GENERAL CHEMISTRY 2

LESSON 7: HEATING AND COOLING CURVE OF A

LEARNING GOALS: The students should be able to:

a. interpret a heating and cooling curve for water;
b. construct heating and cooling curves of a pure substance;
c. demonstrate how heat energy can be used to raise the temperature of a substance
and weaken intermolecular forces to cause a phase change.

CONCEPTS
When the system is heated, energy is transferred into it. In response to the energy it
receives, the system changes, by increasing its temperature. If the temperature of a
material is monitored during heating, it varies with time. A plot of the temperature versus
time is called the heating curve.

 Between A & B, the material is a solid. The heat supplied to the material is used to increase
the kinetic energy of the molecules and the temperature rises.
 Between B & C, the solid is melting. Heat is being supplied to the material but the
temperature does not change. Heat energy is not being changed into kinetic energy.
Instead, the heat is used to change the arrangement of the molecules.
 At point C, all the material has been changed to liquid.
 Between C & D, the heat supplied is again used to increase kinetic energy of the molecules
and the temperature of the liquid starts to rise.
 Between C & D, the liquid is heated until it starts to boil.
 Between D & E, the liquid is still being heated but the extra heat energy does not change
the temperature (kinetic energy) of the molecules. The heat energy is used to change the
arrangement of the molecules to form a gas.
 At point E, all the liquid has been changed into gas.
 Between E & F, the gas is heated and the heat energy increases the kinetic energy of
molecules once more, so the temperature of the gas increases.

When the system contains only one phase (solid, liquid, or gas), the temperature will increase
when it receives energy. The rate of temperature increase will be dependent on the heat
capacity of the phase in the system. When the heat capacity is large, the temperature
increases slowly, because much energy is required to increase its temperature by one degree.
Thus, the slope of temperature increase for the solid, liquid, and gases are different.
HEATING CURVE OF WATER

Cooling curves show how the temperature changes as a substance is cooled

down. Just like heating curves, cooling curves have horizontal flat parts
where the state changes from gas to liquid, or from liquid to solid.