How To Set Up A Calorimeter

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Calorimeters are used to measure potential energy. A calorie is the energy it takes to heat 1 mL of water 1 degree Celsius. These calories are not the same equally those used to refer to nutrient on diet labels, dietary plans, etc., which are known as Calories or Kcal (1000 normal calories). With some simple, everyday materials, you tin construct a bootleg calorimeter to determine either the calories or Kcal of a sample of food.

1. 1

   Become a small metal can. ^[1] This can will be used to contain water that will be heated as part of the calorimetric measurements. Any small metal can will work, such every bit those used to package vegetables, or a soda can.^[ii] Make sure that it is empty, clean, and open up on one finish. If you lot are using a soda can, the opening used for drinking out of the tin can volition suffice.

2. 2

   Get a larger metal tin. ^[3] Y'all will demand a second metallic tin, big enough that the small metal tin can will fit inside information technology with room to spare. Whatever larger metallic tin will work, such every bit a coffee can. Make sure that it is empty, clean, and open on both ends.

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3. 3

   Puncture 4 modest holes in the small tin can. ^[iv] Using a pigsty punch, water ice pick, or other implement, carefully puncture four small holes (each one direct across from another) in the small metallic tin can. Position the holes just below the rim of the open end of the can.

4. iv

   Slide two thin rods between the four holes in the can. ^[5] Slide one rod through the tin can to the other side, so repeat with the other rod and the two remaining holes; the two rods should cantankerous each other. These rods will exist used to back up the small can in the calorimeter. Temperature-resistant glass rods are ideal. If you exercise not have any, try any kind of sturdy, nonflammable rod.

5. 5

   Fill the small can with water. ^[half-dozen] Using a graduated cylinder, flask, or other container, pour 100 mL of distilled water in the small-scale metal can.

6. 6

   Measure the temperature of the h2o. ^[7] Using a mercury thermometer (non a digital 1), have the initial temperature of your water. Y'all may need to leave the thermometer in the water for some time and so that information technology can get an accurate reading of the h2o (which may change temperature as it adjusts to room temperature).

   • Exit the thermometer in the water; you will need information technology to accept another reading later.

7. 7

   Place the modest can inside of the larger one. ^[8] The small-scale metallic can should rest securely within the larger i, supported past the rods made of glass or another nonflammable material.

8. eight

   Unfold a paperclip and insert one end into a cork. ^[9] A standard-size paperclip will be used to hold the food within the calorimeter. Completely unfold the paperclip so that it forms a unmarried long strand. Insert 1 stop of the strand into the cork. Make certain it can stand up upright with the unfolded paperclip sticking up.

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1. 1

   Obtain some food to test. ^[10] Weigh the food using an authentic scale, and record the measurement. Y'all will only need a pocket-sized amount of the food. Good choices include a shelled peanut, potato fleck, or other high-fat food.

2. 2

   Prepare the cork nutrient holder. ^[11] Carefully wrap the end of the paperclip that is not sticking in the cork around the nutrient you will test (or pierce it with the paperclip).

3. 3

   Light the nutrient. ^[12] Gear up the cork on a apartment, nonflammable surface so that the nutrient on the paperclip is sticking upwardly. Lite the nutrient, using a butane lighter or other device. As soon as it catches burn down, place the cans over information technology.

   • Be very careful lighting the food and placing the cans over it so that you lot don't burn yourself.

4. 4

   Let the food burn. ^[13] Go along the cans over the food for as long as it takes to burn completely. As the food burns, it will heat the water in the pocket-sized tin that is suspending in the large can.

   • Carefully watch the nutrient every bit information technology burns. If it goes out rapidly, earlier the food burns completely, relight it.

5. 5

   Check the temperature of the water. ^[14] One time the nutrient has completely burned out, stir the water in the small tin can using the thermometer. Record the temperature of the heated h2o.

   • Exist conscientious moving or touching the calorimeter, as the cans and other parts may be very hot.

