Sodium Acetate

Handwarmer

By Nick Bergo, Rosalie Urban, Sam Boyd, and Rachel Peterson

Materials
Ziploc bag
15 ml Water
160-200 ml Sodium acetate
Metal clicker (flexible steel)
Hot plate
Scissors
Stirrer
50mL beaker

How We Made it
1. Boil 15 mL of water
2. Gradually add 160-200 grams of Sodium Acetate
3. Stir until the solution appears to have crystals forming on
the top to signify that the solution is supersaturated
4. Pour solution into a ziplock bag and place in ice water
5. Pour into heat sealed bag with metal clicker
6. Seal the open end of the bag
7. This will make 2 handwarmers depending on the size

Visual

Heat Change
73 degrees fahrenheit to 124 degrees fahrenheit
51 degree fahrenheit heat change

23 degrees celsius to 51 degrees celsius

28 degree change

How it Works
Our solution of sodium acetate and water is a supersaturated solution
Supersaturated solutions are very unstable
By heating the supersaturated solution past its melting point, we evaded instant crystallization
of the solution

After weve made it supersaturated, we place the solution in a bag to cool,

including the steel clicker
Once cooled, the snapping of the clicker will create a nucleation site that puts its
molecules at a specific shape that builds a crystal
This instantly causes a chain reaction that lasts less than 10 seconds, where the rest of the
solution conforms to the crystalline form
This is called nucleation

Reusability
To reuse this handwarmer, all you have to do is boil it in a
small pot of water for approximately 10 minutes
Then just let it sit until its cool
Now, it is ready to be used at the snap of the metal
It lasts for several uses, the plastic is relatively durable, and
it keeps its heat over uses until a certain point
One of our handwarmers lasts for about 45 minutes on
a good run

Cost
$14 for 500 g of Sodium
Acetate
500 g makes about 5
handwarmers
$0.2 per plastic bag = 4-5
handwarmers

For 100 units it costs just above $280

For 1 unit it is about $2.80
This means we would have to sell it for at
least $4.00 to make a nice profit
This is not our strongest suit
We would consider making the bags smaller with less
solution

Suggestions
A more durable plastic as opposed to a ziploc bag
A wider piece of steel for its activation
Perfect the activation process

Finding a way to put on a logo without it coming off when

trying to reuse it after boiling it down
Try to reduce the cost
Find a better heat sealer to prevent any minor leaks
Get rid of any air left in the hand warmer

Why Our Handwarmer is

Best
It creates the desirable amount of heat change
It isnt hard to make
Requires only a few accessible materials
It is practical under the right materials
It is REUSABLE