19 September 2001

The students burned peanuts and cashews in lab today to determine their heat content, in Calories per gram. This is a cashew burning under an aluminum can filled with water. The students measured the temperature change in the water, the masses of nut and water, and calculated their answers. Some of the nuts heated the 200 ml of water up to 70°C or more! This cashew was the best fire I saw all night. The nut is mounted on a paper clip, about 1 inch above the rubber stopper, and a half-inch or so beneath the can. The average heat content for each nut was about 4 Cal/g.

DWL