7.20.

4
Teacher required practical 18

Investigating temperature changes

Specification references:
 Required practical 18: Investigate the variables that affect temperature
changes in reacting solutions, such as acid plus metals, acid plus carbonates,
neutralisations, displacement of metals.
 AT 1, 3, 5, 6
 7.3.3 Energy changes and reactions
 WS 2.1─2.7, MS 1a, 2a, 2b, 4a, 4c

Aims
In this required practical, students will monitor the temperature change of a
chemical reaction to classify it as exothermic or endothermic.

Learning outcomes
After completing this activity, students should be able to:

Aiming for grade 4

 define exothermic and endothermic reactions
 safely complete a calorimetry experiment for a reaction that takes
place in solution
 state if a chemical reaction is exothermic or endothermic based
on observations for a calorimetry experiment
 describe solution reactions with word equations.

Aiming for grade 6

 define exothermic and endothermic reactions
 safely complete a calorimetry experiment for a reaction that takes place
in solution
 explain, using observations from calorimetry, how to classify a reaction
as exothermic or endothermic
 explain in detail how to carry out a calorimetry experiment
 describe reactions that take place in solution using balanced chemical
equations.

Aiming for grade 8

 define exothermic and endothermic reactions
 safely complete a calorimetry experiment for a reaction that takes place
in solution
 explain, using observations from calorimetry, how to classify a reaction
as exothermic or endothermic
 explain in detail how to carry out a calorimetry experiment
 explain a chemical reaction in terms of energy transfer
 evaluate errors of a calorimetry experiment

© Oxford University Press 2017 www.oxfordsecondary.co.uk/acknowledgements

This resource sheet may have been changed from the original. 1
 7.20.4
Teacher required practical 18

 describe reactions that take place in solution using ionic equations.

Teacher notes
In this activity students will use polystyrene cup calorimetry to investigate how the
temperature changes in three different chemical reactions. Each reaction should
produce a temperature rise and therefore can be classified as an exothermic
reaction.
All students should safely complete the practical activity. Encourage less able
students to use a data logger so that a continuous graph of the temperature can
be seen. Students should be able to classify the reaction as exothermic as they
will see that the line is increasing, indicating a temperature rise.
Students can be given further practice at performing polystyrene cup calorimetry
by investigating other solution-based processes. Aiming for grade 8 students
could investigate physical changes, such as adding sodium chloride powder to
melting ice. They could write a balanced equation with state symbols to illustrate
the change and then classify it as exothermic based on their calorimetry
investigation.
Higher tier students should be given the opportunity to calculate the number of
moles of reacting chemicals, identifying the limiting reactant and the reactant in
excess. This can then be extended further to calculate the energy released per
mole of the limiting reactant.
Three versions of the student sheet are supplied: Aiming for grade 4, Aiming for
grade 6, and Aiming for grade 8. These give varying levels of support.
At the start of the lesson, it is important that the teacher demonstrates the method
first and explains the purpose of each piece of apparatus. Ensure that students
understand they need to take the temperature of the solution every 30 seconds,
but for the first four readings there should be only one chemical present and
hence no temperature change observed.
The main aim of the experiment can be introduced, stressing that students need
to obtain the start and end temperature in order to decide if the temperature has
increased or decreased.
After giving out the student sheets, a class discussion will be helpful to ensure that
students understand each stage of the calorimetry. Focus students on writing a
suitable results table. Encourage Aiming for grade 6 and Aiming for grade 8
students to use one combined results table for all the experiments, and Aiming for
grade 4 students to use three results tables (one per experiment).

