NAME: Parsuram Jesse Ramroop

LAB#
TITLE: Plan and Design Lab
PROBLEM STATEMENT:
According to plumbers the most common complaints are ‘leaking water heaters’. A home
water heater when full and heated this tank leaks. Plumbers propose that when the water id
heated, its volume increases. Design an experiment to investigate whether or not the volume
of a given amount of water increases when the temperature increases and hence determine the
increase in volume per degree temperature.
HYPOTHESIS:
The volume of a given amount of water increases with an increase in temperature
AIM OF INVESTIGATION:
To investigate how the volume of a given amount of water changes with temperature
THEORY:
The specific heat capacity of a substance is defined as the quantity of heat which is needed to
raise the temperature of 1kg (unit mass) of it through 1℃ or 1 K.
𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒃𝒆𝒅
Specific heat capacity = 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒙 𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆

If the mass(m) of a body requires C joules (the heat capacity) for a rise of 1 ℃ then unit mass
𝐶
(1 kg) will require for a rise of 1 degree. Thus the specific heat capacity:
𝑀

𝑪 𝑬𝑯
c =𝑴 or C = mc =
∆𝑻
Therefore EH = MC∆T
Electrical energy supplied = heat absorbed by the liquid
VIt = MC∆T
APPARATUS: MATERIALS
12 V Power Supply Lagging in polystyrene container
Variable Resistor Water
Voltmeter & Ammeter
Stopwatch
Switch
Squat form graduated 1000 ml measuring cylinder
Thermometer
Heating coil & Stirrer
DIAGRAM: Set up apparatus as shown below
METHOD:
1. Fill the measuring cylinder with an appropiate volume of water preferably 500 ml
2. Measure and record the volume of water, this is V1
3. Set up apparatus as shown in the diagram
4. Record the initial temperature of the water T1
5. With the lid closed, allow the current to flow through the system for a duration of 5
minutes (300 seconds) using a stopwatch to measure the time. This time period must
be accurately timed
6. The magnitude of the current and potential difference as indicated by the ammeter and
the voltmeter respectively must be frequently checked and kept constant.
7. Ensuring that the current doesn’t fall during this duration of time, constantly stir the
liquid to distribute the heat evenly.
8. Atfer precisely 5 minutes , break the switch and record the volume of the water V2
and record the final temperature T2.
9. Repeat steps 4 – 7 for time duration of 1,3,5,7,10,12 & 15 minutes
10. Calculate the temperature difference and the volume difference of the water for the
various trials
11. Plot a volume vs temperature graph

RESULTS
TABLE OF RESULTS: READINGS OF VOLUME AND TEMPERATURES OF WATER
OBTAINED DURING THE EXPERIMENT
Time /s Temperature / ℃ Volume / ml
Initial Final Difference Initial Final Difference
60
180
300
480
600
720
900

ANALYSIS OF RESULTS :
From the results obtained, state whether there was an increase in volume with an increase in
temperature
Plot a graph of Volume(ml) against Temperature (℃)
Calculate gradient to find the rate of increase or decrease in ml per degree celsius ( ml/℃)
PRECAUTIONS TO BE TAKEN WHILE PERFORMING THIS EXPERIMENT :
1. The liquid must be constantly stirred to ensure that the heat is evenly distributed
through out
2. The use of the lagging with a polystyrene is to reduce the amount of heat lost to the
environment since the material has a very low heat capacity and the energy it absorbs
is ignored
3. The additon of a variable resistor and the constant checking of the ammeter and
voltmeter reading ensures that the current that flows through the circuit is constant
and doesn’t change for the different trials. If it so happens to change, the variable
resistor can be used to adjust the current to its original value.

SOURCE OF ERRORS WHICH CAN POTIENTIALLY AFFECT THE RESULTS

OF THIS EXPERIMENT :
1. Even though the water is heavily insulated to prevent heat lost , this only reduces the
amount of the heat lost to the environment hence there is still heat lost via
convectional processes and this as a result causes the values to be inaccurate.
2. Human reaction time with the timing of period and breaking the circuit and swtiching
on the circuit, the human reaction would prevent the accurate timing of the duration of
the current flow through the circuit since there would be a delay of about .5 seconds
to start the stopwatch and even break the circuit .

CONCLUSION
Did the results you obtained relate to the hypothesis i.e it supported the hypothesis ,if so then
the hypothesis is not rejected and if not then the hypothesis is rejected.