# How do you measure calorimetry?

Feb 19, 2014

Calorimetry is the measurement of heat flow.

Heat energy flows from a substance that has a higher temperature to a substance that has a lower temperature. The heat will continue to flow until both substances reach the same temperature, known as the final temperature.

A device called a calorimeter is used to measure heat flow. It consists of nested styrofoam cups. In a high school chemistry class we generally study the heat exchange between hot metals and water or water samples at different temperatures. The nested styrofoam cups are insulators so that all the heat is transferred from the warm object to the cooler one.

The equation for heat, q = m x ${C}_{s}$ x $\delta T$ is used for calorimetry. The heat lost by the warm object is equal to the heat gained by the cooler object:
Q lost by the hot material = Q gained by the cold material
We can set up the following equation to solve for any part of the heat calculations
[ Mhot x ${C}_{s}$hot x (${T}_{f}$ - T_bhot)] - [Mcold x C_s cold x (${T}_{f}$ -${T}_{b}$cold)] = 0

${C}_{s}$ is the specific heat of the material. M is mass and T is temperature.

The video discusses how to solve a sample calorimetry calculation.

Video from: Noel Pauller

Another video on calorimetry: