Within this experiment, the use of a bomb calorimeter was required in order to determine the heat capacity of the system through the combustion of three separate trials of benzoic acid. The resulting heat capacity values for each trial were averaged, with a standard deviation found as well. This was then used to work backwards, for a naphthalene trial, in order to calculate the change in energy (∆U) and the change of enthalpy (∆H). The accepted value for the change in enthalpy of naphthalene is equal to -5157 kJ/mol. The computed value from the experiment is equal to -3076 kJ/mol, which means that the percent error in the experiment is equal to 40.35%.
INTRODUCTION
In this laboratory report, the method to calculate the change in energy (∆U) and the change in enthalpy (∆H) of a sample can be seen and followed. This method or procedure rather, is …show more content…
Through this use, the calorimeter constant can be calculated, as well as the heat capacity of the system of the calorimeter. These various techniques are all put to use to calculate for unknown values that do not appear in a standard table or entry. It is the study of calorimetry that makes it all possible.
Hence, in this experiment, a bomb calorimeter will be used to determine the change in energy and the change in enthalpy of naphthalene. These two values are the goal for the experiment and through the manipulation of the data, they will be achieved. The bomb calorimeter is first used to test three different samples of benzoic acid, in order to settle in on a mean value of the heat capacity of the system, which is then used as a value to solve for the change in energy of naphthalene. After this, the change in enthalpy could be computed and the percent error analyzed for the experiment.