FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

LABORATORY REPORT

PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
(CHM476)
Title of Experiment Calorimetry: Hess’s Law

Number of Experiment 1

Name of Student NUR FARHANA BINTI MOHD FAUZI

Student ID number 2020489412

Programme code AS222

Date of Experiment is Done 8 APRIL 2021

Date of Lab Report is Submitted 18 APRIL 2021

Lecturer’s Name DR. HAIRUL AMANI ABDUL HAMID

Instructor’s Name
Objective
1. To differentiate heat capacity of a coffee cup calorimeter and a copper calorimeter.
2. To identify the standard enthalpy of formation of magnesium oxide, ∆H°f .

Introduction
Heat capacity or thermal capacity is a physical property of matter, defined as the amount of heat to
be supplied to a given mass of a material to produce a unit change in its temperature. The SI unit of
heat capacity is joule per kelvin (J/K). Heat capacity is an extensive property. The heat of reaction for
a given reaction, measured in kilojoules per mole (kJ mol-1 ), this can be calculated from the values
of heat of reaction for other reactions. This can be done by utilizing Hess’s Law. According to this
law, it is permissible to write the stoichiometric equations together with the enthalpy changes and
to treat them as mathematical equations where by the algebraic sums of the reactions are obtained.

In this experiment the standard enthalpy (heat) of formation of magnesium oxide will be
determined using the equation provided. The equation (1) shows the formation of magnesium
oxide:

Mg(s) + ½O2(g) → MgO(s) (1)

By considering the algebraic sum of the following reactions.

Mg(s) + 2HCl(aq) → MgCl2(aq) + H2(g) (2)

MgO(s) + 2HCl(aq) → MgCl2(aq) + H2O(l) (3)

H2(g) + ½O2(g) → H2O(l) (4)

The heat of reactions for reactions (2) and (3) can be gotten experimentally and for the reaction (4),
the heat of formation are base on the literature. The heat capacity of a calorimeter, Ccal can be
obtained by measuring the temperature change when a known weight of hot water is added to a
known amount of cold water in the calorimeter.

qhot = -(qcold + qcal)

qhot = mhc(Tf - Th) = heat lost by hot water

qcold = mcc(Tf – Tc) = heat gained by cold water

qcal = Ccal (Tf – Tc) = heat gained by calorimeter

where : c = specific heat for water = 4.18 J g-1 oC -1

Ccal = heat capacity of the calorimeter

Th = temperature of hot water Tc = temperature of cold water

Tf = final temperature after mixing

m = mass of water (hot or cold)

Note that the general form to calculate heat is q = mcT. The heat of reaction is written in the unit
kJ mol-1 i.e H = q/n where n is the number of moles of the reactant.
Procedure
A. Reaction 1:Heat Capacity of Calorimeter

1. A burette was used to deliver exactly 50cm3 of tap water into the calorimeter, then the
cover were placed along with the thermometer. Temperature of the calorimeter were
recorded every one-minute for four minutes.

2. 50cm3 of hot water (40 to 50℃ above room temperature) was measured using a
graduated cylinder and poured into a beaker. Temperature of hot water were recorded
using another thermometer and were poured completely during the fifth minute into the
calorimeter that contains cold water. The lid was placed back along the thermometer
and the water was stirred carefully. The temperature of the calorimeter were recorded
every 15 seconds for the next 3 minutes.

3. Steps 1 and 2 were repeated using a copper calorimeter.

B. Reaction 2:Magnesium with Hydrochloric Acid

1. 1.0 to 1.1g of the exact weight of magnesium powder were recorded.

2. 5Ocm3 of 2M HCL were drained from a burette into calorimeter and the cover were then
placed back with the thermometer. Temperature of the HCL were recorded every
minute for four minutes. During the fifth minute, magnesium powder were poured into
the HCL. Lid were placed and the content in the calorimeter were stirred with
thermometer carefully. Temperature were recorded for the next 3 minutes at 15
seconds intervals.

C. Reaction 3: Magnesium Oxide with Hydrochloric Acid

1. 1.6g to 1.8g of magnesium oxide were weighed and the exact weight used were
recorded.
 2. Step 2 in part B then were repeated.

D. Reaction 4: Hydrogen gas with Oxygen gas

For safety precaution ,this experiment were nit carried out in laboratory and it has been
professionally determined and verified so the value was listed in standard reference sources.

Data
Temperature of hot water(℃) 42℃ (coffee cup calorimeter)
45℃ (copper calorimeter)
Mass of Mg (g) 1.0265
Mass of MgO (g) 1.6589

Coffee cup Copper Calorimeter Mg and HCl MgO and HCl

Calorimeter
Time T(℃) Time T(℃) Time T(℃) Time T(℃)
Minute 1 24.5 Minute 1 24.5 Minute 1 24.5 Minute 1 24.5
Minute 2 24.5 Minute 2 24.5 Minute 2 24.5 Minute 2 24.5
Minute 3 24.5 Minute 3 24.5 Minute 3 24.5 Minute 3 24.5
Minute 4 24.5 Minute 4 24.5 Minute 4 24.5 Minute 4 24.5
15 sec 32.0 15 sec 34.5 15 sec 26.0 15 sec 39.0
30 sec 32.0 30 sec 33.0 30 sec 45.0 30 sec 40.5
45 sec 32.0 45 sec 33.0 45 sec 54.0 45 sec 41.0
Minute 1 32.0 Minute 1 32.5 Minute 1 54.5 Minute 1 41.5
15 sec 32.5 15 sec 32.0 15 sec 56.0 15 sec 42.0
30 sec 32.5 30 sec 31.5 30 sec 62.5 30 sec 42.5
45 sec 32.5 45 sec 31.5 45 sec 63.0 45 sec 42.5
Minute 2 32.5 Minute 2 31.5 Minute 2 63.5 Minute 2 42.5
15 sec 32.5 15 sec 31.0 15 sec 63.5 15 sec 42.5
30 sec 32.0 30 sec 31.0 30 sec 63.5 30 sec 43.0
45 sec 31.5 45 sec 31.0 45 sec 63.5 45 sec 43.0
Minute 3 31.5 Minute 3 30.5 Minute 3 63.5 Minute 3 43.0
Results and Discussion
The heat capacity value for coffee cup calorimeter is69.67Jg-1℃-1 which is higher than the
copper calorimeter that is 52.82Jg-1℃-1. So, coffee cup calorimeter need higher energy to raise
1J by 1℃ compare to copper calorimeter. Therefore, the deltaT for coffee cup calorimeter will be
lower as more heat lost and cannot be retained for a long time compared to copper calorimeter.
The value from the heat of formation of magnesium oxide is -601.7kJ/mol. Base on the
experiment conducted, from the analyzation, the percentage error that occurs is 35.59%. Some
factors must be the reason that effects the results and lead to difference in values which maybe
parallax error, where our eyes are not parallel with the reading. The next reason can also be
related to not wearing gloves when handling the chemical substances in the lab.

Conclusion
From the experiment we can conclude that the heat capacity value for coffee cup calorimeter
is 69.67Jg-1℃-1 which is higher compared to the copper calorimeter which is 52.82Jg-1℃-1.
Lastly, the ∆H°f obtained from the experiment is -387.58Kj/mol which is the standard enthalpy of
formation of magnesium oxide and the value also is a little bit different from the theoretical value by
35.59% error.