Experiment: Calorimetry of a cold pack Page 1 of 10

Calorimetry of a Cold Pack

Introduction

The purpose of this experiment is to study the thermochemistry of a cold pack containing ammonium nitrate.
Specifically, we will determine the enthalpy change of the reaction of ammonium nitrate with water. Cold
packs are commonly used as a first aide treatment of injuries such as muscle ache, various types of bruises and
tissue inflammation.

Thermodynamics is the study of the transfer of heat, between a system and its surroundings. For example,
consider a melting ice cube in air. We can designate the system to be the ice cube and the surroundings to be
the air and the surface of where the ice cube is placed. An ice cube melts because heat energy is naturally
transferred from hotter bodies to colder bodies. Therefore, the surroundings get cooler and the ice cube first
melts and then the water (melted ice) gets warmer.

System:
Melting ice

Surroundings:

• table top
• air

The symbol, “q”, is often used to represent heat energy. When heat energy is measured at constant pressure,
it is referred to as enthalpy change (ΔH) which is related to the system with reference to its initial and initial
states. Enthalpy units are commonly expressed as an intensive property with units of kJ/mol. Energy is
measured in joules (J). Endothermic processes have a positive sign associated with their enthalpy change (heat
absorbed by the system) whereas, exothermic processes have a negative sign associated with their enthalpy
change (heat released) by the system much like money transactions. If you spend money, banks label it as a
negative transaction and if you earn money banks label it as a positive transaction posted to your account.

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Experiment: Calorimetry of a cold pack Page 2 of 10

Other common units of heat energy (q) are calories (cal). A common laboratory method to measure heat
transfer between a system and its surroundings is Calorimetry. This method involves a calorimeter which is an
energy-insulating (heat or cold) container equipped with a thermometer. A common type of calorimetry
involves heat measurements under constant pressure (open system) condition (open to the atmosphere). A
simple way to build a calorimeter is to use a common Styrofoam “coffee cup” which is a good thermal
insulator. The calorimeter used in this experiment will consist of two Styrofoam cups nestled together. A
plastic lid will be used to isolate the system from outside air.

Measurement of heat transferred between a system and its surroundings depends on whether the process
involves a change in temperature and/or a change in state of matter also referred to as phase change. If the
process involves temperature change, calculation of heat energy involves several factors; amount (mass) of a
substance, the type of a substance, and the temperature change that occurs. The equation we should use
when measuring energy in the absence of phase change (involving change of temperature) is as follows:

𝑞𝑞 = 𝑚𝑚 . 𝑐𝑐 . 𝛥𝛥𝛥𝛥 (Equation 1)

q: heat energy, (common units J or cal)

m: mass of substance (g)
c: specific heat of substance (common units of J/goC or cal/goC)
ΔT: change in temperature (final T - initial T), oC

If the process involves a change of state, heat energy calculation is independent of temperature since phase
changes take place at a constant temperature for a pure substance. For example, ice absorbs heat abd melts to
water at a temperature of 0 oC. Therefore, equation 1 cannot be used (ΔT =0 !) and one should use a change
of state heat value (also known as phase change enthalpy) in order to calculate heat transferred.

𝑞𝑞 = 𝑛𝑛 . 𝛥𝛥𝛥𝛥𝑝𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 (Equation 2)
𝑛𝑛 : mole of substance, (or mass)
𝛥𝛥𝛥𝛥𝑝𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 ∶ phase change enthalpy with correct sign* (units: J/mol, kJ/mol, J/g, kJ/g)

* Please note that enthalpy of phase change should be expressed using the correct sign. If a system’s phase
change involves input or gain of energy, a “+” sign should be assigned to it. If a system’s phase change involves
a release of energy into the surroundings, a “–“ sign should be assigned to it. Incorrect sign will cause
calculation error. If banks are not careful with the correct sign of our money transactions, they will not remain
in business!

