Heat and Calorimetry

This lecture covers the historical path to understanding heat and its equivalence with mechanical work, the concept of specific heat, and simple examples of calorimetry exercises. It also explores the transition from the outdated caloric theory to the modern understanding of heat exchange at the microscopic level, as well as the experiments by Joule in the 19th century that demonstrated the equivalence between energy and heat. The lecture delves into the practical definition of a calorie, the experiments conducted by Joule to measure this equivalence, and the relationship between heat and temperature increase. Specific heat is introduced as a substance-dependent constant that relates the amount of heat transferred to the change in temperature, with examples provided for different substances and phases. The lecture concludes with a basic calorimetry problem involving calculating the heat required to raise a person's temperature from 37 to 39 degrees Celsius.