This lab focused on exo and endothermic reactions. It it is relatively easy to measure the change in temperature of the surroundings that occurred as a result of a reaction. Provided all the energy generated was released as heat, the amount of heat absorbed or evolved by a chemical reaction can be determined by measuring the change in temperature in the surroundings. If the reaction takes place in a well-insulated container, nearly all the heat will be confined in the container, causing the temperature of its contents to change. This was the basis for this lab. We measured heat transfer using a calorimeter and, in doing so, were able to calculate the amount of heat generated that caused the temperature to change.
             The first part of this lab is to determine the specific heat of a solid. To do this, fill a 400 ml beaker about ½ full of water and place it on a wire gauze on a ring stand. Start heating up the water with a Bunsen burner. Obtain a metal cylinder, weigh and record its mass. Using tongs, lower the cylinder into the water. Next, obtain a calorimeter and stirrer. Weigh these and record their mass. Next, fill the calorimeter about ½ full with cold water. Weigh the calorimeter, stirrer and water. Monitor the water temperature in the calorimeter until it becomes constant. Record this temperature as your initial water temperature. Now you will need to monitor the temperature of the boiling water bath. When it becomes constant, record the water temperature as the initial temperature of the metal. Quickly transfer the cylinder from the water bath to the calorimeter. Be very careful not to splash any water out of the calorimeter. Stir the water gently and monitor the temperature until it reaches a maximum. Record the maximum temperature reached as the final equilibrium temperature for both the metal and the water. Repeat the above process once more to get another set of data and then proceed to part 2: determining the heat of a r...