AN 80 °C. ISOTHERMAL CALORIMETER

Abstract

An 80° isothermal naphthalene calorimeter analogous to the Bunsen ice calorimeter has been constructed and calibrated. The heat to be measured is made to change the solid/liquid ratio of naphthalene at its melting point, and the resulting volume change is determined by the displacement of mercury in a horizontal capillary tube. The naphthalene chamber is surrounded by the vapor of benzene boiling under an automatically controlled pressure at the melting point of naphthalene. The benzene vapor and the partially frozen naphthalene are separated by an evacuated space.This 80° calorimeter is four times as sensitive as the ice calorimeter and is much more convenient to operate. It is readily adapted to micro work and can be used for fast or slow endothermic or exothermic processes. In the setup described, heats up to about 400 cal. may be measured with a reproducibility of the order of 0.1%. Two different methods of calibration, however, gave "constants" differing by almost 1%. It is thus evident that the instrument must be calibrated as nearly as possible in the way in which it is to be used.