Recent content by Matthew Hoffman

No, the reaction is only taking place in the liquid

And... since H2 has a greater heat capacity its temperature will not increase as much as plain air, so that means the measured temperature in the calorimeter would be less?

H2 does have a nonzero heat capacity. At 300K, it is 14.31 (kJ/(kg K)). Compared to air, which has a value of 1.00. And in a closed container, the mixture of gases would contain much more H2 than in an open container where it would escape. Am I headed in the right direction here?

So let's say I do the reaction Mg + HCl --> MgCl2 + H2 in an open calorimeter. I measure a certain temperature change in the calorimeter, let's say an increase of 12 degrees C. Keeping all other variables the same, if I perform this experiment in a closed calorimeter, what will happen to the...