Aiming for grade 4

1 a hydrochloric acid  sodium hydroxide → sodium chloride  water (1 mark)
b neutralisation (1 mark)
c exothermic (1 mark)
2 a copper(II) sulfate  iron → iron(II) sulfate  copper (1 mark)
b displacement/Redox (1 mark)
c exothermic (1 mark)
3 a nitric acid  potassium hydroxide → potassium nitrate  water (1 mark)

© Oxford University Press 2017 www.oxfordsecondary.co.uk/acknowledgements

This resource sheet may have been changed from the original. 2
 7.20.4
Teacher required practical 18
b neutralisation (1 mark)
c exothermic (1 mark)

Aiming for grade 6

1 a HCl  NaOH → NaCl  H2O (1 mark)
b exothermic (1) as temperature increases (1) (2 marks)
2 a CuSO4  Fe → Cu  FeSO4 (1 mark)
b exothermic (1) as temperature increases (1) (2 marks)
3 a HNO3  KOH → KNO3  H2O (1 mark)
b exothermic (1) as temperature increases (1) (2 marks)
4 a Polystyrene is a better insulator than glass. (1 mark)
b Any one of: to make sure that the energy is evenly spread throughout the
solution / to stop a temperature gradient / to stop hot or cold spots/to even
out the temperature (1 mark)
c extra insulation, e.g. lid (1 mark)

Aiming for grade 8

1 a HCl(aq)  NaOH(aq) → NaCl(aq)  H2O(l) (1 mark)
b H (aq)  OH (aq) → H2O(l)
+ –
(1 mark)
c Exothermic (1) as temperature increased (1) meaning that the reactants
had more energy than the products (or products have less energy than the
reactants) (1). (3 marks)
2 a CuSO4(aq)  Fe(s) → Cu(s)  FeSO4(aq) (1 mark)
b Cu (aq)  Fe(s) → Cu(s)  Fe (aq)
2+ 2+
(1 mark)
c Exothermic (1) as temperature increased (1) meaning that the reactants
had more energy than the products (or products have less energy than the
reactants) (1). (3 marks)
3 a HNO3(aq)  KOH(aq) → KNO3(aq)  H2O(l) (1 mark)
b H (aq)  OH (aq) → H2O(l)
+ –
(1 mark)
c Exothermic (1) as temperature increased (1) meaning that the reactants
had more energy than the products (or products have less energy than the
reactants) (1). (3 marks)
4 a Polystyrene is a better insulator than glass (1) so the polystyrene cup
reduces heat loss to the surroundings making the results more accurate
(1). (2 marks)
b This is when the second chemical is added and so a temperature
measurement is not possible at the same time as adding the chemical. (1
mark)
c Heat loss to the surroundings is the main error (1); improving insulation will
reduce heat loss to the surroundings (1), such as adding a lid to the
calorimeter (1). (3 marks)

© Oxford University Press 2017 www.oxfordsecondary.co.uk/acknowledgements

This resource sheet may have been changed from the original. 3
 7.20.4
Teacher required practical 18

Technician notes
Safety
 1.00 mol/dm3 sodium hydroxide: CORROSIVE – CLEAPSS Hazcard 91A
 1.00 mol/dm3 hydrochloric acid:IRRITANT – CLEAPSS Hazcard 47A
 1.00 mol/dm3 potassium hydroxide: CORROSIVE – CLEAPSS Hazcard 91B
 1.00 mol/dm3 copper(II) sulfate solution: HARMFUL/ CORROSIVE/ IRRITANT
– CLEAPSS Hazcard 27C
 1.00 mol/dm3 moderately concentrated nitric acid: CORROSIVE
– CLEAPSS Hazcard 67
 wash hands after the practical
 wear chemical splash-proof eye protection.

Equipment
 eye protection
 two 50 cm3 measuring cylinders
 polystyrene cup
 250 cm3 beaker
 weighing boat
 balance
 spatula
 0–110 °C thermometer
 stirrer
 stopwatch
 1.00 mol/dm3 hydrochloric acid
 1.00 mol/dm3 moderately concentrated nitric acid
 1.00 mol/dm3 sodium hydroxide
 iron filings
 1.00 mol/dm3 potassium hydroxide
 1.00 mol/dm3 copper(II) sulfate solution.

© Oxford University Press 2017 www.oxfordsecondary.co.uk/acknowledgements

This resource sheet may have been changed from the original. 4