Verification of Hess’ law

VERIFICATION OF HESS’S LAW

DATE: 2/12/2011.

IB TOPIC: 5.3.1

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: DCP, CE.

 Data collection and processing (DCP):

ASPECTS MARKS AWARDED

Recording Raw Data

Processing Raw Data

Presenting Processed Data

TOTAL

 Conclusion and Evaluation (CE):

ASPECTS MARKS AWARDED

Concluding

Evaluating Procedure(s)

Improving The Investigation

TOTAL

1|P a ge
Candidate Name: Balekai, Pranesh
Candidate Session Number: 001070-003
Verification of Hess’ law

AIM:

To verify Hess’s law by the reaction of NaOH + HCl.

APPARATUS REQUIRED:

 Calorimeter with stirrer

 Vernier lab pro with temperature probe.
 Measuring cylinder
 Weighing balance

Chemicals:

 Hydrochloric acid diluted to 1 M

 Sodium Hydroxide solution of concentration 1 M
 Sodium Hydroxide pellets (2.20 g)

BACKGROUND THEORY:

 Hess’s law states that the enthalpy change of any reaction will be the same
irrespective of the path of the reaction.

Data Collection:

Collection of Raw Data:

The reaction was made to take place in a calorimeter and the change in temperature
was calculated using a vernier lab Pro. I transferred the readings to a worksheet to obtain a
graph which showed the change in temperature in time.

Least count of the temperature probe used: 0.000000001˚C

Uncertainty of the temperature probe used: ±0.000000001˚C

Since the uncertainty is so low, it can be neglected.

2|P a ge
Candidate Name: Balekai, Pranesh
Candidate Session Number: 001070-003
Verification of Hess’ law

The collected data for the reaction NaOH(s) + H2O(l) NaOH(l) shown below.

36
Temperature - Time graph

35

34

33
Temperature (˚C)

32

31

30

29

28

27
1

125

218
156
187

249
280
311
342
373
404
435
466
497
528
559
590
621
652
683
714
745
776
807
838
869
900
32
63
94

Time (s)

The peak temperature observed during the reaction is 35.364949856. Initial

temperature of the solution is 29.912879002.

Therefore, the change in temperature = 35.36 – 29.91 = 5.45 K (The units can be
taken in Kelvin because it the difference in temperature)

From the graph that I obtained above, it can be seen that the change in temperature is
5.45 K. The change in enthalpy of this reaction can be found out by ∆𝑯 = 𝒎 𝑪 ∆𝑻.

= 0.100 × 4.186 × 5.45 = 2.28 𝐽/𝐾𝑔/𝐾

3|P a ge
Candidate Name: Balekai, Pranesh
Candidate Session Number: 001070-003
Verification of Hess’ law

The graph that I obtained for the reaction

NaOH(l) + HCl(l) NaCl(l) + H2O(l)

37

36

35
Temperature / ˚C

34

33

32

31

30

29
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
Time / s

∆𝑇 = 36.04 − 30.47 = 5.57 𝐾

∆𝑯 = 𝒎 𝑪 ∆𝑻.

= 0.100 × 4.186 × 5.57 = 2.33 𝐽/𝐾𝑔/𝐾

Therefore, total enthalpy change for the reaction between Sodium Hydroxide and
Hydrochloric acid = 2.33 + 2.28 = 4.61 J/Kg/K

4|P a ge
Candidate Name: Balekai, Pranesh
Candidate Session Number: 001070-003
Verification of Hess’ law

A similar graph was obtained for the reaction

NaOH(s) + HCl(l) NaCl + H2O

Temperature
50

45

40

35
Temperature/˚C

30

25

20

15

10

0
34
67
1

100

265

430
133
166
199
232

298
331
364
397

463
496
529
562
595
628
661
694
727
760
793
826
859
892
925
Time/s

In the same way, the change in temperature was calculated and the change in enthalpy was
also calculated.

∆𝑇 = 45.18 − 32.78 = 12.4 𝐾

∆𝑯 = 𝒎 𝑪 ∆𝑻.

= 0.100 × 4.186 × 12.4 = 5.19 𝐽/𝐾𝑔/𝐾

5|P a ge
Candidate Name: Balekai, Pranesh
Candidate Session Number: 001070-003
Verification of Hess’ law

Conclusion:

We see from reactions one and two that the total enthalpy change for the reaction
between Sodium Hydroxide and Hydrochloric acid is 4.61 J/Kg/K. But the value of change in
enthalpy for the reaction that was directly carried out between Sodium Hydroxide pellets and
Hydrochloric acid is 5.19 J/Kg/K. Although, the values are slightly different from each other,
if they are approximated to one digit, they are the same.

Evaluation:

Since the exact values aren’t obtained through both the reaction pathways, there must
have been some errors that could have occurred when the experiment was carried out.
( 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 − 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 )
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = × 100
𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒

4.61 − 5.19
= × 100
4.61

= 12.5 %

One of the possible errors could be the heat loss to the surroundings that wasn’t taken
into account. The mass of hydrochloric acid was taken in the container was used in the
calculations, the mass after adding Sodium Hydroxide should have been taken. If this was
done, the there will have been more heat loss to the surroundings than what could have
happened now. Also, the specific heat capacity of water was taken to calculate the enthalpy
change while it was diluted hydrochloric acid that was taken.

6|P a ge
Candidate Name: Balekai, Pranesh
Candidate Session Number: 001070-003