A student used a bomb calorimeter to determine the heat of combustion of an unknown compound. If the student ignored the heat capacity of the bomb calorimeter, the heat capacity of the unknown compound would be ________ the accepted value.
A) greater than (i.e., less negative)
B) less than (i.e., more negative)
C) equal to

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Ignoring the heat capacity of the bomb calorimeter would result in attributing all the observed temperature change to the combustion of the unknown compound. This would overestimate the heat absorbed or released by the compound, making the calculated heat capacity appear greater (less negative) than the accepted value.

A Student Used a Bomb Calorimeter to Determine the Heat