A student constructs a coffee cup calorimeter and places 50.0 mL of water into it. After a brief period of stabilization, the temperature of the water in the calorimeter is determined to be 22.6 °C. To this is added 50.0 mL of water that was originally at a temperature of 54.5 °C. A careful plot of the temperatures recorded after this established the temperature at T0 was 30.31 °C. What is the calorimeter constant in J/°C for this calorimeter?

Question

Chemistry

Graham Gomez

15 March, 22:15

A student constructs a coffee cup calorimeter and places 50.0 mL of water into it. After a brief period of stabilization, the temperature of the water in the calorimeter is determined to be 22.6 °C. To this is added 50.0 mL of water that was originally at a temperature of 54.5 °C. A careful plot of the temperatures recorded after this established the temperature at T0 was 30.31 °C. What is the calorimeter constant in J/°C for this calorimeter?

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Answers (1)

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Zachery Yoder · Answer 1

The calorimeter constant is = 447 J/°C

Explanation:

The heat absorbed or released (Q) by water can be calculated with the following expression:

Q = c * m * ΔT

where,

c is the specific heat

m is the mass

ΔT is the change in temperature

The water that is initially in the calorimeter (w₁) absorbs heat while the water that is added (w₂) later releases heat. The calorimeter also absorbs heat.

The heat absorbed by the calorimeter (Q) can be calculated with the following expression:

Q = C * ΔT

where,

C is the calorimeter constant

The density of water is 1.00 g/mL so 50.0 mL = 50.0 g. The sum of the heat absorbed and the heat released is equal to zero (conservation of energy).

Qabs + Qrel = 0

Qabs = - Qrel

Qcal + Qw₁ = - Qw₂

Qcal = - (Qw₂ + Qw₁)

Ccal. ΔTcal = - (cw. mw₁. ΔTw₁ + cw. mw₂. ΔTw₂)

Ccal. (30.31°C - 22.6°C) = - [ (4.184 J/g.°C) * 50.0 g * (30.31°C - 22.6°C) + (4.184 J/g.°C) * 50.0 g * (30.31°C - 54.5°C) ]

Ccal = 447 J/°C