ENTHALPY CHANGE OF REACTION

Date: 22 march 2022

Teammates: Judy and Coralee

Judy Faour 13D

judy
Introduction:

Research Question: How to determine the enthalpy change in a reaction?

Aim:
to determine the enthalpy change experimentally in a reaction of copper sulphate and zinc using
a calorimeter.
The equation:

Zn(s)+CuSO4(aq)→ZnSO4(aq)+Cu(s)

The background information:

In this experiment we are trying to determine the enthalpy change of the reaction between copper
sulfate and zinc using a calorimeter. A calorimeter is a tool/insulated container used to help us
measure the heat change in a chemical reaction. The enthalpy is the total heat content in a system
and to calculate it in this experiment we are going to use 2 equations. The first equation is used
to calculate heat gained by the water and the equation which is <Q=mc Δ T>. Where Q is the
heat, m is mass, c is specific heat capacity of water (4.18 kJ/mol) and T is the temperature
change. The second equation is (Δ H=(-Q/n)). Where delta H is the enthalpy change, Q is the
heat calculated from the first equation, and n is the number of moles of the limiting reactant.

ASSUMPTIONS MADE :

1. All heat is transferred

2. Specific heat capacity is negligible
3. Everything is pure

Variables:
dependent control
Temperature change in the Volume of the solution
solution

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The setup:

Materials used:
1. Spatula
2. Scale (±0.001 g)
3. 100 ml of copper sulfate solution
4. 2.4 g Zinc
5. Thermometer (±0.1°c)
6. Styrofoam cups
7. lid
8. Measuring cylinder (±1 ml)
9. Beaker (±1 ml)
10. Watch glass

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Procedure:
1. Pour copper sulphate into beaker (to avoid repouring it into original container to protect
from impurities, the leftover would have to be delt with safely)
2. then from the beaker into the measuring cylinder pour 100 cm3 of 0.2 mol/dm3 copper
sulfate solution
3. pour into a calorimeter and measure temperature for 2 mins to ensure room temperature is
reached
4. measure 2.696g ±0.001 of Zn and add into the copper sulfate solution
5. Stir the mixture continuously
6. measure the temperature until it has reached a maximum temperature

Safety Hazards
1.Wear goggles and a lab coat to protect yourself from the copper sulfate and zinc
Both chemicals are poisonous so wash your hands thoroughly after use
2.Make sure all residue from the experiment is thoroughly cleaned

Environmental consideration
 At the end of the experiment the residue of impure copper that had reacted must be
disposed of and handled correctly
Both zinc and copper residue should be placed into a container and labeled heavy metal

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DATA COLLECTED:

RAW DATA:
Initial temperature 20.01° ±0.1
Final temperature 24.79° ±0.1
Mass of zinc used 2.696 g ±0.001
Volume of CuSO4 solution used 100 ml (±1 ml)

GRAPH EVALUATION:
The graph demonstrates the start of the reaction by a clear spike in temperature and the steady
continuation of the reaction can be seen due to the steady increase in temperature
You can tell that the reaction has has stopped when the temperature has reached its maximum and you
start seeing a drop in temperature.
From this graph you get the equation
Y= -0.0008143x+26.65
With r value: -0.9821
From the graph you can also see that the reaction started at 34.5 seconds
With this information you can determine from the equation that the temperature when the reaction started
at 38.5s is 20.01° c and this would be the initial temperature

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And, that the final temperature is 24.79°c
The method used to calculate the temperature is by substituting the x value in the equation above for the
time to calculate the y value which is the temperature

CALCULATIONS:
1. Heat gained by Water: Q=mc Δ t
M= 100 ml
C=4.18
Temp Initial= 20.01° c
Temp Final= 24.79° c
ΔT=4.78° c
Q=-1998.04 J

2. Limiting reactant:

Zn+CuSO4→ZnSO4+Cu.
2.696g Zn+ 100ml CuSO4 were used
Determine number of moles:
2.696/65.38= 0.0412 moles of Zn used
used use molarity of cuso4 solution 0.2 mol 100cm3=dm3= 0.1 dm3
CuSO4= molarity * volume=0.02 moles
Divide by smallest number
Zn- 0.0412/0.02= 2.06=2
CuSO4- 0.02/0.02=1
Zn is in excess
CuSO4 is the limiting reactant

3. Calculating Enthalpy change:

Delta H= -Q/n = 1998/0.02= 99900J/mol /1000= -99.9 kJ/mol

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Sources of Error:
 Stopping the experiment too early would result in inaccurate results (systematic error). It
would give unclear results as not enough information was collected to make valid results.
 The lid not properly covering the cup which would lead to some heat escaping also
making the results inaccurate (systematic error). This would lead to a lower temperature
change measured as heat would escape from the calorimeter. This would make our results
lower as the measured temperature change would be less
 Not stirring the mixture (systematic error). Leads to a decreased temperature change
would be measured and a lower result would result from this error
 Not making sure the copper sulfate solution is acclimated to room temperature
(systematic error). This error leads to an incorrect temperature reading the copper sulfate
solution may have been lower or higher than room temperature.

Analysis:
Theoretical value: -218.67 kJ
Experimental value: -99.9 kJ/mol
Experimental error: %E= (ΔH(exp)- ΔH(theoretical)/ ΔH(theoretical) *100
= (-99.9-(-218.67)/-218.67)*100= 54.3%

Propagation of errors:
1. Mass uncertainty: 0.001/m*100= 0.001/2.696 *100 = 0.037
2. Temperature uncertainty: 0.1/ ΔT *100= 0.1/4.78 *100 = 2.09
3. Volume uncertainty: absolute uncertainty/ volume *100= 1/100*100=1

% Uncertainty ΔH= add up relative uncertainty's because it is a multiplication

U(mass)+ U(ΔT)+ n= 3.127%
3.127* -99.9/100= 3.12=
99.9±3.12

Conclusion:

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The purpose of this experiment was to calculate the enthalpy change experimentally. This ended
up being -99.9±3.12 kJ/mol. The value we got as a result of our experimental was not in the
range of the actual result that we should have received. For reference, the theoretical result we
should have been able to get was -218.67 kJ. This number achieved experimentally is much
higher than the number we should have gotten. This could be due to a multitude of reasons, such
as heat loss to the environment due to the lid not being secured properly. Another reason for this
difference could be due to the fact that we considered the heat capacity of the calorimeter
negligible so not the heat was absorbed the solution.