Amanda Diner

Mr. Roberts
AP Chemistry Periods 2-3
The Hand Warmer Design Challenge
Procedure:
Part I:
1. The calorimeter was assembled on a magnetic stirrer and 100.0 mL of water was
measured in a graduated cylinder and poured into the calorimeter.
2. The temperature of the water was measured and recorded.
3. A stir bar was added and the stirrer was turned on so that the water was stirring without
splashing.
4. 5.00g of Magnesium Sulfate anhydrous solid was measured and put into a plastic cup.
The magnesium sulfate was added to the calorimeter while the temperature was observed.
The highest temperature was recorded.
5. The resulting solution was diluted with water and disposed of.
6. The previous steps were repeated and the temperatures were averaged.
Part II:
1. A 100.0mL sample of water was placed in a clean, dry 150 mL beaker and was heated
with occasional stirring to approximately 50 degrees Celsius.
2. The beaker was removed from the hot plate and placed on the lab bench. Meanwhile, 100
mL of cool water was placed in the clean, dry calorimeter.
3. The temperature of the hot water and the cold water was measured and recorded and then
immediately, the hot water was pour into the calorimeter. The cover was quickly put on.
4. After 15 seconds the temperature was measured and recorded.
5. The previous steps were repeated again.
Part III:
1. Notes about safety were taken on each of the substances given.
2. The substances were ranked by their cost.
3. The steps in Part I were followed to determine the heat released by the substance.
Prelab Questions:
1. The sodium and chloride ions were being separated from each other. Water molecules
were surrounding the ions and the water molecules were separating from one another.
The bonds between the ions were breaking, and the bonds between the water molecules
and the hydrogen molecules were also being broken. New bonds are formed between the
cations and the anions with the water molecules.
2. During this process, heat is absorbed. The amount of energy that it takes to separate the
sodium and chloride ions in the structure and the water molecules from one another is
greater than the amount of energy that is released from the ion-water attraction. The
difference in the energies of these two systems is absorbed as heat which causes the water
temperature to decrease.

3. The increase in disorder is thermodynamically favorable and an increase in disorder

causes dissolution to occur spontaneously even though the reaction is endothermic
overall.
4. The relative amounts of energy required to separate the ions in the crystalline lattice solid
and released upon formation of the water-ion attraction in the solution determines the
high or low temperature. If the energy that is required to separate the ions in the solution
is greater, then the heat will be absorbed during the formation of the solution and the
solution temperature will be lower than the starting temperature and vice versa.

Data:
Part I:
Cold and Hot Water Temperatures
Initial Temperature

Final Temperature

Change

Hot Water

49.1

36.6

-12.5

Cold Water

23.2

36.6

13.4

Part II:
Calorimeter Constant Data
Mass hot water

100.0

Mass cold water

100.0

Initial temperature cold

21.2

Initial temperature hot

53.0

Final temperature of mixture

36.8

Magnesium Sulfate Dissolution Data

Part III:

Initial temperature

20.0

Final temperature

27.7

Investigation Data
Solid

Initial temp

Final temp

NaC2H3O2

20.0

24.8

CaCl2

20.0

36.0

Na2CO3

20.0

25.0

NaCl

20.0

18.6

LiCl

20.0

38.0

NH4NO3

20.0

12.5

Part IV:
Calorimeter Constant Calculations
Temperature change of hot water
Enthalpy change of hot water
Temperature change of cold water
Enthalpy change of cold water

Part V:

= 36.8 - 53.0 = -16.2

= (100.0g)(4.184)(-16.2) = -6780
= 36.8 - 21.2 = 15.6
= (100.0g)(4.184)(15.6) = 6530

Temperature change of calorimeter

= 36.8 - 21.2 = 15.6

Enthalpy change of calorimeter

= 6780 - 6530 = 250

Calorimeter constant

= 250 / 15.6 = 16.0

Investigation Calculations Table (Based on Data Above)

Solid

Temperature
change

Thermal
energy
change in
calorimeter
contents

Thermal
energy
change of
calorimeter

Internal
energy
change

Molar
mass

Moles
used

Enthalpy of
dissolution

NaC2H3O2

4.8

1000

77

-1080

82.03

0.061

-17.7

CaCl2

16.0

3350

256

-3600

111.10

0.0450

-80.1

Na2CO3

5.0

1050

80

-1130

106.00

0.047

-23.9

NaCl

-1.4

-290

-22

310

58.45

0.086

3.7

LiCl

18.0

3770

288

-4050

42.39

0.118

-34.4

NH4NO3

-7.5

-1570

-120

1690

80.04

0.062

27.0

Post Lab Questions:

1. The following reactions are examples of exothermic reactions. The reason that these are
exothermic reactions is because when the salts are mixed with water, heat is generated in
the system. When the system is gaining heat that means that the reaction is exothermic.
2. NaCl (s) Na+ (aq) + Cl- (aq) = +3.90 kJ/mol
NH4NO3 (s) NH4+ (aq) + NO3- (aq) = +25.48 kJ/mol
NaC2H3O2 (s) Na+ (aq) + C2H3O2- (aq) = -17.32 kJ/mol
Na2CO3 (s) 2Na+ (aq) + CO32- (aq) = -24.80
LiCl (s) Li+ (aq) + Cl- (aq) = -37.10 kJ/mol
CaCl2 (s) Ca2+ (aq) + 2Cl- (aq) = -81.50 kJ/mol
3. The changes that occurred in these reactions were chemical because the compounds break
apart and decompose into cations and anions. In order for these compound to be broken
apart into different ions, a chemical reaction must take place to break the bonds between
the elements.
4. This post lab question requires a class set of data which was not received, therefore, a
proper percent error analysis or average cannot be determined.
5. Some significant sources of error could have come from the calorimeter. If the
calorimeter was not calibrated correctly, then all of the calculations could have been off.
Also, the calorimeter was not a very tightly closed system, heat could have easily escaped
the system and made it difficult to obtain accurate values for the temperature changes and
enthalpy.