ENTHLAPY CHANGE OF REACTION

Judy Faour 13D

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

Zn+CuSO4→ZnSO4+Cu.

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(delta)T>. Where Q is the
heat, m is mass, c is specific heat capacity of water (4.18) and T is the temperature change. The
second equation is (*delta*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.
The setup:

Materials used:
1. Spatula
2. Scale
3. Copper sulphate
4. Zinc
5. thermometer
6. Styrofoam cups
7. lid
8. Measuring cylinder (+/- 1 ml in 20 c)
9. beaker
10. Watch glass
Method:
1. Pour copper sulphate into beaker (to avoid repouring 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 50 cm of 0.2 moldm3 copper
sulfate solution
3. pour into a calorimeter and measure temperature for 2 mins to ensure room temperature is
reached
4. measure 2.696g of Zn and add into the copper
5. measure the temperature until it is no longer increasing and starts decreasing

Safety Hazards
 Wear goggles and a lab coat to protect yourself from the chemicals

Environmental consideration
 At the end of the experiment the residue of impure copper sulphate that had reacted must
be disposed of and handled correctly

Sources of Error:
 Stopping the experiment too early would result in inaccurate results
 The lid not properly covering the cup which would lead to some heat escaping also
making the results inaccurate
 Not stirring the mixture
 Not making sure the copper sulphate solution is acclimated to room temperature
DATA COLLECTED:

CALCULATIONS:
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 38.5 is 20.01 and this would be the initial temperature
And, that the final temperature is 24.79

1. Heat gained by Water: Q=mct

M= 100 ml
C=4.18
T= initial- 20.01
Final-24.79
Q=1998.04

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
100/159.609= 0.626 moles of CuSO4 used
Divide by smallest number
Zn- 0.0412/0.0412= 1
CuSO4- 0.626/0.0412=15
Zn is the limiting reactant

3. Calculating Enthalpy change:

Delta H= -Q/n = 1998/0.0412= -48495

Conclusion:
The purpose of this experiment was to calculate the enthalpy change experimentally. This ended
up being –48495 Kj/mol. This tells us that the reaction was exothermic in nature, as the enthalpy
change was a negative number.