Specific Heat Lab in Chemistry Class

Chemistry class with Mr. James last week had students testing specific heat capacity of aluminum, copper, and iron.  Hypothetically, they were to assist a housewares company in planning to introduce a new line of cookware and coming to a decision on which metals to use for the cookware.  At the top of the factor list was how well the metals absorbed or released energy as heat.  Students built and calibrated a simple calorimeter, related measurements of temperature to changes in energy and demonstrated proficiency in using calorimetry techniques to determine the specific heat capacities of metals.