HE’S GOING THROUGH A PHASE

1. Warming and Cooling of a Purse Substance

He’s Going Through

a Phase
Student Instruction Sheet

Challenge
Investigate how temperature changes when a pure substance melts or freezes.
Determine the melting point and the freezing point for an unknown pure
substance, and use that information to determine the most probable identity of
the substance.

Equipment and Materials

• computer with USB port • beaker, 250-mL
• USB 4-Port Hub (optional) • hot plate
• (2) PASPORT USB interfaces • unknown pure substance, 3-4 g
• (2) PASPORT Temperature Sensors • water, 125.0 mL
• DataStudio software • protective gear
• Small Tripod Base & Rod • Student Instruction Sheet

• Buret Clamp • Student Response Sheet

• test tube, medium

Note: If your computer does not have two USB ports, you will
need a USB Hub.

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 HE’S GOING THROUGH A PHASE
1. Warming and Cooling of a Purse Substance

Safety Precautions
Do not touch hot glassware with your bare hands.

Use a wool glove or alternative hand protection as

directed by your teacher.

Remember, follow the directions for using the equipment.

Wear safety glasses and follow standard laboratory

safety procedures.

Raise and lower the test tube in and out of the water
bath through the use of the test tube holder attached
to the support stand. Do not attempt to hold or move a
beaker with boiling water. It can easily boil over or spill
causing serious burns.

Background
Every substance has a characteristic freezing point and melting point. As you
might expect, the substance changes phase at each of these temperatures. A
pure substance will change from the solid state to the liquid state when the
temperature reaches its melting point. At a temperature equal to the
substance's freezing point, the substance will change phase from a liquid into a
solid. Determining the melting point or freezing point for an unknown substance
will often let you figure out the identity of the substance.

Consider what happens when a solid substance, for example an ice cube, melts.
Does the entire ice cube turn immediately into liquid water at some specific
moment? Or is the process more gradual? What happens to the temperature of
the ice cube while it is melting? Once the ice cube has melted, how could you
reverse the process and turn the water back into an ice cube? What temperature
conditions would you need for this to happen? This lab activity will help you
answer these questions, as well as help you determine the identity of the mystery
substance you will be melting.

Predict
Before beginning the eLab, complete the prediction portion and define the
vocabulary words on the Student Response Sheet.

42 Student Instruct io n Sheet PS-2808

HE’S GOING THROUGH A PHASE
1. Warming and Cooling of a Purse Substance

Explore
Computer Setup
1. Plug the USB interfaces into the computer’s ports or USB Hub.

2. Plug one of the Temperature Sensors To computer

into one of the USB interfaces and
label this sensor “A”.

3. Plug the remaining Temperature

Sensor into the other USB interfaces and label this sensor “B”.

4. Choose the appropriate DataStudio configuration file entitled

01 Warming+Cooling CF.ds

and proceed with the following instructions.

Note: Configuration files automatically launch the appropriate

display(s), sampling rate(s), etc.
Equipment Setup
1. In a clean and dry test tube, obtain a solid sample of a pure substance from
your instructor.

2. Insert the Temperature Sensor labeled “A” into the sample.

3. Using a hot plate, prepare a hot water bath by filling a 250-mL beaker 1/2 full
with tap water.

4. Place the Temperature Sensor Temperature Sensor A

labeled “B” into the water
bath. Temperature Sensor B

Record Data
1. Place the test tube that
contains the unknown solid
with sensor “A” into the water
bath. Secure it with a buret
clamp.

2. Click the Start ( )

button to begin recording the temperature.

PS-2808 Student Inst ruct ion Sheet 43

 HE’S GOING THROUGH A PHASE
1. Warming and Cooling of a Purse Substance

3. Begin heating the water to a temperature of 50°C to 55°C. Adjust the

temperature setting on the hot plate so that it remains below 60°C.

4. Do not move the Temperature Sensors during the initial portion of the
procedure.

5. Have a lab partner note the temperature at which the solid begins to melt.

6. When at least half of the unknown has melted, use the sensor labeled “A” to
gently stir it.

7. When the entire solid has melted, carefully raise the test tube out of the
water bath. Secure it with the clamp above the level of the beaker and off to
the side, so that any rising water vapors do not warm the test tube. Turn off
the hot plate for the duration of the experiment.

8. Continue recording temperature data as the unknown sample slowly cools and
eventually solidifies. Do not stir the sample during this portion of the
experiment.

