help! heat.. vapor.. water trap..?

Question

what is the purpose of the water trap in determining the latent heat of vaporization of water? How would its absence have affected the result?

Answer 1

If I understand correctly you are trying to determine the latent heat of a quantitu of water that evaporates? The trap is essential because it tells you how much water has evaporated (mas of evaporated water and liquid water are the same) so you can determine how much heat has was 'spent' to evaporate the amount of water traped. Hope I helped