SPECIFIC LATENT HEAT OF FUSION OF WATER (L)

AIM: To find the specific latent heat of fusion of water

HYPOTHESIS: The specific latent heat of fusion of water will be around 334.4 kJ/kg
MATERIALS: Blocks of ice
Water
Insulated container
Thermometer
Top pan balance
Specific latent heat of fusion is the energy needed to change 1 kg of ice to water
without change in temperature, measured in J/kg. Since there is no change in
temperature the kinetic energy is zero and the potential energy increases leading to
the breaking of the intermolecular bond between the particles, thus causing change
of state.
PROCEDURES: Weigh the empty insulated container then put warm water into it
and weigh again. Find the difference of the two masses to get mass of water.
2. Measure the initial temperature of the water then add blocks of ice, stir it as it
melts to make sure the temperature is even throughout the mixture. Keep the
thermometer in the solution and observe the drop of temperature till it reaches the
minimum value, take this value as your final temperature
3. Weigh the mixture then subtracts the mass of water and container from to get
the mass of ice

Mass of the container: 0.002 kg

Mass of water: 0.155 kg
Mass of ice and water: 0.197 kg
Mass of ice: 0.197 0.155 = 0.042 kg
Initial temperature: 29.0C
Final temperature: 8.00C

Heat lost = Heat gained

mw x Cw x = miL + miCw
0.155 x 4200 x (29-8) = 0.042L + (0.042 x 4200 x (8-0))
13671 = 0.042L + 1411.2
0.042L = 13671 1411.2
0.042L = 12259.8
L = 12259.8
0.042
L =291900 J/kg = 291900 x 10^3 KJ/kg
L 300 KJ/kg

The experiment was quite successful the calculated value (300 KJ/kg) is around
the expected value (334.4 KJ/kg), thus proving my hypothesis to be correct. Errors
being part of any measurement, the big source of error in this experiment was heat
loss to the surroundings, though we tried controlling it by using insulated container.
If we used a covered insulated container I believe we could minimize this
uncertainty by a great degree (next time)