Kevin Dominguez

5/3/18
Period 3

How Does The Amount of Ammonium Nitrate Affect The

Temperature of Water?

Question:
What I intend to accomplish with this project is to give other students a greater understanding of
how cold packs really work. It was a topic we have already covered back in Unit 6, however, I
plan on going more in depth with it. This project is going to be a lab that goes over endothermic
and exothermic reactions, calorimetry, and heating curves and phase diagrams.

Research:
My research will be based on a experiment that involves synthesizing various quantities of
ammonium nitrate with distilled water. While the chemical reaction occurs, I will record the
differences in temperature. This data will be graphed and used to analyze the chemical reaction
between ammonium nitrate and water. Sources used will be:
● https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-
ideas/Chem_p081/chemistry/how-do-cold-packs-work#makeityourown
● http://sites.jmu.edu/chemdemo/2011/06/08/amonium-nitrate-reaction/
● https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-dissolution-of-NH4NO3-in-water-result-in-a-
decrease-in-the-temperature-of-the-solution
● Chemistry Notebook

Presentation:
I will take pictures and graph data to show how the various quantities of ammonium nitrate will
create variances in the temperature of the water. Having knowledge of this data can help create
ice packs that reach specific temperatures. In addition, I will conduct a brief demonstration in
class to demonstrate the chemical reaction.

Scientific Information:
The chemical composition of ammonium nitrate is NH4NO3, which is ammonium and nitrite
connected by ionic bonds. When combined with water, the water molecules interact with the ions
and breakdown the structure of ammonium nitrate. The energy required to breakdown the
structure is endothermic. The energy needed to breakdown NH4NO3 is greater than the energy
released. Energy is absorbed from the surroundings, which is what makes it cold.