Marc Wierzbitzki

Physics HL

20 January 2011

Melting ice to find the value of the latent heat capacity of fusion of ice
Aim: With the help of this experiment, we wanted to find the value of the latent heat capacity of fusion (Lfus) of water. Construction:

Method: After setting everything up as shown in the illustration above, reset the mass balance to 0 so that the mass of the beaker and the thermometer will be ignored, because only the mass of the ice and water matter. Start by filling the water into the big beaker and note down the temperature and mass. After doing that, also give in the ice and wait until it is completely melted. Note down the additional mass and the final temperature. Results: MI (g)
0.2g

MW(g)
0.2g

T1(I) (C)
1C

T2(W) (C)
1C

T2(C)
1C

MI TW (gK)
11%

MW TW (gK)
11%

E (J)
30%

21.30 45.90 50.00 19.30 30.50 41.97 77.21 20.08 07.25 37.25 46.16 04.50 15.20 54.20 68.60

150.00 112.00 220.00 164.10 189.00 133.87 133.38 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 050.45 050.30 163.70 163.50

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

53 40 56 65 34 49 44 45 48 42 52 57 60 65 67

40.0 13.0 36.0 52.0 23.0 18.5 07.5 25.5 40.0 17.0 16.0 46.0 35.0 33.0 29.0

0852 0597 1800 1004 0702 0776 0579 0512 0290 0633 0739 0207 0532 1785 1989

-1950 -3024 -4400 -2133 -2079 -4083 -4868 -1950 -0800 -2500 -3600 -0555 -1258 -5238 -6213

04597 10163 10886 04730 05768 13845 17959 06021 02135 07816 11981 01457 03038 14458 17684

Error analysis: The smallest error can be found in the masses of water and ice, as the mass balances we used were quite accurate. Comparing them to each other, the biggest deviation we noticed was 0.2g. The thermometers all displayed the same temperature, but as they were not digital, we could only read the results with an error of 1C, whereas a digital thermometer would have been more accurate. Using those values, we calculated that the error for MI TW has to be 11% and for E30%. Those two errors are quite big (as you can see in the graph below), which will make it harder for us to decide whether our final result is right or not.

Marc Wierzbitzki

Physics HL

20 January 2011

Graph:

Lfus
25000

20000

-(CW(MITI +MWTW )

15000

10000

5000

y = 147.65x + 1200.3 y = 245.15x + 19.706 y = 305.37x - 293.13 0 0 10 20 30 40 MI 50 60 70 80 90

The above graph gives a mean value of Lfus=245.15Jg-1. The minimum value is equal to 147.65 Jg-1, whereas the maximum value is 305.37 Jg-1. Therefore, we can compute an error to the mean value of 97.5 Jg-1. Looking at the result that we expected (L fus=334Jg-1), our result still fits into the error range. But on the other hand, the experiment is still not very conclusive, since the error is about 40% of the mean value and the range it gives us is simply too big.

The problem with this experiment was probably the amount of energy that was lost to the surroundings. This happened at two situations throughout the experiment and therefore the total error added up to 30%. Firstly, we assumed that the ice was constantly at 0C, which is not true. While doing the

Marc Wierzbitzki

Physics HL

20 January 2011

experiment, you could definitely see that more and more ice melted, it was wet as we did not put it back into a refrigerator after we had used it. Also, since the water was very hot, it constantly loosed mass through evaporation, which we did not capture. This affected the value of E (shown in the last column in the table). Improvements to this could lower the error for this value. Possible ways to improve the experiment: Looking at the problems that I described above, quite many improvements can be suggested. Firstly, since this is the most significant error source, we have to minimize the energy loss to surroundings. To do so, we should not use a beaker anymore but utilize a thermos flask, which would eliminate the effect of the temperature surroundings. Furthermore, we should also think about closing the flask entirely so that no water can evaporate and disappear, but it would be trapped within the flask. Also, it has to be ensured that the ice stays at the same temperature throughout the whole experiment, otherwise no conclusion can be drawn. To make this possible, the ice should be stored in a refrigerator until it is needed, just like the water should be boiled for each new repetition. To reduce all other errors as much as possible, a digital thermometer and mass balance should be used. Those two devices will reduce the errors in the mass and temperature readings since they are more accurate and no mistakes can be made when reading off the corresponding values. Redoing the experiment with the improved set-up will hopefully reduce the errors that have been mentioned above. Since we tried to eliminate the energy loss to surroundings, the results in general should be more accurate and closer to the actual value of 334Jg-1.