Cold and Hot Pack Lab

Jake Gandy, Jonathan Fairbanks

Lab Section #22
20th March 2017
 Introduction

In this experiment we will be determining which salts: ammonium nitrate, calcium

chloride, lithium chloride, and potassium chloride, should be used to produce efficient and

economical cold and hot packs.We do this by determining what mass of salt we must use in 100

mL of water to get temperatures of 0 and 65. We must then determine the production cost

per unit for a cold pack and a hot pack using the mass of salt required to reach the desired

temperature, the production cost needs to be under $5.00 for the company to make a profit. By

the end of this experiment we will be able to determine whether or not the Dystan Medical

Supply Company is making a profit on their hot and cold packs and which salts they should be

using in each pack.

We are performing this experiment to not only determine which salt is most efficient in

heating or cooling the water but to determine how much money the Dystan Medical Supply

Company would be making per hot pack and cold pack. It is also important that the right

temperature is met otherwise it won't be an effective product.

We will dissolve each salt in distilled water and determine its change in temperature with

a temperature probe. We will then use that data to determine how much salt would be needed to

make the hot pack 65 and the cold pack 0. We will then use that data to determine if the

Dystan Medical Supply Company would make a profit on the hot and cold packs. The first part

of the experiment will be to determine the calorimeter constant by using two Styrofoam cups and

a lid. A temperature probe will be put through the hole in the lid, and two trials will be conducted

to find the calorimeter constant and averaged. In the second part of this experiment, we will

measure the enthalpy of the dissolution of each salt using two Styrofoam cups as a calorimeter.
Each salt will get tested twice, and the average molar heat of dissolution will be calculated as the

final molar heat for the given salt. The salts that we are testing are as follows, potassium

chloride, Lithium chloride, Calcium chloride, and Ammonium Nitrate.

Experimental

Equipment:
2 Styrofoam Cups + lid
Measurenet station
Temperature probe
Various beakers
Magnetic stirrer
Stir rod
Metal stand
Utility Clamp
Hot Plate

Chemicals Needed
KCl
CaCl2
LiCl
NH4(NO3)

Calorimetry

Determining Calorimeter constant

For the first part of the experiment we must determine the calorimeter constant, in order to set

this all up we must first calibrate the Measruenet station. To do this we half fill an 150mL beaker

with ice water, place the temperature probe inside of it and swirl until the reading has hit ~0 C.

After the Measurenet station has been calibrated take the 2 styrofoam cups and place them inside

each other, this will act as the calorimeter in this experiment. Set up experiment using the utility

clamp and the stand, also hook up temperature probe to the Measurenet station so that it may
record data. Afterwards obtain ~50mL of cool water and pour it into the calorimeter. (Also add

the magnetic stir bar), after this obtain 60mL water that is ~50C-60C above room temperature

by using a hotplate and a using beaker. Begin recording data in the Measurenet station and pour

~50mL of hot water into the calorimeter. Perform this twice to ensure you have 2 trials and use

this data to calculate the calorimeter constant

Testing other salts

In this part we shall perform almost the same experiment, but instead with the previously

mentioned salts rather than the hot water. Obtain ~25mL of water for the calorimeter and ~1g of

salt, dissolve that 1g of salt in another ~25mL of water and perform the calorimetry test with the

same process used to determine the calorimeter constant. Also perform each salt twice, so that

there is 2 trials for every salt as well. Determine if it is exothermic or endothermic and find the

optimal price.
 Results

Calibration of styrofoam cup calorimeter

Trial #1 Trial #2

TInitial: 19.43C TInitial: 18.61C

MInitial: 50.0g MInitial:50.0g
MHot Water: 50.1g MHot Water:50.0g
THot water: 74.3C THot water: 75.0C
TFinal: 44.18C TFinal: 44.17 C
Calculations: q=mC T q calorimeter = q warm water - q cool water
Trial #1
(50.1g4.184 J/C(44.1874.3))(50.0g4.184(44.1819.43) J/C)
(44.1819.43) = 45.9 J/ C
Trial #2
(50.0g4.184 J/C(44.1775.0))(50.0g4.184(44.1718.61) J/C)
(44.1718.61) = 43.1 J/ C
Avg Calorimeter Constant: 44.52 J /C
CaCl2

Trial #1 Trial #2

TInitial: TInitial: 18.03C

MWater: MWater: 25.g
MSalt: MSalt: 1.005g
TFinal: TFinal: 22.40C
Calculations: q dissolution = (msolution * C solution * T solution )+( C calorimeter * T calorimeter )
(26.005g 4.184J/ C (22.40 18.3)) + 44.52 (22.40 18.3) = 618.3 J

618.3J 1KJ
1.005g CaCl2 1000J = 68.3KJ/mol
110.983g

100g 4.184(65.018.03)110.983g
68.3KJ 1000J
= 46.9g CaCl2
1KJ +4.184(65.018.03)110.983g

