An Experiment to Find the Amount of Heat Energy Released When 1g of Candle Wax Burns

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An Experiment to Find the Amount of Heat Energy Released When 1g of Candle Wax Burns AimThe aim of this experiment is to discover how much energy is released when we burn 1g of candle wax.MethodThe best way to conduct this experiment is to use the candle as it burns, to heat up water. The reason for this is because we know water’s ‘specific heat capacity’ is. A specific heat capacity is how much energy is required to raise the temperature of 1kg of a material by one degree Celsius. 4200 joules are required to raise 1kg of water by one degree Celsius. We will carry out the experiment in the following way:• Make sure we measure the mass of the water before the experiment (we can do this by measuring the beaker mass, and taking it away from the mass of the water AND the beaker mass)• Also make sure we know the mass of the candle (and its holder)• Then we need to take note of the initial temperature of the water with the thermometer• Set up the equipment as shown in the Diagram• Light the candle• Keep observing the thermometer readings until a significant gain in temperature is noticed and then take note of
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the mass of the candle and its holder in order to find out the mass of wax burned (by subtracting its mass after the experiment, by its mass beforehand)Before we undertake the experiment there are some points we must consider. First of all, an aspect of our technique which will greatly vary the results is the fact that the candle’s energy transfer into the water may not be 100% efficient. There are some changes we can make to the experiment to make it more effective. One factor that changes the results is that the further the flame is from the ...

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The format of the table should be a proper table as it is quite hard to read the different values and what they mean from the one given. Spaces for headings should be consistent e.g. the conclusion one looks untidy and they should be in bold to separate out each section of text. Grammar, punctuation and spelling are fine, but the format needs work to make it look a lot neater.

The aim is clearly stated which is good, and the method which is chosen is also explained well. No prediction is made which would have been good to see some research behind other published figures. The method is not explained very well and should be set out in clear steps arranged in bullet points to be able to follow the experiment easily. The candidate does consider certain steps which may confound the results which is good to see as it shows consideration to make sure the experiment is as reliable as possible. The candidate provides a good analysis and how to improve the experiment but should not rely on other groups results to formulate opinions as they were not there to see how the experiment went so the reliability of the information is questionable.

A overall quite well done experiment. The candidate shows a lot of consideration for things that may have affected the experiment and accounts for it throughout which is rare to see at this level, they also provide some background knowledge. Calculations are missing which should be included so we can tell the reliability of them.