Key Concepts and Summary
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. These measured quantities are then used to compute the amount of heat produced or consumed in the process using known mathematical relations.
Calorimeters are designed to minimize energy exchange between their contents and the external environment. They range from simple coffee cup calorimeters used by introductory chemistry students to sophisticated bomb calorimeters used to determine the energy content of food.
Practice Questions
A 500-mL bottle of water at room temperature and a 2-L bottle of water at the same temperature were placed in a refrigerator. After 30 minutes, the 500-mL bottle of water had cooled to the temperature of the refrigerator. An hour later, the 2-L of water had cooled to the same temperature. When asked which sample of water lost the most heat, one student replied that both bottles lost the same amount of heat because they started at the same temperature and finished at the same temperature. A second student thought that the 2-L bottle of water lost more heat because there was more water. A third student believed that the 500-mL bottle of water lost more heat because it cooled more quickly. A fourth student thought that it was not possible to tell because we do not know the initial temperature and the final temperature of the water. Indicate which of these answers is correct and describe the error in each of the other answers.
Would the amount of heat measured for the reaction in a coffee cup calorimeter be greater, lesser, or remain the same if we used a calorimeter that was a poorer insulator than a coffee cup calorimeter? Explain your answer.
Solution:
lesser; more heat would be lost to the coffee cup and the environment and so ΔT for the water would be lesser and the calculated q would be lesser
Would the amount of heat absorbed by the dissolution of a salt in a coffee cup calorimeter appear greater, lesser, or remain the same if the experimenter used a calorimeter that was a poorer insulator than a coffee cup calorimeter? Explain your answer.
Would the amount of heat absorbed by the dissolution of a salt in a coffee cup calorimeter appear greater, lesser, or remain the same if the heat capacity of the calorimeter were taken into account? Explain your answer.
Answer
greater, since taking the calorimeter’s heat capacity into account will compensate for the thermal energy transferred to the solution from the calorimeter; this approach includes the calorimeter itself, along with the solution, as “surroundings”: qrxn = −(qsolution + qcalorimeter); since both qsolution and qcalorimeter are negative, including the latter term (qrxn) will yield a greater value for the heat of the dissolution.
How many milliliters of water at 23 °C with a density of 1.00 g/mL must be mixed with 180 mL (about 6 oz) of coffee at 95 °C so that the resulting combination will have a temperature of 60 °C? Assume that coffee and water have the same density and the same specific heat.
How much will the temperature of a cup (180 g) of coffee at 95 °C be reduced when a 45 g silver spoon (specific heat 0.24 J/g °C) at 25 °C is placed in the coffee and the two are allowed to reach the same temperature? Assume that the coffee has the same density and specific heat as water.
Answer
The temperature of the coffee will drop 1 degree.
A 45-g aluminum spoon (specific heat 0.88 J/g °C) at 24 °C is placed in 180 mL (180 g) of coffee at 85 °C and the temperature of the two become equal.
(a) What is the final temperature when the two become equal? Assume that coffee has the same specific heat as water?
(b) The first time a student solved this problem she got an answer of 88 °C. Explain why this is clearly an incorrect answer.
The temperature of the cooling water as it leaves the hot engine of an automobile is 240 °F. After it passes through the radiator it has a temperature of 175 °F. Calculate the amount of heat transferred from the engine to the surroundings by one gallon of water with a specific heat of 4.184 J/g °C.
Answer
5.7 ×102 kJ
A 70.0-g piece of metal at 80.0 °C is placed in 100 g of water at 22.0 °C contained in a calorimeter. The metal and water come to the same temperature at 24.6 °C. How much heat did the metal give up to the water? What is the specific heat of the metal?
If a reaction produces 1.506 kJ of heat, which is trapped in 30.0 g of water initially at 26.5 °C in a calorimeter, what is the resulting temperature of the water?