S31.70
46.9g 500g
+ $.73 Labor + $.36 Capital + $.19 P lastic = $4.25

Exothermic/Endothermic: Exothermic Cost per pack: $4.25

LiCl

Trial #1 Trial #2

TInitial: 19.04C TInitial: 17.53C

MWater: 25.g MWater: 25.1g
TFinal: 26.14C TFinal: 22.40C
MSalt: 1.001g MSalt: 1.002g
Calculations: q dissolution = (msolution * C solution * T solution )+( C calorimeter * T calorimeter )
Trial #1

456.3J 1KJ
1.001gLiCl 1000J = 19.3KJ/mol
42.4g

Trial #2
(26.102g 4.184J/ C (22.40 17.53)) + 44.52 (22.40 17.53) = 315.04 J

315.04J 1KJ
1.002gLiCl 1000J = 13.3KJ/mol
42.4g
Average: -16.3 KJ/mol

100g 4.184(65.017.53)42.4g
16.3KJ 1000J
= 106.9g LiCl
1KJ +4.184(65.017.53)42.4g

$65.00
106.9g 500g
+ $.73 Labor + $.36 Capital + $.19 P lastic = $15.18

Exothermic/Endothermic: Exothermic Cost per pack $15.18

KCl
 Trial #1 Trial #2

TInitial: 18.55C TInitial:

MWater: 25.g MWater:
TFinal: 16.74C TFinal:
MSalt: 1.000g MSalt:
Calculations: q dissolution = (msolution * C solution * T solution )+( C calorimeter * T calorimeter )

(26 g 4.184J/ C (16.74 18.55)) + 44.52 (16.74 18.55) = 116.3 J

116.3 J 1KJ
1.000g KCl 1000J = 8.7 KJ/mol
74.55 g

100g 4.184(65.018.55)74.55 g
8.7 KJ 1000J
= 62.5 g KCl
1KJ +4.184(65.018.55)74.55 g

S28.19
62.5 g 500g
+ $.73 Labor + $.36 Capital + $.19 P lastic = $4.80
Exothermic/Endothermic: Endothermic
Cost per pack $4.80

NH4(NO3)

Trial #1 Trial #2

TInitial: 19.39C TInitial: 18.31C

MWater: 25.g MWater: 25.g
TFinal: 16.69C TFinal: 15.8C
MSalt: 1.0065g MSalt: 1.0005g
Calculations: q dissolution = (msolution * C solution * T solution )+( C calorimeter * T calorimeter )
Trial #1
(26.006 g 4.184J/ C (16.69 19.39)) + 44.52 (16.69 19.39) = 173.58 J

173.58 J 1KJ
1.006g N H4(N O3) 1000J = 13.8 KJ/mol
80.04g

Trial #2
(26.001 g 4.184J/ C (15.8 18.31)) + 44.52 (15.8 18.31) = 161.37 J

161.37 J 1 KJ
1.001g N H4(N O3) 1000 J = 12.9 KJ/mol
80.04 g
Average: 13.35 KJ/mol
 100g 4.184(65.018.31)80.04 g
13.35 KJ 1000J
= 53.9 g N H4(N O3)
1KJ +4.184(65.018.31)80.04 g

$26.20
53.9g 500g
+ $.73 Labor + $.36 Capital + $.19 P lastic = $4.14

Exothermic/Endothermic: Endothermic
Cost per pack $4.14

Discussion

In this experiment we were tasked with determining which salt would be the most cost

effective in a hot pack as well as which salt would be most cost effective in a cold pack. To

determine this we used calorimetry which provides us with the information we need to determine

which salts are most effective, some key information may be: whether the equation is

endothermic or exothermic, how much each salt costs per gram, and how much of each salt is

needed to reach a temperature of 65 degrees for the hot pack and 0 degrees for the cold pack.
Since the calorimeter is easily affected by outside forces many things could have potentially

skewed our data, rendering some of our graphs useless. One mistake may be leaving the salts

uncovered and consequently contaminating the salts with the air around them. Another mistake

could be simply missing the cup when pouring the salts so 1 gram is actually something less.

Conclusion

In this experiment we were tasked with determining which salts would be the most cost

effective. We determined that the salt that would work the best as a cold pack is Ammonium

Nitrate because it was the most effective for the lowest price. The price for ammonium nitrate

per pack is $4.14 where the cost per pack of potassium chloride per pack is $4.80, where the

price represents how much it would cost per pack to reach 0 degrees Celsius. The salt that we

determined to be the most cost effective for the hot pack was calcium chloride. To get calcium

chloride to 65 degrees Celsius it would cost $4.25, to get Lithium Chloride to that same

temperature it would cost $15.18.

Bibliography

Stanton, B., Zhu, L., & Atwood, C. H. (2010). Experiments in Chemistry: Featuring MeasureNet

(2nd ed.). Mason, Ohio: Cengage Learning.