For a heat transfer process involving both a change of temperature and a phase change, the total amount of
heat transferred is calculated by summing both heat values (Equation 1 and Equation 2). The quantities of
matter (in mole or mass units) also makes a big contribution as shown in equation 1. Consider using a
microwave to heat water. If you heat a small cup of water for 1 minute and compare it to heating a larger pot
of water for 1 minute, in which case is the temperature higher? From experience you may know that the
smaller quantity of water gets a lot hotter. A microwave transfers the same amount of energy to both
containers (set to 1 minute) but the smaller container gets significantly hotter. Therefore, change of
temperature ΔT is proportional to the mass (or mole) of the substance involved.

Let us now look at another aspect of equation 1, the type of matter involved. If you add the same quantity of
heat, using a gas burner, to sample of water and a piece of steel (both having the same mass), which one

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Experiment: Calorimetry of a cold pack Page 3 of 10

shows a greater temperature rise? Steel (mostly iron) will get much more hotter and shows a greater
temperature change as it has a much lower specific heat value ( 0.45 J/g.oC) as compared to water (4.184
J/g.oC). It takes about 9.3 times more energy (4.184/0.45) to raise the temperature of an equal quantity of
water and steel by the same change of temperature (ΔT). This quantity is an important intensive property of
matter called, specific heat capacity value. Every homogenous matter has its own unique specific heat value.
For water, it takes 4.184 J to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1oC. For steel this is a much lower
value (0.45 J/g.oC). Specific heat values of matter are often tabulated and shown in chemistry textbooks.
Specific heat values are measured using constant pressure or constant volume calorimetry. However, constant
pressure calorimetry values are used more often because most processes are conducted open to atmosphere.

Measuring energy changes (calorimetry) is a bit tricky when a chemical reaction (system) is involved in the
process. We have no direct way of measuring heats of reactions. In these cases, we immerse the reaction
within water and let water act as our surrounding. After the reaction takes place, we measure the change in
temperature of water and knowing the specific heat value of water and its quantity we can calculate the heat
term, q using equation 1. Dividing the quantity of heat by the moles of limiting reactant provides the intensive
value of the heat measured at constant pressure, ΔH for the reaction (ΔHrxn). This technique works because
when one substance (say substance A) loses energy, the other substance (substance B) gains energy or vice
versa. We are utilizing the law of conservation of energy to handle these types of calculations which states that
the overall heat transaction (with correct sign) must be zero. Stated mathematically:

𝑞𝑞𝐴𝐴 + 𝑞𝑞𝐵𝐵 = 0 Equation 3

𝑞𝑞𝐴𝐴 = − 𝑞𝑞𝐵𝐵 Equation 4

Considering our ice/water situation, if you add ice cubes to the warmer water inside a calorimeter, the energy
conservation (equation 3 or 4) can be written for the 2 components as:

𝑞𝑞𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝑞𝑞𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤 = 0
𝑞𝑞𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = − 𝑞𝑞𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤𝑤
This important relationship accounts for energy transfer between substances in contact with one another. If
there are more substances involved in the energy exchange process, add their specific terms to equation 3.
How do we handle a reaction’s enthalpy change? For expressing the enthalpy change of a chemical reaction
one must be careful with the sign and amount of pure matter involved. For example, formation of 2 moles of
water is exothermic (ΔH < 0):

2H2(g) + O2 (g)  2 H2O (l) ΔHrxn = -572 kJ/rxn-mol

* Note: “rxn-mol” indicates that the value is for the balanced mole of each component in the reaction!

