Campion College 6B Chemistry Laboratory

Name: Christopher Golding Date: January 21, 2022

Experiment No.: 4 ` Skill: M/M , ORR

Topic: Chemical Energetics

Aim: To determine the temperature and enthalpy changes for the reaction between zinc and
copper sulphate.

Instructions:

A is Zinc powder.

B is 0.80 mol dm -3 hydrated copper II sulphate solution, CuSO4.5H2O.

You are required to determine the temperature and enthalpy changes for the following reaction:
Zn (s) + CuSO4 (aq) → Cu (s) + ZnSO4 (aq)

(a) Weigh accurately to two decimal places an empty weighing bottle. Place between 2.90
and 3.00 g of zinc powder in the weighing bottle. Record your readings in the Table 1
below.

TABLE OF MEASUREMENTS TAKEN DURING THE EXPERIMENT

Mass of empty weighing bottle /g 2.94

Mass of empty weighing bottle + solid A /g 5.93

Mass of empty weighing bottle + residual A /g 2.96

Mass of solid A added /g 2.97

(b) Using a pipette, place 25.0 cm3 of the copper sulphate solution into a plastic cup. Stir
gently with the thermometer, and record the temperature of the solution every half minute
for 2 ½ minutes in Table 2 below.
 At exactly 3 minutes, add the zinc powder from the weighing bottle to the plastic cup.
Stir the mixture thoroughly, and continue to record the temperature every half minute
from 3 ½ minutes to 10 minutes.
(c) Reweigh the weighing bottle and any residual zinc powder and record the mass in table 1.

TABLES DISPLAYING SOLUTION TEMP. AT HALF HOUR INTERVALS

Time/min 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 2 2½ 3 3½ 4 4½ 5
Temp./⁰C 28 28 28 27.5 27.7 27.5 / 34 34.5 33 33.5

Time/min 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5 9.0 9.5 10.0

Temp./⁰C 34.0 34.0 25.0 34.0 34.0 33.5 32.8 33.5 33.9 34.0

(d) Plot a graph of temperature against time on graph paper.

(e) Extrapolate the cooling section of your graph back to time = 3 minutes and read the
corresponding temperature.

Estimated Maximum temperature = 34.7⁰C [1]

Minimum temperature = 27.5⁰C

Temperature change = 7.2⁰C

(f) Calculate the number of moles of zinc added to the plastic cup. [Ar of Zn = 65.4] [1]
Mass of Zinc added = 2.97g
𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠
Moles = 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠

2.97𝑔
Moles = 65.4𝑔
Moles= 0.045 mol Zn
(g) Calculate the number of moles of CUSO4 (aq) added to the plastic cup. [1]
Volume = 25 cm3
25
Volume in dm3 = 1000 = 0.025 dm3
Mole concentration = 0.8 mol/ dm3

Mole = Volume in dm3 x Mole concentration

= 0.025 dm3 x 0.8 mol/ dm3

= 0.02 mol CuSO4

(h) Calculate the heat energy produced when the zinc was added to the CUSO4 (aq) in the
plastic cup. [ assume that 4.30 J are required to raise the temperature of 1 cm3 of any
dilute aqueous solution by 1 ⁰C] [2]

q= mass x specific heat capacity x change in temperature

q= 25g x 4.30 x 7.2

q = 774 J

(i) Calculate the molar enthalpy change for the reaction [2]

Zn (s) + CuSO4 (aq) → Cu (s) + ZnSO4 (aq)

𝑞
H = # 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠

−774 𝐽
H =
0.045 𝑚𝑜𝑙

H = -17,200 Jmol-1

OR -17.2 kJmol-1
 Discussion: [2]

Define Enthalpy change of Reaction. The accepted value of H for this reaction is -217
kJ/mol, how does your results compare to this value? Explain any differences between the
two of them.

The Heat of Reaction (also known and Enthalpy of Reaction) is the change in the enthalpy of
a chemical reaction that occurs at a constant pressure. The accepted value was -217 kJ/mol
and the actual value was -17.2 kJ/mol which is a difference of 199.8. The stark difference in
values can be caused by a myriad of errors and limitations such as improper mixing, the
placement of the thermometer bulb onto slowly dissolving solids, incorrect reading of the
thermometer, poor timing due to human error etc.

Sources of Error:

- The cup did not have a lid which led to some heat being lost to the environment which
may have affected results
- The zinc contained clumps of zinc powder that would have decreased the surface area
for some amount of the solid. This would result in temperature increases over a larger
span of time than was expected

Precautions:

- The electronic balance must be tared before any measurement is performed.

- The experiment was conducted using a Styrofoam cup that acts as an insulator. It stops
heat from the reaction leaving though the sides of the cup.