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Heat Capacity vs. Specific Heat
Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2019 8:58 pm
by bonnie_schmitz_1F
Why in finding the heat capacity of the calorimeter do we ignore n in the equation q = nC∆T? I think it has something to do with heat capacity vs. specific heat but I'm not sure.
Re: Heat Capacity vs. Specific Heat
Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 12:51 pm
by ian_haliburton_1f
Yes, you are finding the heat capacity of the calorimeter, whereas that equation corresponds to molar heat capacity. As such, you can ignore the mass of the calorimeter and just use C=q/delta T
Re: Heat Capacity vs. Specific Heat
Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 1:01 pm
by Zubair Ahmed 1L
The equation "q = nC∆T" refers to the molar heat capacity because it measures the heat required to raise 1 mol of a substance by 1 degree celsius. We can ignore the "n" in the equation for the calorimeter because we are looking for the heat capacity instead.