Now translating the enthalpy change for water, moles of water become important:
572 𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
𝛥𝛥𝐻𝐻𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = − = −286 kJ/mol H2O
2 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐻𝐻2 𝑂𝑂

Note that the enthalpy value depends on the moles water produced. The enthalpy change is expressed as
either a positive or negative value depending on the direction of reaction. For example, decomposition of 2
moles of water is endothermic (ΔH > 0):

2 H2O (l)  2H2(g) + O2 (g) ΔHrxn = +572 kJ/rxn-mol

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Experiment: Calorimetry of a cold pack Page 4 of 10

In this experiment you will work with the contents of a common cold pack containing solid ammonium nitrate,
NH4NO3 and a separate internal plastic pouch containing water. When we squeeze the pouch it will break open
and when water and solid ammonium nitrate mix, a very endothermic reaction takes place which absorbs a lot
of heat from the surroundings. The cooling effect is so much that the label on the container warns the user not
to apply the pouch for more than 20 minutes on skin to avoid frostbite! A cold pack is a chemical version of a
melting ice cube with a much colder effect!

The ammonium nitrate contained in the cold pack is a soluble salt with the following endothermic chemical
equation when it dissolves in the water contained in the pouch:

energy + NH4NO3 (s)  NH4+ (aq) + NO3¯(aq) ΔHrxn = ?

Our experimental objective is to determine the enthalpy of this reaction and compare its value to the
theoretical value calculated based on listed standard state enthalpies of formation of each specie involved in
the reaction. We will perform the experiment 4 times for a better handle on the precision of the experiment
and we will calculate the percent error in the reaction enthalpy calculation to quantify the accuracy of our
calorimetry experiment. We will apply the following conservation of energy to this problem assuming that air
and the Styrofoam cup are good insulators and eliminate these surrounding terms from our equation.

𝑞𝑞𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 + 𝑞𝑞𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 = 0
Note that our ammonium nitrate solution (sln) is composed of mostly water (w) therefore we will use the
specific heat capacity of pure water, 4.184 J/g.°C in our equation:

𝑞𝑞𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 = 𝑚𝑚𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 . 𝑐𝑐𝑤𝑤 . 𝛥𝛥𝑇𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠

Where,
𝐽𝐽
𝑐𝑐𝑤𝑤 = 4.184
𝑔𝑔. °𝐶𝐶
𝑚𝑚𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 = 𝑚𝑚𝑤𝑤 + 𝑚𝑚𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁4𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁3

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Experiment: Calorimetry of a cold pack Page 5 of 10

𝛥𝛥𝑇𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 = 𝑇𝑇𝑓𝑓 − 𝑇𝑇𝑖𝑖

Finally, we will calculate the enthalpy of the reaction by,

𝑞𝑞𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = − 𝑞𝑞𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠
𝑞𝑞𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟
𝛥𝛥𝛥𝛥𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 =
𝑛𝑛
𝑛𝑛 = moles of ammonium nitrate reacted

Below is what our lab setup will look like. We will be using a digital wireless temperature probe with a timer to
monitor the temperature versus time data for each trial. A total of 4 trials will be performed.

Procedure:

First transfer your data tables into your lab notebook and record the data presented to you in the videos
labeled as part 1 through 6.

Equipment & Chemicals

Commercial (ammonium nitrate) cold pack, digital timer, 50-mL graduated cylinder, spatula, digital
thermometer, Styrofoam cups

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Experiment: Calorimetry of a cold pack Page 6 of 10

Pre-laboratory assignment Name:__________________________

Show your work. Box your final answer

1) In this experiment we will be dissolving ammonium nitrate in water. Calculate the maximum mass of
ammonium nitrate that can be dissolved in 50. mL of water at 20. °C. The saturation limit for the
solubility of ammonium nitrate at this temperature is 150 g of the compound per 100 mL of water.

______________

2) 250 mL of water initially at 15 °C is heated by adding 6.7 kJ of heat using a gas burner. Calculate the
final temperature of water.

_______________

3) Use Hess’ law to calculate the heat (kJ) of reaction, qrxn (kJ) when 12 g of solid calcium chloride, CaCl2
is dissolved in water. The standard state heat of formation (ΔH°f) of solid calcium chloride is -795
kJ/mol. Look up and use the standard state heats of formation of calcium and chloride ions from
Appendix G of your textbook.