6. vi

   Counterbalance the burnt food. ^[fifteen] One time the burnt food has cooled completely, remove it from the paperclip. Counterbalance it over again, and record the measurement.

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1. i

   Understand the formula you will demand to calculate calories. ^[16] The formula used to make up one's mind the caloric value of a sample of food using a homemade calorimeter is relatively simple: calories = volume of water (in mL) x the temperature alter (in Celsius) of the h2o.

2. two

   Gather the data y'all need to calculate. If y'all filled the small can with exactly 100 mL of distilled water, so you already know the book of water (100 mL). If yous recorded the initial temperature of the water, and its temperature later on the food was burned, you can determine the temperature change by subtracting the smaller value from the larger.

   • For instance, if the h2o in the can was initially 35 degrees Celsius, so 39 degrees Celsius after the food was burned, and so you have a temperature change of 4 degrees (39-35 = iv).

3. iii

   Calculate the calories independent in the nutrient. Using the formula and the information you collected, determine how many calories were in the food y'all analyzed.

   • For instance, if you had a temperature change of four degrees, then the food independent 400 calories (400 = 100 mL x 4, using the formula calories = volume of h2o x the temperature modify of the water)
   • To determine Kcal of the food, multiply the temperature modify of the water by the volume of water in liters.^[17] Using the example in a higher place, the sample would incorporate 0.iv Kcal (0.4 Kcal = 0.100 L h2o x 4)

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Add New Question

• Question

  Why practice I demand to weigh the food?

  

  Then that yous can get the authentic number of calories per gram of nutrient. You do this by dividing the full calories past the weight of the food.

• Question

  Will this piece of work for a science Olympiad limerick?

  

  Yes, you just need to change the mercury thermometer to a digital thermometer.

• Question

  What do you lot hateful by putting the cans over the called-for food?

  

  Since the larger tin has to be open up at both sides (similar a tube), and the smaller tin is suspended inside, you have to place the can such that the larger can volition shroud the called-for food, and the small tin can be direct to a higher place the burning food.

• Question

  Can I utilize a candy thermometer instead?

  

  Because of the relatively high temperatures associated with candy-making, those thermometers are by and large graduated to give the greatest sensitivity to those higher temperature ranges. Calorimeter tests generally involve temperature changes within 10 degrees of room temperature, then a candy-thermometer just wont work, their scales more often than not begin at 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and would not fifty-fifty register the reaction.

• Question

  How practice I calculate the calories in a larger slice of food?

  

  If information technology is dried, so remove a small-scale portion, tape the fractional weight, and once you find the calories in that small portion, multiply that by the reciprocal of the fraction. Now you have the calories for the large food. (However, this method merely works for combustible food.)

• Question

  Does it matter if I employ more or less than 100 milliliters of water? Will the nutrient still be properly measured?

  

  As long as you tin adjust your calculations to accommodate the difference, the food will notwithstanding be properly measured.

• Question

  Do I take to use a mercury thermometer, or can it be digital?

  

  You can use either thermometer, though mercury is preferred.

• Question

  Won't the heat be able to escape the height?

  

  AngelicAct

  Customs Reply

  Yeah, yet, you can make sure the thermometer is measuring the water as it heats up-- this manner y'all'll have more accurate results.

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Things You'll Need

• Metal cans
• Food sample
• Scale
• Cork
• Paper clip
• Graduated cylinder, flask, or other container to measure out water
• Thermometer
• Implement to dial holes in can

About This Commodity

Article Summary X

To build a calorimeter, outset by puncturing four holes in pairs opposite one another just below the rim of an empty soda can. Then, slide 2 sparse rods through the pairs of holes so they cross each other. Side by side, put 100 mL of distilled water in the can, and apply a thermometer to bank check the water'south temperature. Later on that, put the tin inside a larger metallic tin that's empty and open on both ends, then the smaller tin can is suspended past its rods. Finally, insert ane stop of an unfolded paperclip into a cork to serve as a handle for the food going into the calorimeter. To learn how to apply your calorimeter, continue reading!

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Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Calorimeter

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