Build and measure with heaters, metal blocks, beakers, insulation and temperature probes. This specific heat capacity simulation connects a recognisable practical to heating curves, latent heat, cooling and a linked particle model.
What you can investigate
- Object-based heaters, blocks, beakers, probes and insulation
- Specific heat capacity required practical preparation
- Heating curve simulation with melting and boiling plateaux
- Latent heat simulation and linked particle explanation
- Simultaneous cooling curves and insulation comparisons
- Unknown-material identification with heat losses and instrument uncertainty
- Captured readings, kept curves, CSV exports and saved setups
Can you identify an unknown material?
- Choose Unknown material. Select sample X and click Weigh to measure its mass on the balance.
- Capture its initial temperature, press Run, then Pause after a temperature rise of at least 15 °C. Capture the final reading.
- Open Notebook and calculate specific heat capacity from the measured energy, mass and temperature rise. Compare the instrument-bound interval with the candidate materials.
- Explain how heat transfer to the room and probe response affect the result. Use Teacher reveal to inspect the model identity and optional model-based loss correction.
Electrical energy increases the sample’s internal energy. Within a single phase, E = mcΔT relates its temperature rise to energy and mass. Environmental losses and probe lag can bias the estimate, so an instrument uncertainty interval alone does not guarantee a correct identification.
Interpreting the model
The lab uses uniform sample temperatures, constant classroom heat capacities and an effective Newton cooling model. Water melts at 0 °C and boils at 100 °C at one atmosphere. Particle motion is illustrative. Vessel/heater heat capacities, spatial gradients and evaporation below boiling are omitted. AQA GCSE Physics RP1 covers specific heat capacity; RP2 covers insulation for separate Physics. The simulation supports preparation and analysis, not completion of the physical practical.
Revision and practice