Answer
38.5 °C
A 0.500-g sample of KCl is added to 50.0 g of water in a calorimeter. If the temperature decreases by 1.05 °C, what is the approximate amount of heat involved in the dissolution of the KCl, assuming the specific heat of the resulting solution is 4.18 J/g °C? Is the reaction exothermic or endothermic?
Dissolving 3.0 g of CaCl2(s) in 150.0 g of water in a calorimeter at 22.4 °C causes the temperature to rise to 25.8 °C. What is the approximate amount of heat involved in the dissolution, assuming the specific heat of the resulting solution is 4.18 J/g °C? Is the reaction exothermic or endothermic?
Answer
−2.2 kJ; The heat produced shows that the reaction is exothermic.
When 50.0 g of 0.200 M NaCl(aq) at 24.1 °C is added to 100.0 g of 0.100 M AgNO3(aq) at 24.1 °C in a calorimeter, the temperature increases to 25.2 °C as AgCl(s) forms. Assuming the specific heat of the solution and products is 4.20 J/g °C, calculate the approximate amount of heat in joules produced.
The addition of 3.15 g of Ba(OH)2·8H2O to a solution of 1.52 g of NH4SCN in 100 g of water in a calorimeter caused the temperature to fall by 3.1 °C. Assuming the specific heat of the solution and products is 4.20 J/g °C, calculate the approximate amount of heat absorbed by the reaction, which can be represented by the following equation:
Ba(OH)2·8H2O(s) + 2NH4SCN(aq) ⟶ Ba(SCN)2(aq) + 2NH3(aq) + 10H2O(l)
Answer
1.4 kJ
The reaction of 50 mL of acid and 50 mL of base increased the temperature of the solution by 6.9 ºC. How much would the temperature have increased if 100 mL of acid and 100 mL of base had been used in the same calorimeter starting at the same temperature of 22.0 ºC? Explain your answer.
When 1.0 g of fructose, C6H12O6(s), a sugar commonly found in fruits, is burned in oxygen in a bomb calorimeter, the temperature of the calorimeter increases by 1.58 °C. If the heat capacity of the calorimeter and its contents is 9.90 kJ/°C, what is q for this combustion?
When a 0.740-g sample of trinitrotoluene (TNT), C7H5N2O6, is burned in a bomb calorimeter, the temperature increases from 23.4 °C to 26.9 °C. The heat capacity of the calorimeter is 534 J/°C, and it contains 675 mL of water. How much heat was produced by the combustion of the TNT sample?
Answer
11.7 kJ
One method of generating electricity is by burning coal to heat water, which produces steam that drives an electric generator. To determine the rate at which coal is to be fed into the burner in this type of plant, the heat of combustion per ton of coal must be determined using a bomb calorimeter. When 1.00 g of coal is burned in a bomb calorimeter, the temperature increases by 1.48 °C. If the heat capacity of the calorimeter is 21.6 kJ/°C, determine the heat produced by combustion of a ton of coal (2.000 ×103 pounds).
The amount of fat recommended for someone with a daily diet of 2000 Calories is 65 g. What percent of the calories in this diet would be supplied by this amount of fat if the average number of Calories for fat is
9.1 Calories/g?
Answer
30%
A teaspoon of the carbohydrate sucrose (common sugar) contains 16 Calories (16 kcal). What is the mass of one teaspoon of sucrose if the average number of Calories for carbohydrates is 4.1 Calories/g?
What is the maximum mass of carbohydrate in a 6-oz serving of diet soda that contains less than 1 Calorie per can if the average number of Calories for carbohydrates is 4.1 Calories/g?
Answer
0.24 g
Which is the least expensive source of energy in kilojoules per dollar: a box of breakfast cereal that weighs 32 ounces and costs $4.23, or a liter of isooctane (density, 0.6919 g/mL) that costs $0.45? Compare the nutritional value of the cereal with the heat produced by combustion of the isooctane under standard conditions. A 1.0-ounce serving of the cereal provides 130 Calories.