Ajani Frederick

TITLE: Cooling Curve

AIM: To determine the melting point of naphthalene

APPARATUS/ MATERIALS: retort stand, boss, clamp, tripod stand, gauze, Bunsen burner, test tube,
test tube holder, spatula, thermometer, beaker, stopwatch/ stop clock, naphthalene.

DIAGRAM:

PROCEDURE:

1. Some of the naphthalene was placed in a test tube and it was heated in a water bath.
2. When all the substance has melted and reached 100 ° C, it was carefully lifted from the
water bath.
3. A clock was used to record the temperature of the substance every thirty seconds until all of
it has solidified.
4. A graph was plotted of temperature against time.
TABLE OF RESULTS:

TABLE SHOWING THE TEMPERATURE OF THE SUBSTANCE EVERY THIRTY SECONDS

Time (s) Temperature (° C)

0 100
30 86
60 82
90 78
120 77
150 76
180 75
210 74.5
240 74
270 73.5
300 72.5
330 71
360 70
390 69
420 67.5
450 66
480 64
510 63
540 60
570 57.5
600 55
630 53
660 51
690 49
DISCUSSION

When heat is supplied, it can change ice to water and it can also change water to water
vapour (gas). The reverse process can be obtained if heat is removed or extracted. The changes of
state are known as ‘phase changes’ which take place at constant temperature. In a cooling curve,
the heat supplies during melting represents the work needed to be done to overcome the attractive
forces between the solid state. The melting point of a substance is the temperature at which it
changes from a solid to a liquid. The process whereby a liquid turn into a solid is called solidification
which occurs at the freezing point. When more heat is supplied, the particles mover further apart as
more energy is supplied to break the structure. Boiling is the escape of molecules from the body of
the liquid whereas evaporation is the escape of molecules from the surface of the liquid. The
substance used in the experiment is naphthalene; naphthalene is a white crystalline solid which is
insoluble in water, it is usually obtained from coal tar.

From the graph, there is A, B and C labelled on the graph. Between A and B, the
naphthalene begins to cools and the temperature of the liquid falls from 100 ° C to 78 ° C as shown
in the graph. From B, the temperature remains almost steady as the naphthalene begins to
solidifies. It was supposed to be constant but decreased slightly by 1° C, but it did solidify. Lastly, at
C on the graph, the naphthalene has solidified and the temperature of the solid will continue to
decrease as shown on the graph. Naphthalene was used in the experiment because it has a lower
melting point and a high freezing point compared to other substances. Some factors which affects
the melting point of solids is the presence of impurities and the increasing amount of external
pressure. Compared to a normal cooling curve graph, there was a few discrepancies involved
because of the factors stated before.

SOURCES OF ERROR:

1. Parallax error as it may result from the individual may not read the thermometer from eye
level and have incorrect readings.
2. The individual may have had a slow reaction time which may result in the temperature not
being taken at every thirsty seconds.

PRECAUTIONS:

1. To ensure that the thermometer reading was taken at eye level.

REFLECTION:

Naphthalene can be used as fumigant insecticide, a pest control method used to eliminate
pests such as termites and bugs etc. It works when it turns from a solid state to a gas vapour which
is known as sublimation.

CONCLUSION:

In conclusion, the melting point of naphthalene was observed to be 78 ° C.