Experiment #3

The Study of Phase Change

Aim:
To study the phase change of a substance from liquid to solid by plotting the cooling curve.
To determine the melting point of the given substance and to find out the transition time.

Theory:
The term change of phase means the same thing as the term change of state. The change of phase always occurs with a change of heat.
However the temperature does not change. When we heat a solid, the energy supplied is used to increase the kinetic energy of its molecules,
and thereby its temperature increases. Energy is required to melt a solid, because the cohesive forces between molecules must be partially
overcome to allow the molecules to move about. Similarly, energy is required to vaporize a liquid, because in so doing the molecules are
separated and molecular attractive forces are overcome. But there is no temperature change until a phase change is complete. i.e. during
phase change, the energy supplied is used only to separate the molecules ; no part of it is used to increase the kinetic energy of the
molecules. So its temperature will not rise, since kinetic energy of molecules remains the same.

The quantity of heat absorbed or released when a substance changes its physical phase at constant temperature (e g. From solid to liquid at
melting point or from liquid to gas at boiling point) is termed as its latent heat. The quantity of heat absorbed or released when unit mass of
a substance changes its physical phase at a given temperature is called specific latent heat. The constant temperature at which melting or
boiling take place is known as the melting or boiling point.

The process, phase transition is governed by Newton's law of cooling, which states that,
" the rate of change of temperature of an object is proportional to the difference between its own temperature and the temperature of its
surroundings."

i.e, ,

where , T is the temperature of the object

k is a positive constant
Tais the temperature of the surroundings.

By studying the phase change of a substance from solid to liquid, one can determine the melting point, latent heat of fusion etc of the
substance.

In order to understand more about the theory of phase change, consider a sample cooling curve for a substance with a melting point of
450 C.
The flat portion of the graph represents the phase change from liquid to solid at the constant melting temperature 450 C. The two curved
portions represent cooling of the liquid plus the tube (left) and cooling of the solid plus the tube (right). These cool according to Newton’s law
of cooling,
where T is the temperature of the sample, T0 is room temperature, and
k is a positive constant.

The heat loss rate of the liquid plus the boiling tube is likely to be the
same as the heat loss rate of the solid plus the tube for a given
temperature difference (T­T0)

The specific heat C2 of the material undergoing phase change is, however, unlikely to be the same for the liquid and the solid phases.
Thus we have

and

where upon it can be seen that the cooling constants in the liquid (l) and solid (s) phases are related by the equation

These cooling constants can be estimated by using the graph to estimate the time te taken for the material plus the tube to cool to 1/e of
their starting temperature above room temperature. Then since the solution to the Newton’s law of cooling differential equation is

we have k = 1/ te.
The Study of Phase Change Experiment #3

Cooling Curve:

The cooling curve has three distinct regions.

The cooling region PQ for the liquid
QR for the phase change
RS for the solid

The temperature corresponding to the horizontal region QR of the

cooling curve gives the transition temperature. The time for phase
change is noted from the graph. It is given by the interval for the
horizontal region QR of the graph. The rate of cooling r = dθ/dt in the
region RS is also calculated.

Procedure for doing the Simulator:

From the combo box Select Substance select the desired sample.

The mass of the substance can be varied by using the slider Mass of
the substance.

The temperature of the surrounding can be selected by using the slider Surrounding Temperature.

The mass, radius and thickness of the boiling tube can be varied by using the sliders given under the heading Boiling tube.

The experiment can be started by clicking on the Start the Experiment button.

Then the sample in the boiling tube begins to melt.

The temperature of the sample can be noted from the digital thermometer given in the simulator.

Also time can be noted from the stop­watch given in the simulator.

The time­temperature observation is also plotted there.

There is an option Show Result. By clicking it, we can obtain the melting point and the transition time of the sample.

Procedure for doing Real Lab:

The mass m1 of the empty boiling tube is taken.

Sample of mass m2 is put into the boiling tube. It is melted by keeping the test tube immersed in hot oil bath. The sample melts into clear
liquid.

When it is melted completely, the test tube is taken out, wiped dry, suspend in air and allowed to cool.

A thermometer is immersed into the melt. A stop­watch is started and the temperature is noted for every equal interval of time. The time­
temperature observation is taken till the liquid get frozen into solid and gets cooled to room temperature.

Draw a cooling curve by taking time along the X­ axis and temperature along Y­axis. The temperature corresponding to the horizontal
region will give the transition temperature.

The time for the transition time is also noted from the graph. The experiment is repeated for different samples.

Observations and Calculations:

Mass of the sample, m2 = ………………kg

Specific heat capacity of glass,C1 = ………………Jkg­1K­1

Specific heat capacity of sample,C2 = ………………Jkg­1K­1

Time in Temperature in
minutes oC

1/2
Result:
The cooling curve for the phase change of the sample is studied.

Transition time of the sample = …………. min

Melting point of the sample = ........................oC

The Study of Phase Change

Bibliography:
1. Carey, Van. Liquid Vapor Phase Change Phenomena. Washington: Taylor & Francis, 2007.
2. Abell, Martha and James Braselton. Introductory Differential Equations, Third Edition. Boston: Academic Press, 2009.
3. Avison, John. The World of Physics. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd, 1989.
4. Schröder, Bernd. A Workbook for Differential Equations. New York: Wiley, 2009.

Webliography:
1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooling_curve
2. www.ugrad.math.ubc.ca/coursedoc/math100/notes/diffeqs/cool.html
3. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraffin
The Study of Phase Change

Find the transition time of 20g naphthalene with the surrounding temperature as 30oC.Let the boiling tube has mass 25 g, diameter 2.5
cm and thickness 0.15cm.

How much time does 30g of ice takes to melt at a surrounding temperature of ­50C. (We are using a boiling tube having mass= 20g,
radius=1.5cm, thickness=0.2cm.)

In the above experiment, let the surrounding temperature is changed to 0oC. What will be the change in the transition time for ice?

Repeat the experiment for different surrounding temperatures and study the variation of melting point of ice.

Calculate the melting point of wax having a mass 30g. Let we are using a boiling tube of mass 25g, having a thickness 0.5 cm and radius
1.5 cm.( Choose surrounding temperature as 40oC)