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Cork insulation; a complete illustrated textbook on cork insulation ...

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CHAPTER VIII.<br />

MEASUREMENT OF HEAT, CHANGE OF STATE,<br />

HUMIDITY.<br />

42.—First Law of Thermodynamics.—When a given sub-<br />

stance is heated by the dissipati<strong>on</strong> of energy there is a definite<br />

relati<strong>on</strong> between the amount of work d<strong>on</strong>e and the thermal<br />

effect produced, and c<strong>on</strong>sequently heat may be measured in<br />

units of mechanical work.<br />

43.—Methods of Heat Measurement.—An amount of heat<br />

required to produce a given thermal effect can be measured<br />

by the direct determinati<strong>on</strong> of the amount of work required<br />

to produce a like eft'ect, but this direct method of heat measurement<br />

is not easy of accomplishment due in part to the<br />

difficulty of applying mechanical work wholly to the heating<br />

of a given substance. The work spent in a given porti<strong>on</strong> of<br />

an electric circuit, however, can be measured with great accuracy<br />

and such work can be readily employed to produce any<br />

given thermal effect.<br />

Another method of measuring heat employs the relati<strong>on</strong><br />

between the amount of work dissipated in heating water and<br />

the rise of temperature thus produced. This method is prac-<br />

tical, even though the energy-values are given indirectly,<br />

because the procedure may be carried out with accuracy. The<br />

melting of ice, and the vaporizati<strong>on</strong> of water, are also fre-<br />

quently employed in the measurement of heat, since the heat<br />

(work) necessary to melt a given quantity of ice or to c<strong>on</strong>-<br />

vert a given quantity of water into steam are known quantities<br />

by determinati<strong>on</strong>.<br />

44.—Units of Heat.—The work required to heat a given<br />

quantity of water has been shown to be approximately pro-<br />

porti<strong>on</strong>al to the rise of temperature, and for most purposes<br />

this proporti<strong>on</strong> is sufficiently exact. C<strong>on</strong>sequently, the amount<br />

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