Lab Report Calorimetry

The Calorimetry experiment is the use of a calorimeter to measure a temperature change. Calorimetry is the measurement of heat.1 This can later be used during calculations to find the enthalpy of an equation. Essential to calorimetry is the calorimeter, which can be any device for accurately measuring the temperature of a substance before and after a change occurs.2 A calorimeter can be as simple as a styrofoam cup. Its quality as an insulator, which makes styrofoam ideal for holding in the warmth of coffee and protecting the hand from scalding as well, also makes styrofoam an excellent material for calorimetric testing.2 The first law of thermodynamics is energy cannot be created nor destroyed but it can be transformed into another type or be transferred into another object.3 This is important to understand because during calculations it would allow one to understand why one would have to calculate the amount of heat transferred to the calorimeter. Since the calorimeters used are not as suffocated as some this would mean some energy will be transferred to the calorimeter itself. The calorimeter used was a glass beaker inside a Styrofoam cylinder. The use of the first law of thermodynamics is what is used to find the specific heat of a chemical compound.

The enthalpy of neutralization between an acid and base in aqueous media could be directly measured by mixing the two regents together in a calorimetry and recording the ΔT.3 Other values are experimentally more difficult (or impossible) to measure, directly.3 Some equations are difficult to find the enthalpy straight off, this is when the use of a calorimetry of two other compounds can be used to then equal the enthalpy of the equation wanted. There are many types of calorimeters that can be used the one used was a Styrofoam one. This what causes some heat being transferred to the calorimeter rather than just staying the