What makes a good calorimeter

Coffee cups are often used as a quick and easy to make calorimeter for constant pressure. More sophisticated bomb calorimeters are built for use at constant volumes. Constant Volume Calorimetry Constant Volume bomb calorimetry, is used to measure the heat of a reaction while holding volume constant and resisting large amounts of pressure.

Calorimeter Principle The body at higher temperature releases heat while the body at lower temperature absorbs heat. The principle of calorimetry indicates the law of conservation energy, i. What are different types of calorimeters?

Some of the most common types are adiabatic calorimeters, oxygen bomb calorimeters, and differential scanning calorimeters DSC. Calorimetry is used to measure the amount of thermal energy transferred in a chemical or physical process.

This requires careful measurement of the temperature change that occurs during the process and the masses of the system and surroundings. The other name to it is the principle of calorimetry. This principle is based on the law of conservation of energy.

When a gas is heated at a constant volume, the work done on the gas increases the internal energy of the system. Cp is greater than the molar specific heat at constant volume Cv because energy must now be supplied not only to raise the temperature of the gas but also for the gas to do work.

Bomb calorimeters have to withstand the large pressure within the calorimeter as the reaction is being measured. Electrical energy is used to ignite the fuel; as the fuel is burning, it will heat up the surrounding air, which expands and escapes through a tube that leads the air out of the calorimeter. Copper is a good conductor of heat. Cu is highly malleable and hence a very thin box of small mass can be made thus decreasing the heat capacity of the box.

This makes sure the calorimeter absorbs or liberates a small amount of heat during the heat exchange. Cu is a good conductor of heat. Calorimeter is a device used to determine specific heat of a substance.

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Therefore, a calorimeter with a high specific heat would be more effective because it would minimize heat transfer between the calorimeter and the surroundings. A good insulator has a higher specific heat capacity because it takes time to absorb more heat before it actually heats up temperature rising to transfer the heat.

Actually, a calorimeter with high specific heat would have less temperature change, which is harder to measure.

Therefore, the error in the calculated enthalpy of the reaction would be higher. Specific heat does not mean heat conductivity, as described by Fourier's Law.

I don't think designers care about the specific heat of the materials. Their primary considerations are going to be standard engineering considerations, e. Aluminum scores well on all of these, so it's a very common material for use in building small devices. Styrofoam can be used in a situation of extreme economy, because it's solid, has moderately low thermal conductivity, and is very easy to fashion into the right shape. There is no flaw in your logic, but there is a bigger flaw behind it.

All right, maybe high specific heat would be better. It is just that the said value is less important than heat conductivity. Heat escapes to the surroundings and leaves you with no way to evaluate it.

You don't want that to happen. That's when styrofoam comes into play. Aluminum is another story. You can't make a combustion chamber out of styrofoam. It has to be a metal. Well, then why not use aluminum. Then it is not a material with low specific heat.