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- Instrument used in physics to measure heat. A
- simple calorimeter consists of a heavy copper
- vessel that is polished (to reduce heat
- losses by radiation) and covered with
- insulating material (to reduce losses by
- convection and conduction). In a typical
- experiment, such as to measure the heat
- capacity of a piece of metal, the calorimeter
- is filled with water, whose temperature rise
- is measured using a thermometer when a known
- mass of the heated metal is immersed in it.
- Chemists use a bomb calorimeter to measure
- the heat produced by burning a fuel
- completely in oxygen.
-