Temperature H11: of liquid nitrogen
Materials:
liquid nitrogen, copper cylinder, large Styrofoam cup, grabbers for handling the
copper, warm water, temperature probes
Initial Instructions and questions:
Design an experiment to determine the boiling point of nitrogen. (Note: the liquid
nitrogen you will be given will be boiling.)
Important: liquid nitrogen is so cold you cannot put a temperature probe
into it without destroying the probe. Do not do it!
Come up with scheme a using the copper cylinder and a known amount of warm
or room temperature water (about 300 mL is good). Re-weigh the cylinder. They
arent all the same.
When you have a plan, call your teacher over and explain it.
Guide to notes in your lab notebook:
1. How did your value of the boiling point of nitrogen compare with the accepted
value (-196 C)?
2. Discuss possible sources of error?
3. How would you change your experiment to obtain a more reliable result?