Calibrating Calorimeter

[Raashi Chaudhari 3B]

Hi!
This may be a silly question, but what does it mean to calibrate the calorimeter in a problem before you begin solving for your desired variable?
Thanks.

[Raashi Chaudhari 3B]

(The explanations to 4A.13 all talked about this concept and I was unclear on what was going on)

[Bella Wachter 1A]

It essentially means that you run a reaction with a known heat value (meaning you know how much heat this reaction releases or absorbs) to see how much the temperature of the calorimeter rises or decreases. This "calibration" reaction enables us to determine the heat capacity of the calorimeter - which we can use in later calculations to determine how much heat other reactions release/absorb.

For example, if we know the heat capacity of the calorimeter (as determined by the calibration reaction) and are observing a reaction in which the temperature of the calorimeter rises by 2.06*C, we can just multiply the rise in temperature by the heat capacity of the calorimeter (and flip the sign to show the reaction is exothermic - releasing heat) to find the heat released by the new reaction,

[Earl Garrovillo 2L]

Calibrating a calorimeter means measuring a calorimeter's heat capacity by carrying out a reaction that releases a known quantity of heat and then observing the change in temperature. We can then use this heat capacity in future procedures/calculations that use the same calorimeter.

[Sana Nagori 2H]

I think it is to find the heat capacity of the calorimeter so that you can use it to find the heat released in another reaction

[Tam Nguyen 2B]

You calibrate the calorimeter to get its heat capacity. So when the reaction raises the temperature of the calorimeter, you can multiply the change in temperature with the heat capacity to get heat of the calorimeter, which in turn will give you the heat released by the reaction.

[Anastasia Yulo 1C]

Calibrating a calorimeter means obtaining the heat capcity of the calorimeter so that it can be used for experiments!