1.  Open the Worksheet and complete the header information. While you are doing this, light the Bunsen burner and boil some water in metal container--you will only need about 3 cupsful.

2.  Make sure that there are two temperature probes, connected to the CH 1 and the CH 2 ports on the DataLogger interface. The probes themselves are long brass cylinders with wire connections. Open the Temperature link. In the Connect dialog box, hit the CONNECT button for both CH 1 and CH 2. You should see an empty graph displayed. Make sure that the x (horizontal) axis is set to go from 0 to 500 seconds. If not, click on the largest scale number and type in 500 there.

3.  First, you need to CALIBRATE the two probes. The two fixed points will be room temperature and the temperature of hot water. Suspend the first (uncovered) probe on the stand.

• As soon as the water you prepared in step 1 begins to boil, go to the menu EXPERIMENT/CALIBRATION.

• In the Calibration dialog box, select ONE POINT calibration. Select both CH 1 and CH 2 boxes, and hit the Calibrate Now button.

• When the voltage looks stable for Reading 1, type in the room temperature as indicated on the mercury thermometer and hit Keep. Also record the value on the Worksheet in cell F9.

4.  Fill the cup with boiling water. Hit the Collect button on the empty plot and then place both probes in the hot water by raising the cup from underneath and placing the support under it. Watch the plot as the temperature increases.

5.  After about 100 seconds, both temperatures will have leveled off and may even have begun to decrease somewhat. Immediately remove the cup and carefully dispose of the water. Watch as the temperature is plotted over the 500 second time span.