CHM 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Experimental Literature, Sodium Chloride, Joule
3 Apr 2015
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Document Summary
A calorimeter is used to measure the amount of heat in a reaction. These measurements of heat can be generated, also called an exothermic process, or consumed, called an endothermic reaction or simply dissipated by a sample. Styrofoam cup is used as a calorimeter because it is a container with good insulated walls to prevent heat loss. Even though there is a small amount of heat loss, we can assume that there is none. Before we calculate for the thermal energy, we must know the specific heat capacity, mass, and change in temperature of what is being calculated for. Where a substance absorbs or loses heat energy, the quantity of heat transferred is represented by this equation. q = mc t. When the system loses heat, the sign of q is negative and when the system gains heat, the sign is positive.