9. Click the Stop ( ) button to end data collection.

Note: Do not try to remove the sensor from the solid

substance. If you want to remove the Temperature Sensor,
remelt the substance in the water bath.
10. If time permits, repeat the experiment. Collect a second run of data; again
melt the sample by lowering it back into the warm water. Follow the same
procedure as outlined above.

Note: As long as the water temperature is above the melting

point, do not reheat the water.

44 Student Instruct io n Sheet PS-2808

 HE’S GOING THROUGH A PHASE
1. Warming and Cooling of a Purse Substance

Analyze
Record calculations in your Data Table on the Student Response Sheet as you
complete your analysis.

1. Enlarge your graph display and click the Scale-to-Fit ( ) button to best
view the data.

2. Select the Smart Tool ( ) button. Drag the Smart Tool ( ) to pinpoint
the melting temperature and the freezing temperature for your unknown
sample.

3. Record the melting temperature and freezing temperature in the Data Table
on the Student Response Sheet.

4. Use the Note Tool ( ) on the graph to label each interval in which the
sample was melting or solidifying.

5. Save your DataStudio file (on the File menu, click Save Activity As...)(on the
File menu, click Save Activity As...) to the location specified by your teacher.

6. Answer all the questions on the Student Response Sheet.

7. Follow your teacher’s instructions regarding cleaning up your work space.

45 Student Instruct io n Sheet PS-2808

 HE’S GOING THROUGH A PHASE
1. Warming and Cooling of a Purse Substance

46 Student Instruct io n Sheet PS-2808

HE’S GOING THROUGH A PHASE
1. Warming and Cooling of a Purse Substance

Student Response Sheet

Name: ___________________________________

Date: ____________________________________

He’s Going Through a Phase

Vocabulary
Use available resources to find the definitions of the following terms:

cooling curve: _________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

freezing point:_________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

heating curve: _________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

kinetic energy: ________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

melting point: _________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

phase change: _________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

potential energy: _______________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

pure substance: _______________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

PS-2808 Student Response Sheet 51

 HE’S GOING THROUGH A PHASE
1. Warming and Cooling of a Purse Substance

Predict
How do you think the freezing temperature of a pure substance compares to its
melting temperature? Are they identical, nearly the same, or significantly
different?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

Data
Make a sketch of your graph of Temperature versus Time data. Label the x axis,
the y axis and the most significant features of the graph.

Record the data from the graph in the data table below. Use this information to
answer the questions that follow.

52 Student Resp onse Sheet PS-2808

HE’S GOING THROUGH A PHASE
1. Warming and Cooling of a Purse Substance

Analyze

Table 1 Initial heating and cooling data

Melting Freezing
Temperature at which phase change
occurred:
Total time needed for phase change to take
place:

Table 2 Additional data if time allowed

Melting Freezing
Temperature at which phase change
occurred:
Total time needed for phase change to take
place:

1. From your graph, what happened to the temperature during freezing? What
happened to the temperature during melting?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

2. According to your data and graph, what is the freezing temperature of your
pure solid? What is the melting temperature? How do they compare?

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

3. Describe how the shape of the graph indicates whether the substance is in the
solid phase, the liquid phase, or undergoing a change in its phase.

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________

PS-2808 Student Response Sheet 53

 HE’S GOING THROUGH A PHASE
1. Warming and Cooling of a Purse Substance

Synthesize
1. Considering how energy is added to the system when heating your unknown
substance, explain the shape of the graph you observed for melting your
sample. (Hint: think about how the molecules in a solid are arranged compared
to the molecules in a liquid.)

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

2. What effect would increasing the amount of solid have on the shape of the
heating or cooling curves?

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

3. Compare your substance’s melting point to the list of chemicals and their
melting points in Table 3. Identify your unknown solid substance.
Table 3 Chemicals and melting points
Chemical Melting Point (oC)a
Lauric acid, C12H24O2 44
Thymol, 50
(CH3)(C3H7)C6H3OH
p-Dichlorobenzene, 53
C6H4Cl2
a. Source for melting point data: P.J. Linstrom and W.G. Mal-
lard, Eds., NIST Chemistry WebBook, “NIST Standard Ref-
erence Database Number 69”, July 2001, National Institute
of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899
<http://webbook.nist.gov>

The unknown chemical was: __________________________

54 Student Resp onse Sheet PS-2808