When a hot body is kept in contact with a cold one, there is an exchange of heat between the two. Hence, the temperature of the hot body decreases while that of the cold body increases till both the bodies attain the same temperature. During this process, if there is no exchange of heat between the surrounding and the bodies, the heat lost by the hot body is equal to the heat gained by the cold body.
As a calorimeter ensures that there is hardly any exchange of heat between the contents of the calorimeter and the surroundings, the calorimeter is used in the study of the exchange of heat between a solid and liquid or between two liquids.
