Does Incomplete Combustion Of The Best Error In Experiments
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The greatest error in the experiments was heat loss (energy transferred to the atmosphere and equipment). Improvements I could make to my experiment to make it more accurate would be to use a draft excluder as well as insulation using glass wool. These changes would reduce energy loss to the surroundings; to equipment and the air particles so increasing the amount of energy transferred and making the experiment more efficient. Incomplete combustion also forms part of the error as not all of the fuel was being burnt and so we would need to take into account the amount of carbon monoxide produced and so also calculate the energy released when it is produced.
I used different burners for each experiment, which would have lead to errors…show more content… • Have the wick closer to the copper calorimeter, both to increase the rate of heat transfer and the efficiency, as this would prevent such massive heat loss by convection currents.
• Only use wicks of constant diameter, as this would prevent the wick size from becoming a factor, because greater area = more efficient heat transfer.
• Attempt to take 5th repeats for all 5 alcohols, to try and eliminate the impact of anomalies more effectively.
• Have the thermometer suspended in the calorimeter at exactly the mid-height, to ensure that it did not measure the temperature of the copper.
• I would attempt to somehow measure the wasted energy from the flame as light and make appropriate adjustments to the calculation stage.
The experimental accuracy of my procedure, due to the many factors that could cause deviation was a critical part of my investigation. Firstly the accuracy of the apparatus used for measurement was of critical impact to the experiment, as the below table of apparatus and accuracy demonstrates.
In human error, there is the paralax error, where reading a thermometer you don't get your ees level and you read it slightly