Objectives:

1. To compute the heat capacity of a styrofoam-cup calorimeter.

2. To compute the heat of neutralization of 1.0M hydrochloric acid and 1.0M sodium
hydroxide, the heat of dilution of concentrated sulfuric acid, and the heat of solution of
solid ammonium chloride.
Interpretation of Results
Upon determining the heat capacity of Calorimeter 1. Heat lost is denoted by a negative sign
convention of joules. Heat gained denotes a positive sign convention. In this experiment, we
got a -2719.6J loss by the hot water, and 2510.4J heat gain. Heat gained by the calorimeter is
derived from the theory that the summation of heat loss/gain upon a system is equal to zero.
(qhot + qcold + qcalorimeter = 0). We’ve done trial and error on this part because our the heat capacity
of calorimeter cannot be negative. Yet we keep on getting negative values on the heat gained
by calorimeter. Until we got our proper data for our heat gain, it shows that 209.2J of energy
was gained by the calorimeter. Heat capacity of calorimeter was the heat gained by the
calorimeter divided by the difference between Tfinal and Tcold. In here, we got 17.43J/degC our
heat capacity. After repeating those steps for solving in trial 2, we got an average heat capacity
of 17.43J/degC.
A joule is an SI unit of work or energy. A calorie is the energy needed to raise the temperature
of 1 g of water through 1degC. (1 calorie = 4184 joules).
Heat of neutralization (also known as enthalpy of neutralization), is the change of enthalpy (or
totality of a system’s heat) that occurs when one equivalent of acid and one equivalent of a
base undergo a neutralization reaction to form water and/or salt. It is simply the energy
released with the formation of 1 mole of water.
In here we obtained Tinitial = 30.5degC, qmixure = 2928.8J, qcal = 1464.4J, qneut = -4393.2J, and heat of
neutralization per mole of water formed as -87.864kJ/mol. Upon accomplishing trial 2, we
found the average heat of neutralization to be -84.726kJ/mol.
Heat of dilution of concentrated sulfuric acid is the change in temperature by lessening the
concentration of a substance by adding a non-volatile solvent. Data is shown in the PDS. It
shows that the heat gained by the mixture is 11.91J and the heat gained by the calorimeter is
69.72J. This shows that dilution does not produce much thermal energy upon mixture.
Heat of solution of ammonium chloride is the measure of how much thermal change the
system undergoes upon mixing it with distilled water, forming a reaction that could either
result to a heat gain or heat loss. Our results show a heat loss of mixture of -429.57J and a heat
loss of calorimeter of -11.62J. As we see it, adding ammonium chloride to water makes the
mixture and the system cooler by losing thermal energy. Results also show the solution’s heat
to be 441.19J.
Conclusion:
A system has a heat capacity – the amount of heat expressed in cal, kcal, J or kJ. A calorie is the
energy needed to raise the system’s temperature by 1 degC or 273 in Kelvin. Calorimeters vary
in two ways: a bomb-type and an open calorimeter. Bomb calorimeters are used when we need
to hold the volume and pressure constant. Open calorimeters allow interference of the
surrounding to the system which is the calorimeter.
Heat of neutralization is the thermal change associated with the reaction of equivalent
concentrations of acids and base (same molarity) needed to form 1 mole of water. Heat of
dilution is the thermal change involved when an additional non-volatile solvent is added to a
concentrated solution. In this way, we lessen the concentration of the acid and are able to
quantize the change of heat as an effect of dilution.
Heat of solution of ammonium chloride in water is the thermal change in the system when we
mix NH4Cl in water. This forms a chemical reaction that may produce heat for us to measure the
changes inside the system, before and after we mix them. Results came and it shows heat
losses, therefore making the system and the mixture cooler upon mixture.
As a reminder, the sign convention of heat gained and heat lost by the system is (+) and (-)
respectively.