Vernier Software & Technology

# Determining the Enthalpy of a Chemical Reaction

## Introduction

All chemical reactions involve an exchange of heat energy; therefore, it is tempting to plan to follow a reaction by measuring the enthalpy change (∆H). However, it is often not possible to directly measure the heat energy change of the reactants and products (the system). We can measure the heat change that occurs in the surroundings by monitoring temperature changes. If we conduct a reaction between two substances in aqueous solution, then the enthalpy of the reaction can be indirectly calculated with the following equation.

$q = {C_p} \times m \times \Delta T$

The term q represents the heat energy that is gained or lost. Cp is the specific heat of water, m is the mass of water, and ∆T is the temperature change of the reaction mixture. The specific heat and mass of water are used because water will either gain or lose heat energy in a reaction that occurs in aqueous solution. Furthermore, according to a principle known as Hess’s law, the enthalpy changes of a series of reactions can be combined to calculate the enthalpy change of a reaction that is the sum of the components of the series.

In this experiment, you will measure the temperature change of two reactions, and use Hess’s law to determine the enthalpy change, ΔH of a third reaction. You will use a Styrofoam cup nested in a beaker as a calorimeter. For purposes of this experiment, you may assume that the heat loss to the calorimeter and the surrounding air is negligible.

## Objectives

In this experiment, you will

• Use Hess's law to determine the enthalpy change of the reaction between aqueous ammonia and aqueous hydrochloric acid.
• Compare your calculated enthalpy change with the experimental results.

## Sensors and Equipment

This experiment features the following Vernier sensors and equipment.

### Option 2

You may also need an interface and software for data collection. What do I need for data collection?

See other experiments from the lab book.

 1 The Determination of a Chemical Formula 2 The Determination of the Percent Water in a Compound 3 The Molar Mass of a Volatile Liquid 4 Using Freezing-Point Depression to Find Molecular Weight 5 The Molar Volume of a Gas 6 Standardizing a Solution of Sodium Hydroxide 7 Acid-Base Titration 8 An Oxidation-Reduction Titration: The Reaction of Fe2+ and Ce4+ 9 Determining the Mole Ratios in a Chemical Reaction 10 The Determination of an Equilibrium Constant 11 Investigating Indicators 12 The Decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide 13 Determining the Enthalpy of a Chemical Reaction 14A Separation and Qualitative Analysis of Cations 14B Separation and Qualitative Analysis of Anions 15A The Synthesis of Alum 15B The Analysis of Alum 16 Conductimetric Titration and Gravimetric Determination of a Precipitate 17 Determining the Concentration of a Solution: Beer's Law 18 Liquid Chromatography 19 Buffers 20 Electrochemistry: Voltaic Cells 21 Electroplating 22 The Synthesis and Analysis of Aspirin 23 Determining the Ksp of Calcium Hydroxide 24 Determining Ka by the Half-Titration of a Weak Acid 25 The Rate and Order of a Chemical Reaction 26 The Enthalpy of Neutralization of Phosphoric Acid 27 α, β, and γ 28 Radiation Shielding 29 The Base Hydrolysis of Ethyl Acetate 30 Exploring the Properties of Gases 31 Determining Avogadro's Number 32 Potentiometric Titration of Hydrogen Peroxide 33 Determining the Half-Life of an Isotope 34 Vapor Pressure and Heat of Vaporization 35 Rate Determination and Activation Energy

### Experiment 13 from Advanced Chemistry with Vernier Lab Book

#### Included in the Lab Book

Vernier lab books include word-processing files of the student instructions, essential teacher information, suggested answers, sample data and graphs, and more.