5.

Discussion and Error Analysis:

a). The rise in temperature was more dramatic for reaction 2 than it was for reaction 3. In

reaction 1, the temperature quickly rose to 35.8 ºC in about 30 seconds whereas in

reaction 2, it only rose to 26.5 ºC. In another 30 seconds, the temperature for reaction 1

increase even more to 40.9 ºC while the temperature for reaction 2 only increased up to

26.7 ºC. This indicates that more heat was generated at a faster rate for reaction 1 than for

reaction 2. In addition, the temperature decreased at a faster rate for reaction 1 than for

reaction 2. This may show that there was more heat loss outside the calorimeter for

reaction 1 compared to reaction 2, which a third Styrofoam cup may have prevented.

b). In determining the accuracy of this experiment, the digital thermometer used to

measure the temperatures is the most important. If the temperature was no measured

correctly, this would cause wrong values for q or heat. This would then lead to incorrect

values for the molar enthalpy change and ultimately to an incorrect value for the enthalpy

of the formation of MgO. Because the accuracy for a digital thermometer is ± 0.1 ºC, the

calculated enthalpy should go until the tenths place.

c). This experiment assumes that no heat is loss to the Styrofoam cups that were used as

the calorimeter and also assumes that there is a constant pressure determined by the

atmosphere. Heat loss to the Styrofoam cups would cause temperature measurement

errors and during the course of the experiment, the room pressure may have changed

between the two reactions.