The Dependence of Heat Capacity of Calorimeter on the Amount of Water Inside Calorimeter
Sardjito (a*), Nani Yuningsih (b)

a) Department of Electrical Engineering, Politeknik Negeri Bandung, Bandung 40012
*sardjito[at]polban.ac.id
b) Department of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineering, Politeknik Negeri Bandung, Bandung 40012

Abstract

One of the instructional objectives of Physics Practicum activities in the Laboratory is to prove experimentally the applicability of the theories or laws underlying various physical phenomena. However, often this proof is not achieved satisfactorily due to the presence of various factors that result in the deviation of the experimental results compared to what should be according to the theory. As is the case in calorimetry experiments, deviations are caused by the neglect of the presence of supporting objects other than the main medium of the heat receiver, including the calorimeter of the container where the water is located which also has the ability to absorb heat. As a supporting device that functions as a container, as well as a measuring place and also an adiabatic insulator, the calorimeter has a thermal behavior called heat capacity or water equivalence. Unlike the heat absorbed by water, which is easily calculated from the mass and its specific heat, the heat absorbed by the calorimeter and its supporting devices cannot only be calculated from the mass and specific heat of the calorimeter material, because of its complex structure. This study aims to obtain a relationship between the heat capacity of the calorimeter and the amount of media inside calorimeter experimentally, using the ice fusion heat experiment. The heat capacity of the calorimeter was calculated using experimental data of ice fusion heat with various variations in the mass of water inside. Improvement of the process to obtain a more accurate heat capacity value is carried out through the calculation of Newton^s correction of the measured temperature due to the influence of ambient temperature. From the results of the research used at the Physics Laboratory of the Bandung State Polytechnic, it can be seen that the value of the calorimeter^s heat capacity is not a constant, but depends on the mass of water that fills the calorimeter. To the extent of a certain amount of water, the greater

Keywords: calorimeter, heat capacity, water equivalence, ice fusion heat

Topic: Physics Education