Chemistry IA; Angel Versetti; Brockenhurst College, 2009

Angel Versetti; Chemistry IA: Data Collection and Processing; Conclusion & Evaluation

Data Collection 1: Determining the enthalpy change for a reaction of copper sulphate and zinc.
Aim: To determine the enthalpy change for the single displacement reaction between zinc and copper
sulphate:
Zn (s) + CuSO4 (aq) Cu (s) + ZnSO4 (aq)
Procedure:
We take 1 pinch of zinc powder, put it into a container and determine its mass using digital scales:
= 14.23 0.01 g

= 15.18 0.01 g

= 15.18 14.23 = 0.95 0.02 g

We take 25 cm of 0.5 mol dm of CuSO and then determine which reactant is in excess:
=

= 0.0125 moles

= 0.0145 moles

therefore Zinc is in excess

We add excess Zinc powder to the copper sulphate solution and, stirring the solution gently, take
the readings of temperature after equal intervals of 30 seconds.
Data recorded:
Time / s ( 1 s)
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
240
270 (Zinc Added)
300
330
360
390
420
450
480
510
540
570
600
630
660

Temperature / *C ( 0.1 *C)

22,1
22,0
22,0
22,0
22,1
22,1
22,1
22,1
22,1
28,4
29,1
29,0
28,9
28,8
28,7
28,5
28,3
28,2
28,1
27,9
27,8
27,7
27,6
1

Chemistry IA; Angel Versetti; Brockenhurst College, 2009

Recorded data of time has uncertainty of 1 second. Although the precision of the instrument is to 0.1 of a
second, the human reaction is 0.5 seconds at the minimum and therefore uncertainty increases.
Qualitative observations: Zinc immediately reacts with the solution which becomes noticeably warmer.
Being in powder form with minimum stirring it dissolves quickly. At the beginning the solution has greenish
colour. After zinc has dissolved, it loses almost all its colour and becomes colourless. Copper (red-brown
coloured) precipitates at the bottom of the tube, having been displaced by zinc.

Graph plotted from the data:

Calculations:
Knowing the amount of CuSO as well as its heat capacity and that it reacted completely, we can calculate
the enthalpy change for this reaction using the formula:
Enthalpy change = - (mass of water x specific heat capacity x temperature change)
H* = m x c x t
Mass of water (g) = volume of copper sulphate solution (cm3)
2

Chemistry IA; Angel Versetti; Brockenhurst College, 2009

Mass of water = 25 grams

Specific heat capacity = 4.2 J g-1 deg-1
Temperature change = 7.2 oC
Enthalpy change (Joules) = -( 25 x 4.2 x 7.2) J

Molar enthalpy change = Enthalpy change / moles of solute used

Enthalpy change = - 756 J
Moles of solute =0.0125
Molar enthalpy change = -756 / 0.0125 = - 60, 480 Joules = - 60.5 kJ mol-1

as this reaction is exothermic, i.e. heat is released the enthalpy change is negative: => H = -60.5 kJ mol'
We use the best fit line to estimate the change in temperature upon adding zinc in a perfect situation,
where no heat would be lost. The gradient shows the rate, at which the temperature decreases. Very steep
gradient at time when zinc is added indicates that the speed of reaction, I.e. change in temperature per unit
time, was very high.
The literature value for this reaction is H* = -217 kJ mol'
Percentage error is the difference between the theoretical and actual values and is therefore
(217-65)/217x100% = 70%, which is a very high percentage error.
Some of it could be ascribed to the uncertainties in measurement:
Mass of zinc: 0.95 g 2.1%
Volume of acid: 25 ml 0.4%
Temperature change: 7.2 *C 1.4%
Up to 3.9% could be the error of measurement.
The biggest contribution to the high experimental error is probably heat lost to surroundings. The
experimental value is much lower (in magnitude) than the actual value obtained, because much energy
escaped as heat to the air.
Conclusion:
Reaction of displacement of copper by zinc in copper sulphate solution is exothermic, as heat is released
upon reacting. Zinc in powder reacts faster as the total surface area is higher. After reaching the peak
temperature, the new solution starts to cool down, as it loses its heat to the surrounding environment. The
best-fit line shows the theoretical temperature change in an ideal situation. We can use it in calculations.
However, in reality heat is lost to the surrounding, even whilst the reaction takes place. Zinc replaces copper
in copper sulphate, because it is more reactive. Copper will precipitate, as it has very low solubility.
The discrepancy is likely to be a combination of heat loss and error in determining the concentration of
copper sulphate. It is possible that the concentration of copper sulphate was lower and therefore less zinc
reacted, releasing less energy than expected.
3

Chemistry IA; Angel Versetti; Brockenhurst College, 2009

Evaluation: Weaknesses and limitations

Thermometer was looked at from different angles and therefore readings may have been unreliable
the error of parallax. This weakness could have introduced systematic error to the temperature
measurements. For instance, if thermometer was always looked at from above, the recorded values
would be lower that the true values.
The experiment was not repeated and averaged to reduce the impact of any random errors and to
reduce uncertainty.
The interval of readings equal to once every 30 seconds may not be sufficient to gain enough data
more frequent measurement would have given a more reliable graph.
Some heat was lost to the surroundings and therefore measured temperature values would not be
accurate. This probably contributed the most to the experimental error being at 42.6% and
therefore would be the biggest weakness of this experiment that would need to be addressed in
particular.
Only 1 form of zinc was used (powder) and only 1 concentration of copper sulphate solution (0.5
mol dm) which does not allow predictions for other similar experiments.
Measurement of 25 ml of copper sulphate had higher uncertainty because of meniscus
measurement uncertainty
Zinc might have had impurities and the tube might have had traces of other reactants that
introduced random error to the measurements.
Evaluation: Suggestions for Improvement
The eye of the observer of thermometer should be on the same level to avoid parallax error.
Experiment could be conducted several times and then all the values averaged to reduce the impact
of anomalies and random errors.
People are not able to record data at low intervals and therefore a data-logger would be useful. It
can take up to 10 measurements per second so that it would be more sensitive to all the changes in
the rate of reaction. Additionally, its thermometer has a higher precision and avoids the parallax
error. When its connected to laptop, it will automatically plot a graph, which is very convenient.
Insulations would be useful. Coating and insulating material that would minimize the heat loss
would be useful. Stirring should be done through the hole. Alternatively, the temperature of the
laboratory could be adjusted, but that is less practical and more difficult to achieve.
Zinc should be used in different forms and shapes to investigate how the shape of the object affects
its reactivity. Different concentrations would give us information on whether concentration of
reactants is directly proportional to change in temperature and would be useful for making
predictions about other similar experiments.
Measurement should be taken by the lowest point of the meniscus.
As zinc is provided by the technicians, there is not much that could be done to ascertain its purity.
Possibly wash it is some acis that does not react with zinc. To prevent traces from other
experiments, tubes should be washed properly before the experiment.
4