.libretexts.org/@api/deki/files/58277/c3f2def4f1ad04996c40999978baa644.jpg?revision=1
WE DO:
50.0 mL of 0.500 M HCl was added to 50.0 mL of 0.500 M NaOH, the initial temperature of the
solutions was 19.8 °C. The reaction below occurred:
HCl(aq) + NaOH(aq)  NaCl(aq) + H2O(l)
The final temperature of the mixture was 26.3°C.
Calculate the heat gained by the mixture.

What is the heat of reaction per mole of NaOH?

YOU DO:
1) A 25.0 g sample of water was cooled from 23.9°C to 12.7°C, how much heat was released? (Assume that
the specific heat of water is 4.18 J/g °C)

2) 75.0 grams of an unknown metal was heated to 95.0°C, it was then placed into 150.0 grams of water at
23.1°C, when the metal and water reached thermal equilibrium, the temperature was 27.8°C. Calculate
the specific heat of the metal. (Assume that the specific heat of water is 4.18 J/g °C)

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 6.4
3) 15.0 grams of ice, liquid water and water vapor are all heated by 10.2 °C, which required the greatest
amount energy?

State Specific Heat

Solid 2.108 J/g °C
Liquid 4.182 J/g °C
Gas 1.996 J/g °C

4) In an insulated cup of negligible heat capacity, 100. g of water at 50.0 °C is mixed with 80.0 g of water at
10.0°C. What is the final temperature of the mixture?

5) A hot piece of copper was dropped into 155 mL of water at 23.6°C and 2.1 kJ of energy is transferred to
the water. What is the final temperature of the water?

6) When 5.00 grams of ammonium chloride, NH4Cl, is added to 100. mL of water the temperature drops by
4.2°C, how much would the temperature change if 10.0 grams is added to 1000 mL of water?

7) 2.71 grams of a fuel was burned releasing 4.10 kJ of energy into some amount of water. The water
changed from 22.2 °C to 53.1 °C. How much water was heated?

8) A 125.0 gram sample of a metal, X, was heated to 400.0 °C and placed onto a 1.000 kg block of ice at
0.0°C. Some of the ice melted, but after the metal and ice reached thermal equilibrium the temperature
of the metal, ice and liquid water remained at 0.0°C. If the specific heat of the metal was 0.245 J/g°C,
calculate the heat lost by the metal?