Manipon, Kristhel Joy Kara O.

Date performed: September 06, 2018

7L Date submitted: September 13, 2018
Group 3

COOLING CURVE

I. Introduction

A cooling curve is a plot of the temperature of a sample as a function of time wherein the

change in phase, specifically from liquid to solid or gas to solid is evident at which heat is

removed at a slow and steady state. The change in phase occurs at points in the graph where

no increase or decrease in temperature is observed even though the amount of heat in matter

changes and the temperature at which the solid and liquid forms of a substance exist in

equilibrium is called the freezing point.

In a solution, the substance that differ from its original state is the solute but if there is no

change in state, the solvent is normally the substance present in the greatest amount thus, the

solution takes more of the solvent’s properties. However, some physical properties of liquid

solutions differ from those of the pure solvent and this is characterized by the colligative

property where a solution depends on the concentration of solute particles and is independent

in their nature. In this case, determining the concentration of a substance is important and one

way to determine the concentration is molality given by this equation:

𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒
𝒎𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 = 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 [eq. 1]

One of the colligative properties of a solution is the freezing point depression where the

freezing point of a solution is made lower by its solute. This is governed by the equation:

𝑻°𝒇 − 𝑻𝒇 = 𝒌𝒇 𝒎 [eq. 2]

Where:
𝑻°𝒇 = freezing point of the pure solvent
𝑻𝒇 = freezing point of solution
𝒌𝒇 = freezing point depression constant of the solvent
𝒎 = molality of the solution

In addition, the colligative property of a solution could provide a useful means of

experimentally determining the molar mass of an unknown substance and with that,

determining an unknown substance. And by incorporating equations 1 and 2, the working

equation of the molar mass is derived as follows:

𝑘𝑓 (𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒)
𝑀𝑀 = ∆𝑇 [eq. 3]
𝑓 (𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡)

The objective of this exercise is to determine the freezing point of a pure substance and

solution and through which, identify the possible compound using the cooling curve of a pure

substance and a solution. Moreover, the molecular mass of a substance should be determined

by having a proper understanding of the freezing point depression and the data gathered.

II. Materials and Methods

Materials

A. Reagents

mass of unknown solute: 0.206g

mass of unknown solvent for procedure A: 2.006 g

mass of unknown solvent for procedure B.: 2.008g

B. Apparatus and Equipment

Test tube Digital scale

Beaker Laboratory burner

Stirring rod Thermometer

Clamp stand Timer

Water bath
Methods

A. Freezing point of a pure compound

The weighed unknown solvent was put on a test tube. The test tube was place in a

water bath such that the water level of the bath is above the sample level in the test

tube with the test tube not touching the bottom and sides of the beaker. The water bath

was heated until the sample melted, with tissue paper plug loosely at the test tube.

Water bath was also stirred constantly. After the sample had melted, the thermometer

was inserted into the test tube and heating of the substance was stop only after 2

minutes. Temperature was then recorded every 15 seconds with the water bath still

continuously stirred. After which, physical state of the sample was observed as it

cooled down.

B. Freezing point of a solution

0.2 grams of the unknown solute was weighed and mixed with the 2 grams of

unknown solvent in a clean dry test tube. Same procedure as that in Part A was then

followed. The cooling curve of a pure substance and a solution were compared.

III. Results and Discussion

Data

Possibly Theoretical/ Lit, oC

Stearic acid 69.4

Naphthalene 80.2
Table 1. Observation on cooling unknown solvent at 15- second interval.

Time (sec) Temperature Appearance

0 88 Liquid 585 75
15 87.5 600 75
30 87 615 75
45 87 630 75
60 86 645 74.5 Dirty White Appearance
75 86 660 74
90 85 675 74
105 85 690 74
120 84 705 74
135 83
720 73.5
150 83
735 73
165 82
750 73
180 82
765 73
195 81
780 72.5
210 81
795 72
225 80
240 80
810 71
255 79 825 70 Solidified
270 78 840 69
285 78 855 68
300 78 870 67
315 77 885 66
330 77 900 65.5
345 77 915 65
360 77 930 65
375 77 945 65
390 77
405 76
420 76
435 76
450 76
465 76 Start to Crystalize
480 76
495 76
510 76
525 76
540 75.5
555 75.5
570 75
Cooling curve

Unknown solvent
100
90
80
70
temperature

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360 405 450 495 540 585 630 675 720 765 810 855 900 945
Time( sec)

Since it is stated that phase changes occur at points in the graph where there is no increase or

decrease in temperature, it is likely that the liquid starts to change from liquid to solid at time

450- 540 seconds where it can be observed in the graph a constant state before descending

again. As shown on the table above, as the temperature approaches 76 oC, the change in

temperature become more constant and at 76 oC, the unknown solvent most exhibited a

constant temperature despite the removal of heat hence, the proposed value for the freezing

point of the unknown solvent is 76 oC. This freezing point is similar to the freezing point of

naphthalene thus, it is assumed that the unknown solvent is naphthalene.

Percent error

|76−80.2|
%= × 100 = 5.24%
80.2

Possible sources of error

One possible sources of error would be presence of impurities in the solvent, this may vary

the result of the experiment to a higher freezing point or a lower freezing point. Another

factor would be improper reading of thermometer. The result may also vary.
Table 2. Observation on cooling of an unknown mixture at 15-second intervals.

Time (sec) Temperature (degrees celsius) Appearance

0 93 liquid
15 91 liquid
30 90 liquid
45 90 liquid
60 90 liquid
75 90 liquid
90 89.5 liquid
105 89 liquid
120 89 liquid
135 88.5 liquid
150 88.2 liquid
165 88 liquid
180 87 liquid
195 86 liquid
210 85.8 liquid
225 85 liquid
240 84.2 liquid
255 84 liquid
270 83.5 liquid
285 82.8 liquid
300 82 liquid
315 81 liquid
330 80.7 liquid
345 80 liquid
360 79.5 liquid
375 79 liquid
390 78.2 liquid
405 77.8 liquid
420 77 liquid
435 76 liquid
450 75.8 liquid
465 75 liquid
480 74.9 liquid
495 74 liquid
510 73.7 liquid
525 73.5 liquid
540 73 solid-liquid
555 72.9 solid-liquid
570 72.9 solid-liquid
585 72.7 solid-liquid
600 72.4 solid-liquid
615 72 solid-liquid
630 71.9 solid-liquid
645 71.5 solid-liquid
660 71.3 solid-liquid
675 71 solid-liquid
690 70.7 solid-liquid
705 70.2 crystallization
720 70 crystallization
735 69.8 crystallization
750 69.5 crystallization
765 69.2 crystallization
780 69 crystallization
795 68.8 crystallization
810 68.3 crystallization
825 68 crystallization
840 67.7 crystallization
855 67.2 crystallization
870 67 solid
885 66.7 solid
Cooling curve

Since freezing point is defined as the temperature at which the solid and liquid forms of a

substance exist in equilibrium, it is shown in the table that at time= 540 to 690, the solid and

liquid state of the mixture were both observable, but it is at time 705 where the mixture

started to crystallize and exhibit more properties of solid than that of the liquid. However, it is

at time 540- 570 where the temperature was most constant therefore, it is assumed that the

freezing point of the unknown mixture is 72.9.