Criterion D: Interpretation and Analysis

 1.      

a)    Soil showed the greater change in temperature.

b)   Soil: 0.0056 °C/g
Water: 0.004 °C/g

c)    The soil heated up faster. Water has the higher specific heat because it requires more heat to change one gram of the substance by one degree Celsius.

d)   Water has a higher specific heat than soil, so it would take longer to cool down.

2.      2.

a)    The lines on the graph show us that soil heated up faster than the water.

b)   We could find a line of best fit on the graph and stop at room temperature, where the graph would plateau because the materials cannot surpass the temperature of the surroundings. At 15 minutes, the water would be 16.0°C, and the soil would be 17.5°C.

c)    After 20 minutes, according to the line of best fit, the water should be 16.3°C and the soil should be 18.4°C. It is not very accurate because the line would probably plateau as it reaches temperatures approaching room temperature.

d)   The specific heat of a substance remains constant, so the same statistics are used from question 1-b: Soil: 0.0056 °C/g
Water: 0.004 °C/g

3.      3.

a)    Landmasses would heat up faster than bodies of water at the same altitude because water has a greater specific heat, which we discovered earlier in this investigation.

b)   The surrounding air would move in towards where the warmer air was, creating a convection current.

c)    The air on top of the ocean is cold due to water’s specific heat and because it reflects much of the light given off from the sun, and the air on land is warmer. The warmer air rises creating a low-pressure zone, in which the cool ocean air replaces. This is why there are cooling breezes on a sunny day on a coastal beach. Here is a webpage to explain an example of a large-scale atmospheric change, in this case, the Asian Monsoon:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/understanding/monsoon.shtml

4.      4.

a)    The yearly temperature ranges of the interior regions of the United States are much greater because land has a lower specific heat, making it easier to heat up and cool down. The cool coastal air cools down the coastal regions, as well as the water saturated coastal soil.

b)   The average winter temperatures are similar because the coastal climate keep both places relatively the same temperature wise. However, in Fairbanks, there is no ocean to keep warm.

c)    The average winter temperature is 10 ºC in London, England and 5.8 ºC in Moscow, Russia. This difference of temperatures is explained by the same factors as in 4b; the coastal temperatures in London keep it warm, where as Moscow is inland and the low specific heat of the land cools it down.

     

    5.

                   a.    Heat=(mass of absorber substance)(change in temp.)(specific heat)

                          Heat=(227.5 g)(0.004 °C/g)(4.18 J/g °C)

                          Heat=3.8038 °C

 b.        Heat gain by water=heat gain by soil       Let “x” be specific heat

        (227.5 g)(0.004 °C/g)(4.18 J/g °C)=(306.4 g)(0.0056 °C/g)x

        (3.8038 °C)/(1.71584 °C)=x

        2.216873368 J/g °C=x

       Therefore, the specific heat of soil is 2.216873368 J/g °C)

c.       The specific heat of our soil sample is less than the specific heat of the                                                            water sample. This relates to our answers in question 4 because it justifies that that the specific heat of soil, and the amount of Joules needed for each degree change of a substance, is less than that of water. Coastal regions such as London will not be cooled down as easily as inland regions, and so it has a higher average temperature. 

Procedure

Date of Experiment: Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Location: Upper Canada College grounds

Time: 1:20 p.m. -- 2:05 p.m.

Procedure:

·            Measured two cups without materials inside

·            Went outside of school and took a sample of soil from under a coniferous tree, putting it in one of the cups.

·            Filled a cup with water from a school drinking fountain.

·            Measured the weight of each cup with its own substance.

·            Calculated the mass of the soil and the water.

·           Placed a probe into the cup of water and the cup of soil, that connected to a computer using the application logger pro.

·           After waiting until each substance had a very similar temperature by leaving them inside the classroom, we began recording the temperature (°C) of each cup every thirty seconds, for ten minutes.

·            We then converted the chart containing the temperature of each cup into a graph to display the information.

Photos

Temperature Readings (Intervals of 30 Seconds)

Mass/Temperature Data

Aims, Background and Hypothesis

The aims of this experiment were to determine the specific heat and the rate of heating of a soil sample and then comparing that to those of water. Specific heat is the heat needed to change the temperature of one gram of the substance one degree Celsius. With our findings, we will relate the specific heat findings to climatic phenomena. Land masses heat up and cool down faster than large bodies of water means that variation in temperature between summer and winter will be far greater over continental interiors than along the coastal margins of continents. Having done extensive research on climatic phenomena, we hypothesize that the water will have a greater specific heat than soil, meaning that after the 10 minutes of data collection, the soil sample's temperature will have increased more.

Soil vs. Water Temperature Rate of Change Graph

*Click to enlarge