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Homework Statement
I'm trying to calculate the power required to melt a 57.65g mass of ice, using what my professor calls a "thermoelectric heater and cooler consisting of many thermocouples" (I think its really called a Thermopile, but I havn't heard him use the term.)
I took measurements regarding the voltage across the system, which is essentially the 'thermoelectric heater and cooler' pancaked in between 2 aluminum blocks on each side, each of which has had a hole drilled into it into which a temperature-sensitive resistor has been put in. I've used the constant current and the voltage measurements to obtain the temperature of these blocks over many periods of time, and also used the temperatures of the blocks to melt a piece of ice.
Now...
I'm supposed to use the latent heat of ice to determaine the amount of energy transferred.
Homework Equations
Now, I believe that all I need is to set the Latent Heat equation equal to the power equation...Q=mL=Pt
However, he specifically told me that I would need to use Q=MC(delta)T, and to (making sure I pay attention to the units) recognize that Q is in the units of Joules per second.
The Attempt at a Solution
Now, I havn't had any thermodynamics in a...very, very long time.
So I went and did some research and recalled that specific heat doesn't apply if one encounters a phase change, whereas latent heat is specifically for a phase change. So my initial assumption is that he's wrong, and I just need to relate latent heat to power.
But I know he's not wrong in this, so I must be making a mistake somewhere.
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