Req

Safety
Wear eye protection, Take care when handling stearic acid and wash skin thoroughly
if it comes into contact with it.

Equipment and materials: For each pair or group of students, you will need:
clamp, stand, and boss, bunsen burner, tripod, gauze, heat-resistant mat, boiling tube
containing stearic acid, boiling tube rack, thermometer (0–100 °C), stop clock, 250 cm3

At the end of the practical, the students should not attempt to remove the
thermometer from the solid stearic acid. The thermometer can be removed
afterwards by gentle heating to melt the solid. If they have time, students can do
this themselves and record the data to plot a heating curve for homework. beaker
 Changes of state
What happens to particles when substances melt?
Target Outcome
Securing Evaluate a model, explaining its limitations.
GRADE 8 Suggest why substances have different melting and boiling points from each other
Use the particle model to describe how energy, movement, and attraction between particles
changes as a substance is heated or cooled.
Securing Describe the factors that affect rate of evaporation
GRADE 6 Explain, in terms of particles, energy and temperature of a substance when it is at the melting
point or boiling point.
Use data to determine the state of a substance at a given temperature
Securing Identify the three states of matter and their state symbols.
GRADE 4 Describe the process of melting, freezing, boiling, and condensing.
Use the particle model to draw a representation of how particles are arranged in the three states
of matter.
Do now Label processes A -D
 answers
Do now Boiling/Evaporating

Melting

Freezing/
solidifying
Deposition/
Condensing
 Finish these sentences.....
1. Melting point is the temperature where.......

2. Boiling point is the temperature where........

Melting Evaporation
Solid Liquid Gas
Freezing Condensation

2 minutes
 Practical: Investigating cooling curves
Practical link Teacher/Tech

In this investigation you will be melting some stearic

acid and producing a cooling curve to show what
happens to the temperature over time and then use
the particle model to explain the graph.

Hypothesis: The temperature will stop rising when the

stearic acid starts to melt.
N
Expected
graph
shape
Task - can you interpret a cooling curve?

A= Liquid

B-C = solidifying

D = Solid
 *

Task: Interpreting changes of state

A Liquid state

B Solid state

C Gaseous state

Liquid particle
D bonds being broken
Link the letter
E Solid particle bonds
with the correct
being broken
 *

Task: State and energy

A Particles have most
energy
B From solid to liquid

C Particles have least

energy

D From liquid to gas

Match the letter Particles gaining

with the correct E energy
Changes of state... In a graph
• We can also
represent changes of
state graphically.
• We can do this by
measuring the
temperature over a
certain time period.
 Changes of state... In a graph
• Take a look at my
results of the
changes of state of
some water.
• What is happening
at....
1. Point A?
2. Point C?
 Changes of state... In a graph
• At point A, the ice is
melting to become
water.
• At point C, the water
is evaporating to
become vapour (gas).
• How could you tell
this from the graph?
 Changes of state... In a graph
• The temperature is
increasing. You know
this because there is
a gradient (slope) on
the graph.
 Changes of state... In a graph
• How long did it take
for my ice to melt?
 Changes of state... In a graph
• How long did it take
for my ice to melt?

• 3 minutes!

• How can you tell?

 Changes of state... In a graph
• You can read the
result from the graph.
At the start of A (time
0) the ice is -50oC and
so must be solid.
• By the end of A, 3
minutes have passed.
Changes of state... In a graph
• What do you think is
happening at point
B?
 Changes of state... In a graph
• What do you think is
happening at point
B?
• There is a plateau
(straight line) where
the temperature
isn’t increasing.
 Changes of state... In a graph
• Why do you think it
takes 3 minutes for
the temperature to
increase at point B?
 Changes of state... In a graph
• Why do you think it takes 3
minutes for the
temperature to increase at
point B?
• The particles need to gain
more heat energy from the
atmosphere (surroundings)
for the temperature to raise
enough for evaporation to
occur.
Exam question on states of matter
➢ Predict the states of substances at different temperatures
given appropriate data

Exam questions (KS3) with answers - printable.

Numeracy Skill: Using number line to work out states of

matter at different temperatures.
N
Purple Pen of Progress.
 What are the golden nuggets/key
things to take away?
1) Particles are the closest together in solids - so
stronger attraction between particles
2) The stronger the attraction between particles,
the higher the melting point & boiling point
3) The temperature stops rising when the
substance melts because energy is being used in
bond breaking