Calorimetry Lab Report Essay
1. Start off by weighing two paracetamol tablets using some accurate scales. Record the mass down (1.15g). This had to be as accurate and precise as we could get it so we had the correct weight to start the experiment. Without this then the results we found at the end would not be accurate. A problem that could be faced with this is that the scales may not have been fully set to zero. Also it takes time for it to fully reach its weight on the reading so you may move them too quick before the right weight has been set.
2. Place the two tablets in a small conical flask and fill 20 cm³ of it with propanone. Warm these up by placing the flask into some warm water. We did this step so that the tablets could be dissolved in the warm propanone. We …show more content…
Keep a small amount of the solid to determine its melting point. This is so we can use the melting point in our results afterwards. Make sure there is enough solid left in case the melting procedure goes wrong.
11. Collect some of the solid into a glass capillary tube and tap away any excess solid. The reason for this is to make sure that the solid is placed firmly inside and that it won’t just fall out when it is placed inside the Thiele tube. Make sure the solid is secure at the bottom of the capillary tube so it doesn’t just fall out once you tip it upside down inside the Thiele tube.
12. Wrap the glass capillary tube round the bottom of a thermometer and place inside the Thiele tube using a cork, which is full with paraffin oil. The paraffin oil had to be filled to a specific height in the Thiele tube as when we started to boil it, it could overflow and ruin the experiment. The elastic band had to be firmly wrapped around the thermometer and capillary tube to make sure it didn’t snap off in the heating process. A problem faced with this is that we never tightened the capillary tube to the thermometer tight enough so half way through the melting process, it snapped away so we had to start again. We changed this by getting a few more elastic bands to firmly secure it in
2. Place the two tablets in a small conical flask and fill 20 cm³ of it with propanone. Warm these up by placing the flask into some warm water. We did this step so that the tablets could be dissolved in the warm propanone. We …show more content…
Keep a small amount of the solid to determine its melting point. This is so we can use the melting point in our results afterwards. Make sure there is enough solid left in case the melting procedure goes wrong.
11. Collect some of the solid into a glass capillary tube and tap away any excess solid. The reason for this is to make sure that the solid is placed firmly inside and that it won’t just fall out when it is placed inside the Thiele tube. Make sure the solid is secure at the bottom of the capillary tube so it doesn’t just fall out once you tip it upside down inside the Thiele tube.
12. Wrap the glass capillary tube round the bottom of a thermometer and place inside the Thiele tube using a cork, which is full with paraffin oil. The paraffin oil had to be filled to a specific height in the Thiele tube as when we started to boil it, it could overflow and ruin the experiment. The elastic band had to be firmly wrapped around the thermometer and capillary tube to make sure it didn’t snap off in the heating process. A problem faced with this is that we never tightened the capillary tube to the thermometer tight enough so half way through the melting process, it snapped away so we had to start again. We changed this by getting a few more elastic bands to firmly secure it in