Problem Statement: Jim argues that the specific heat capacity of salt water is the

same as the specific heat capacity of distilled water. Plan and design an experiment
to test this claim.
Aim: To determine specific heat capacity of different concentrations of salt water
by using the formula, Pt = mcT.

The purpose of this experiment is to determine the specific heat capacity of salt
water and distilled water then compare the specific heat capacity between salt
water and distilled water.

This can allow us to understand on how salinity affects the specific heat capacity of
water.
Hypothesis: The specific heat capacity of salt water in theory has lower specific
heat capacity than distilled water.

Result: Throughout this experiment, it was found that salt water has lower specific
heat capacity than distilled water.
Objectives-
To determine the specific heat capacity of distilled water and salt water.
To determine how the salinity level affects the specific heat capacity of water.
Compare the specific heat capacity of salt solution with distilled water.

Procedure
Measure 100 g of water (mass mw). Then measure the mass of the inner container
of the calorimeter (mass mc) and pour the 100 g of water into it (i.e. approximately
100 ml).
1. Connect the heating coil into the circuit with the AC voltage source, ammeter
and voltmeter (the circuit diagram is shown in Figure 2, the arrangement of
the experiment is shown in Figure 3).
 2. With the power supply still off, choose such a combination of voltage and
resistance of the coil, so that the electrical current in the circuit is about 2 A
(for example in the sample measurement it is 24 V and 12 ).
3. Before turning the power supply on, measure the temperature of water in the
calorimeter; leave the thermometer in the calorimeter during the whole
measurement.
4. Turn on the power supply and at the same begin to measure the time of the
heating. Also take notes of the voltage and current values.
5. After 5 minutes turn the power supply off, quickly stir the water with a stirrer
and read the final temperature of the water. Write down the time of
heating .
6. Repeat this experiment using the salt solution.
Expected results:
Increasing the concentration of the salt decreases the specific heat capacity of the
water.
Explanation:
When we heat a sample of water, the energy goes into raising the energy levels of
its various vibrational, rotational, and translational motions.
When we dissolve NaCl in water, the ions are held in a rigid cage of water
molecules.
The cage is rigid enough so that the motions of its molecules are "frozen out".
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The added heat cannot go into increasing the energy of these motions, so it goes
into increasing the energies of the other water molecules in the solution.
It takes less energy to activate these molecules, so the specific heat of the water
decreases.
The greater the concentration of NaCl, the lower the specific heat capacity of the
solution.