A new approach to determining the specific heat using the Arduino® platform and Newton’s law of cooling

Abstract

This article describes a new approach for determining the specific heat of solid and liquid samples in an educational laboratory setting. The experiment employed automated data collection, using Arduino® to record temperatures as the system cooled. Samples of water, ethyl alcohol, lead, and aluminium were analysed by exchanging heat with preheated water in a non-insulated container. To identify the moments when the samples attained thermal equilibrium with the reference liquid, we employed the cooling curve adjusted using Newton’s law of cooling. This correction allowed us to uncover the exact points of equilibrium with enhanced accuracy. The results, both for solid and liquid samples, indicated the effectiveness of the method, due to its reasonable proximity to the expected values (e% < 10). This approach goes beyond the conventional calorimeter, proving its viability in testing various samples and thus enhancing research on the thermal properties of different materials.