Calorimetry Project

Ignacio Butler, Callie Goff, Arielle Heagy, Patrick Scott, Brandon St. Clair, Lauren Wright

Background:
A calorimeter is a device used to measure the amount of heat involved in a chemical reaction.
Calorimeters work by recording water temperature changes when affected by a heat source to calculate
the amount of energy produced by the heat source in terms of Joules(J) or calories(cal).
Materials:
x2 Metal coffee cans
x1 Wooden skewer
x50 Cotton Balls
x2 Aluminum Soda Cans
x4 Paper Plates
x1 Coffee Can Lid
x2 Rubber Bands
x4 Nails
x1 Small Cardboard Box
Tin Foil
Duct Tape

Why do we use these?

A trap door that is held in place by two rubber bands enable easy access to the inside, the door
also has insulation around it to prevent heat from escaping, the edges of the door have also been
wrapped in aluminum foil to prevent duct tape from burning or melting.
Half of an aluminum soda can (held in place by 2 shish kabob sticks), to hold liquid water.
Plastic lid wrapped in duct tape with cotton insulation and 2 holes, the larger of the two for
ventilation and the second for inserting a thermometer to record temperature during the process.
Holes drilled into the base of the can and a vent in the top provide ventilation.
A trap door that is held in place by two rubber bands enable easy access to the inside, the door
also has insulation around it to prevent heat from escaping, the edges of the door have also been
wrapped in aluminum foil to prevent duct tape from burning or melting.
Internal aspects consist of aluminum foil to protect the cotton insulation from combusting.
A small box wrapped in aluminum foil that has four nails in it form a stand that allows oxygen to
easily reach fuel by elevating it and exposing more surface area.

Procedure:

1. Pour liquid water into top can.

 2. While holding fuel (dorito) with tong, light fuel on fire.
3. Set fuel on the stand.
4. Close trap door.
5. Insert thermometer into the smallest hole on the lid.
6. Record data every 20 seconds.
7. Continue step 6 until temperature plateaus.
8. Weigh stand and product
9. Calculate end fuel by subtracting stand.

Data Table/ Results:

Specific Heat of 4.18J/gC

Water:

Mass of Water 100g

used:

Temperature 31C
Change:

Heat Change 12958J

(inJ):

Heat Change (in 3100cal

cal):

Calories per 1.71Cal/(g)

gram for your
findings:

Calories per 5 Calories/(g)

gram reported
by company:

Percent Error: 34.25%

Conclusion: Our findings are not entirely on point with accuracy, however, it is very good
when keeping into account that 100% accuracy is unobtainable with heat engines. We were precise and
consistent. The source of error we experienced was of the loss of smoke which in turn is the loss of heat.
The insulation and trapdoor worked very well giving us good readings and control over the temperature of
our experiments. The stand also gave the fuel near maximum breathability which improved the efficiency.
The one thing that didnt work all too well was the ventilation. If we could possibly minimize the
ventilation to hold in enough heat without having Carbon Dioxide build up to suffocate the flame, that
would give us the best results possible.