Complete Experiments: Thermodynamics
Capstone 'EX' experiments include all the apparatus, sensors (when needed), manuals, and PASCO Capstone files you'll need in your student physics lab. For your convenience, we've listed all the downloadable files for each experiment below.
Grade Level: College
Subject: Physics
Activities
01) Electrical Equivalent of Heat
The purpose of this experiment is to determine the amount of electrical energy that is equivalent to a certain amount of thermal energy. This is accomplished by measuring the amount of electrical energy used in the heating resistor to heat water and the resulting thermal energy added to the water. Also, the number of Joules in one calorie is determined.
02) Specific Heat
The purpose of this activity is to determine the specific heat of a metal object and see how that can help identity the metal. A Temperature Sensor is used to measure the change in temperature of a known quantity of water when a metal object of known mass and known initial temperature is put into the water.
03) Electrical Equivalent of Heat - Wireless
The purpose of this experiment is to determine the amount of electrical energy that is equivalent to a certain amount of thermal energy. This is accomplished by measuring the amount of electrical energy used in the heating resistor to heat water and the resulting thermal energy added to the water.
04) Ideal Gas Law
The temperature, volume, and pressure of a gas are measured simultaneously to show that they change according to the Ideal Gas Law. Special cases of constant volume and constant temperature are also investigated.
05) Specific Heat - Wireless
In this activity you will use a temperature sensor to measure the temperature change of a volume of cool water when a hot piece of metal is placed in it. Your data will be used to determine the total amount of heat transferred from the warmer metal to the colder water, which will in turn be used to determine the specific heat of the metal sample.
06) Ideal Gas Law - Wireless
The temperature, volume, and pressure of a gas are measured simultaneously to show that they change according to the Ideal Gas Law. Special cases of constant volume and constant temperature are also investigated. In addition, the value of Absolute Zero is determined.
07) Ratio of Specific Heats of a Gas
A cylinder is filled with air and a Pressure Sensor is attached. The piston is plucked by hand and allowed to oscillate. The oscillating pressure is recorded as a function of time and the period is determined. The ratio of specific heat capacities is calculated using the period of oscillation, according to Ruchhardt's method.
08) Ratio of Specific Heats - Wireless
A cylinder is filled with air and a Wireless Pressure Sensor is attached. The piston is plucked by hand and allowed to oscillate. The oscillating pressure is recorded as a function of time and the period is determined. The ratio of specific heat capacities is calculated using the period of oscillation, according to Ruchhardt's method.
09) Heat Engine Cycle
A heat engine is a device that does work by extracting thermal energy from a hot reservoir and exhausting thermal energy to a cold reservoir. In this experiment, the heat engine consists of air inside a cylinder which expands when the attached can is immersed in hot water. The expanding air pushes on a piston and does work by lifting a weight. The heat engine cycle is completed by immersing the can in cold water, which returns the air pressure and volume to the starting values.
10) Heat Engine Cycle - Wireless
A P-V diagram is generated as a heat engine is taken through a cycle. From this diagram, the heat added to the gas and the work done by the engine are measured to determine the efficiency of the engine. This actual efficiency is compared to the theoretical maximum efficiency.
11) Blackbody Radiation
The spectrum of an incandescent light bulb is scanned by hand using a prism spectrophotometer that measures relative light intensity as a function of angle. A Broad Spectrum Light Sensor is used with a prism so the entire spectrum from approximately 400 nm to 2500 nm can be scanned without the overlapping orders caused by a grating. The wavelengths corresponding to the angles are calculated using the equations for a prism spectrophotometer.
