Freezing Point Depression Jun Park, Michael Engelhardt, Rita Patel
Group 12
Introduction
Colligative properties are the physical changes that occur
when adding a solute to a solvent. They can be identified in
chemistry as properties of a solution that depends on ratio of
concentration of solute to concentration of solvent1. Colligative
properties do not, however, take into consideration the species
of the chemicals present1. Colligative properties include
freezing point depression, boiling point elevation, vapor
pressure lowering, and osmotic pressure2.
The colligative property observed in this experiment was
freezing point depression. The purpose of this experiment was
to determine the molecular weight of an unknown solute by
utilizing freezing point depression. The hypothesis was that by
measuring the freezing point depression, the molecular weight
of the unknown solute could be calculated. Thus identifying the
unknown solute itself.
Figure 1. Following equation to calculate a freezing point depression.
Methodology
A test tube was filled with 9 grams of stearic acid and
heated the sample in a water bath until the sample was
90C.
The sample was then moved into an insulating jacket
and recorded the temperature every 5 seconds for 10
minutes. The freezing point was then calculated which is
where the slope of the temperature vs. time graph
decreases.
The process was the repeated with a sample of 9 grams
of stearic acid and 1 gram of lauric acid to identify the
freezing point depression.
Using the freezing point depression equation comparing
the pure stearic acid to the solution, the moles of lauric
acid in the solution could be found.
Results
As observed in Figures 1 and the table, the pure solvent had a higher freezing point of 67.75 C in
comparison to the mixtures average freezing point of 65.43 C. Figure 2 is a data table summarizing the
experimental data. The temperature values were observed, other data was determined through
calculations. The mixture with the unknown solute resulted in a freezing point depression of -2.35 C
(Table 1). Furthermore, the calculations indicated an average molality of .522 mol of unknown solute per
kg of steric acid (Table 1). The moles suggested an average mass of 212.77 g/mol of unknown solute.
This value was then compared to the original mass of unknown added to the steric acid.
Figure 2. Temperature depression recorded for 10 minutes via after heating substances up to 90.0 C, in order to
obtain freezing points.
Discussion
As shown in Figure 1, pure stearic acid is shown to have a higher
freezing point than the solution of both stearic acid and lauric acid
combined. Thus demonstrating the colligative property of freezing point
depression.
To reach the freezing point of the mixture, the temperature has to
be lower than the temperature of the pure solvent. This is because the
system must reach the point when the entropy is low enough for the
intermolecular forces to take control and reorient the solvent particles in
position in the most energetically favored position2. This is harder to due
in a solution than in a pure substance. Therefore, the temperature at
which the solution freezes is lower than that of the pure solvent2.
Ideally, lauric acid, should have had a molar mass of 200.32
g/mol, however the observed molar mass was an average of 212.77
g/mol. When considering only the average molar mass, the percent
error was calculated to be approximately 6.22%, greater than the 5%
desired. This error may have been the result of a number of
experimental errors. Such as inaccurate mass measurements due to an
uncalibrated scale. Due to this significant percent error, we fail to
support the hypothesis.
A follow up experiment that would further enhance our
knowledge in regards to colligative properties would be to measure the
boiling point elevation and see if the same relationship holds true. The
hypothesis would be that it is possible to use boiling point elevation as a
way to determine an unknown solute. These properties can be observed
all around us such as salting the roads during cold weather to boiling
pasta at home. Colligative properties can enhance our fundamental
understanding of the world down to the molecular level.
References
1. Daly, T., Fajardo, J. Colligative Properties. In Intergrated
BISC208/CHEM108 Laboratory and Studio Manual; Audette, D.;
Hunt, S.; Martin, B. Wuersig, R., Ed.; University of Delaware,
Newark, DE, 2017; pp 93-96.
2. Andrews, F. Colligative Properties of Simple Solutions. Science,
194(4265), 1976; pp.567-571.