Calorimeter

[Connie2I]

When calorimeter is mentioned in the question, does it give you a hint as to which equation to use? If so, then how?

[Vincent Tse 1K]

Um, what problem is this specifically?

I guess for the most part, Q = mCΔT is a good start. You'll want to look at what the "system" is, and then what the "surrounding" is, and note any energy changes that occur.

[Salman Azfar 1K]

Pretty much what the above post said. A large number of calorimeter reactions do involve heat transfer and will use that equation, but do keep an eye out for any extra factors (like maybe it leads into a question about enthalpy).

[Wayland Leung]

When would we use the equation q=C (delta)T in a calorimeter problem?

[Jasmin Tran 1J]

You can use the equation multiple ways for a calorimeter problem, but the most used way by calculating heat, Q. You use the equation Q = m * c * delta(T), where m is the mass of water, c represents the heat capacity of water, or 4.184 joules per gram per degree Celsius, J/gC, and delta(T) represents the change in temperature. Assuming that you are given m, c, and delta(t), you would just multiply across with dimensional analysis to cancel out units to get the amount of heat, Q, in the reaction.

[Ilan Shavolian 1K]

you may have it confused like i did. The calorimeter basically provides the ideal environment so that you can observe certain aspects of a reaction. Sometimes it says it calibrates the calorimeter. That just means they're finding the heat capacity for that specific calorimeter so that they can see how much energy was required for a specific temperature change.