Specific Heat Capacity

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  • Specific Heat Capacity
    • Defining SHC
      • The energy required per unit mass to change the temperature of a substance by 1K and has units J/Kg/K
      • Water has an SHC of 4200J/Kg/K
      • Energy supplied = mass x SHC x change in temperature
    • Determining SHC
      • Use an electrical circuit with a heater placed in a substance
        • Ammeter connected in series
        • Voltmeter connected in parallel with the heater
        • Variable resistor to control current
      • Use an insulator to minimise the energy lost to surroundings
      • For liquids, stir the liquid carefully to ensure the temperature is uniform throughout
      • Energy transfered or supplied is equal to current x p.d. x time
      • SHC is calculated using the equation: c = (IVt)/(m x temp. change)
    • Temperature-time graphs
      • For any time, the SHC equation can be written as: E/t = mc x (temp. change)/t
      • (temp. change)/t is the gradient of the graph
      • E/t is the constant power supplied
      • This means that P = mc x gradient
      • Re-arrange this to give: c = P/(m x gradient)
    • Method of mixtures
      • Another way to determine SHC
      • Known masses of 2 substances are mixed together
      • Recording their final temperature at thermal equilibrium allows the SHC of one substance to be found if the SHC if the other is known
      • The energy transfered from one substance = energy transfered to the other substance
    • Constant-volume-flow heating
      • A technique used to heat a fluid passing over a heated filliament
      • Liquids are in compressible, so a given volume is equal to a given mass
      • This means the flow rate is the mass flowing through a pipe and passing over the heater per unit time (Kg/s)
      • For this, the SHC equation becomes E/t = (m/t) x c x temp. change

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