Thermometer, Lead Bean Bags, Sealed Tubes with Lead

 

Code Number: 4B60.10

Demo Title: Work Into Heat - Lead Shot

Condition: Good

Principle: Mechanical Energy Converted to Heat

Area of Study: Thermodynamics

Equipment: 

Thermometer, Lead Bean Bags, Sealed Tubes with Lead or Copper Shot, and Rubber Stopper.

Procedure:

Connect the sealed tube with the lead shot or the copper shot in it to the digital thermometer and measure the initial temperature.  Shake the tube violently for either a set amount of time or for a counted number of shakes.  Re-measure the temperature.  Due to friction between the shot particles the temperature of the shot should have risen by as much a 8 degrees C.

An alternative to the above is to substitute the lead bean bag for the tube and shot.  Drop the bag from a 1 meter height about 100 times and the temperature rise should be about 5 degrees C.  NOTE: Copper shot can be substituted for a less hazardous demonstration.  Copper shot should easily give an 5 to 7 degree C rise in temperature.

A quick and easy way to do this demonstration is to use two Styrofoam cups, some copper shot, and a thermocouple.  Fill one of the cups almost full with copper shot and then place the other cup upside down on top of this so that the rims are touching and then tape them together.  Run the thermocouple into the end of one cup through a small hole and begin shaking.  Observe the temperature rise.

References:

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  • Borislaw Bilash II and David Maiullo, "Mechanical Equivalent of Heat", A Demo a Day: A Year of Physics Demonstrations, p. 226.
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  • Bill Franklin, "Abstract: Shot Drop Lab: Converting Gravitational Potential Energy to Thermal Energy", 2005 Apparatus Competition, Salt Lake City, UT.
4B60.10 - Work Into Heat - Lead Shot