Name ___________________________________________ Date ______________________ Class ________________________

To measure temperature changes in a chemical reaction and infer whether the reaction is endothermic
or exothermic.

Every time you use heat to cook food, you are using energy to drive a chemical reaction! Or when you
drive somewhere and burn fuel in your car you are using the energy created in a chemical reaction for your
benefit. Most chemical reactions involve some change in energy and you just have to know where to look to
see that change!

Endothermic, exothermic

Energy changes occur during chemical reactions. Some reactions absorb energy. Energy must be added
to these reactions to cause them to occur. Reactions that absorb energy that are known as endothermic
reactions. Other reactions release energy. Reactions that release energy are known as exothermic
reactions.

1. Start Virtual Physical Science and select Using Energy to Observe Chemical Changes from the list of
assignments. The lab will open in the Calorimetry laboratory.
2. A bottle of sodium chloride (NaCl) is on the lab bench. A weighing paper is on the balance with
approximately 2 g of sodium chloride (NaCl) on the paper.
3. The calorimeter on the lab bench contains 100 cm3 water. Make certain the stirrer is on. You should be
able to see the stirrer shaft rotating. In the thermometer window, click Save to begin recording data.
Allow 20-30 seconds to obtain a baseline temperature of the water.
4. Drag the weighing paper with the sample to the calorimeter until it snaps over it. Pour the sample in
the calorimeter. You can click on the Accelerate button (the clock) to accelerate the time in the
laboratory. Observe the change in temperature until it levels off and then record data for an additional
20-30 seconds. Click Stop. Open the Lab Book and click on the Calorimetry data link. Record the initial
and final water temperatures in the data table.
5. Click on the Stockroom to enter. Click on the clipboard and select the preset experiment Heat of Solution
– NaNO3 and repeat the experiment with sodium nitrate (NaNO3). Record the initial and final
temperatures in the data table.
6. Click on the Stockroom to enter. Click the clipboard and select preset experiment Heat of Solution –
NaAc and repeat the experiment with NaCH 3COO (NaAc).. Record the initial and final temperatures in
the data table.
Name ___________________________________________ Date ______________________ Class ________________________

Mixture Initial Temp T1 Final Temp T2 Change in Temp T2 - T1

(C) (C) (C)

NaCl (s) + H2O (l)

NaNO3 (s) + H2O (l)

NaCH3COO (s) + H2O (l)

1. Find the change in temperature for each mixture and record the results in the table. Change in
Temperature = ΔT = T2 – T1

2. An exothermic process gives off heat. The reaction mixture warms up and the sign of the change in
temperature is positive. An endothermic process absorbs heat. The reaction mixture cools off and the
sign of the change in temperature is negative. Which solutions are endothermic and which are
exothermic?

3. Which solutions had little or no change in temperature (less than 0.30 C)?

4. When sodium chloride dissolves in water, the ions dissociate or break apart in solution.
NaCl (s) → Na+ (aq) + Cl- (aq)
Write ionic equations, similar to the one above, that describe how NaNO 3 and NaCH3COO dissociate as
they dissolve in water. Include heat as a reactant on the left side of the equation or as a product on the
right side of the equation.