______________

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Experiment: Calorimetry of a cold pack Page 7 of 10

Raw Data Tables:

Table 1. Cold pack data

Mass of NH4NO3 in pack:
Mass of of water in pouch, g:

Table 2. Raw data for each calorimetry trial

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4
Mass of water, g
Mass of Solution, g
Time, min Temp, °C Temp, °C Temp, °C Temp, °C
0.00
0.25
0.50
0.75
1.00
1.25
1.50
1.75 --- --- --- ---
2.00
2.25
2.50
2.75
3.00
3.25
3.50
3.75
4.00
Record all Trials up to 4 minutes. Don't record any data at 1.75 min (mixing)

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Experiment: Calorimetry of a cold pack Page 8 of 10

Data Summary Tables

Table 3. Calculated data Summary Table

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4
Mass of NH4NO3, g:
Moles of NH4NO3 :
Initial T, °C (averaged)
Final T, °C (lowest temp)
ΔT, °C (calc)
Heat of reaction (qrxn ) kJ

Table 4. Data summary

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4
Enthalpy of reaction, kJ/mol
Average enthalpy, kJ/mol
Std deviation (SD):
% Std error (RSD):
Accepted enthalpy, kJ/mol
% Error

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Experiment: Calorimetry of a cold pack Page 9 of 10

Data Analysis (Show all your calculation steps neatly in your lab notebook.)

1) Complete table 3 values of mass and moles of ammonium nitrate for each trial.

2) Complete the temperatures (initial and final) for each trial. Note that the initial temperature (Ti) is the

average of all temperature prior to mixing the chemicals. The final temperature is the lowest

temperature obtained in the cup after the mixing.

3) Calculate the heat of reaction, start with the following equations and fill-in the data summary table 3.

𝑞𝑞𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 = − 𝑞𝑞𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 = − 𝑚𝑚𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 . 𝑐𝑐𝑤𝑤 . 𝛥𝛥𝑇𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠

4) Calculate enthalpy of the reaction by calculating moles of ammonium nitrate for each trial and then

use the following equation. Fill-in the calculated values into table 4.

𝑞𝑞𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟
𝛥𝛥𝛥𝛥𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 =
𝑛𝑛

5) Calculate the average value of enthalpy, standard deviation (SD) {you can use the Excel function;

“=stdev(values)” for the 4 trials. Calculate the percent relative standard deviation error

𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆
(%RSD= x 100)
𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣

6) Now use Hess’ law to calculate the standard state enthalpy, ΔH°rxn of the reaction of solid ammonium

nitrate dissolving into its aqueous ions. Use the standard state enthalpies of formation of products and

the reactant according to: NH4NO3 (s)  NH4+ (aq) + NO3¯(aq) ΔH°rxn = ?

This value is the accepted (true) value for the reaction.

7) Calculate the percent error of your calculated average enthalpy value. Use the accepted value

calculated in the previous step.

8) Plot the time (x-axis) versus temperature (y-axis) data for trial 1 using Excel. Mark the initial

temperature and the final temperatures of Trial 1 data on the y-axis of your plot. Make sure that the

data points are clearly shown. You don’t need to include a Trendline. Label your axes and include their

units. Include a graph title. Make your plot full-page in the landscape print format.

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Experiment: Calorimetry of a cold pack Page 10 of 10

Post laboratory problems:

Show your work, box your final answer:

1) Use the mass of ammonium nitrate and water recorded in table 1 for the cold pack and calculate the
mole ratio of water to ammonium nitrate.

___________

2) Calculate the final (lowest) temperature of the cold pack, if you activate (break the inner water pouch)
the cold pack. Assume that pack is initially at 25 °C. Use the mass data you gathered in Table 1 for the
contents of the cold pack and the standard state reaction enthalpy, ΔH°rxn that you calculated in step 6
of your data analysis.

___________

©Copyright 2020, K. Golestaneh