This Mechanical Equivalent of Heat Apparatus provides an updated version of one of Joule’s most important experiments: converting mechanical work to thermal energy.
Features
- Crank Counter: Counts the number of turns on the handle.
- Thermistor: Embedded in the cylinder, it has lower thermal mass
- Durable Construction: Constructed primarily of steel and aluminum, there’s virtually nothing to break. The thermistor is protected in the cylinder.
How It Works
Turn the crank to perform a measurable amount of work. The crank turns an aluminum cylinder. A flat nylon rope is wrapped several times around the cylinder. As the crank is turned, the friction between the rope and the cylinder is just enough to support a mass hanging from the other end of the rope. This ensures that the torque acting on the cylinder is constant and measurable. A counter keeps track of the number of turns of the crank. The thermal energy is measured by monitoring the temperature of the cylinder using the embedded thermistor.
With this apparatus, the equivalence of work and heat is easily established to within 5%.
What's Included
- 1x Base, cylinder, crank, and counter with a built-in table clamp
- 1x 1-gallon can that can be filled with a measured mass of sand or water (if 10 kg of laboratory masses are not available)
- 1x 3.7 m of flat nylon rope
- 1x Laboratory manual including theory, step-by-step instructions, and data tables
