Reymar S.

Ungab

February 9, 2016

ASCHEM3

CHEM72A

Heat of Neutralization

ABSTRACT:
This activity is an experiment on the determination of the heat capacity of a calorimeter and
determination of heat of neutralization reaction of a strong acid-strong base and weak acidstrong base. In this experiment the calorimeter used was made out of Styrofoam coffee cups and
it was assumed that there was no loss of heat. The activity as the title implies was aiming to get
the heat of neutralization through the utilization of Styrofoam calorimeters and the specific heat
also the calorimeter. Though the calorimeter was not a perfect one but it was assumed that there
was no heat lost to the environment.

Introduction
Matter and its basic component, the
atoms are materials that served as banks of
energy. In everything that exists consist of
energy that is somewhat hidden until they
are observed especially when an object
undergoes a certain change. Whenever
matter changes, whether chemically or
physically, the energy content of the matter
also changes 1. Every chemical change is
accompanied by change in chemical energy,
mostly observed in a form of heat.
Energy changes always accompany
chemical reactions. If energy, in the form of
heat, is liberated the reaction is exothermic
and if energy is absorbed the reaction is
endothermic. Thermochemistry is concerned
with the measurement of the amount of heat
evolved or absorbed. The heat (or enthalpy)
of neutralization (H) is the heat evolved

when an acid and a base react to form a salt

plus water.

Q in the above equation is -H and is

expressed in kJ/mol of water. Neutralization
reactions are generally exothermic and thus
H is negative.
Heat measurements are performed by
carrying out the reaction in a special
container called a calorimeter. The heat (Q)
given off by the neutralization reaction is
absorbed by the reaction solution and the
calorimeter. Both the solution and
calorimeter increase in temperature due to
the absorbed heat and this increase can be
measured with a thermometer.
H is
negative if heat is evolved and positive if
heat is absorbed.

To evaluate the calorimeter constant

(also known as its heat capacity) in J/ oC or
can be expressed also in J/K, one adds a
known mass of hot water to a known mass
of cold water which is in the calorimeter.
Heat (Q) is lost by the hot water and is
absorbed by the cold water and the
calorimeter. Thus the heat absorbed by the
calorimeter is the heat lost by the hot water
minus the heat gained by the cold water.

The experiment mainly focused on

the heat of neutralization of acids and bases,
particularly NaOH as the base and HCl and
CH3COOH as the acids used. Thus, the
experiment was done with the following
objectives: (1) to measure the heat of
neutralization of a particular neutralization
reaction; (2) to appreciate the concept
behind
the
exothermic
nature
of
neutralization reaction; (3) to determine the
enthalpy change undergone by the
neutralization of acid and base to form a
certain amount of water; (4) to distinguish
the enthalpy of neutralization when a weak
acid or a strong acid is used; and (5) to
calibrate a simple calorimeter. In this
experiment, the overall significance is to
verify the amount of heat released as a
neutralization process occurs to form a mole
of water and appreciate its concept in
relation with daily life and additional
understanding towards the behavior of
matter and its changes.

Methodology
Materials
The experiment was performed
using the following apparatuses, materials
and reagents: apparatuses involved the
thermometer, iron ring, iron stand, wire
gauze, alcohol lamp, thermometer holder,
volumetric flask, pipette and aspirator, and
graduated cylinder. Materials involved are:
polystyrene (styrofoam) cup (2 pieces)
polystyrene board (for calorimeter lid),
plastic ring, wooden stick, and cutter.
Chemicals involved 1.0 M HCl, 1.0 M
NaOH, 1.0 M CH3COOH, and distilled
water.
Heat Capacity of Calorimeter
The experiment was started by
making a simple calorimeter out of
polystyrene cups widely known as
Styrofoam coffee cup. Two polystyrene cups
were fused together to form a one double
layered cup that is intended to maximize the
insulation and isolation of heat. A lid cover
was made of polystyrene board. A circular
canal was made on the board in order for the
mouth of the cup to fit in. One hole was
made on the board intended for the
thermometer that served also as the stirrer as
there was no stirrer available. Before the
heat of neutralization experiment was
performed,
the
constructed
simple
calorimeter was calibrated first, to determine
its heat capacity. Fifty milliliters of water,
with the certain temperature in C, almost
same with the room temperature was placed
in the calorimeter. Another 50 mL of water

was heated up to around twice the

temperature of the cooler water. Both
temperatures were noted and the hot water
was poured into the calorimeter, noting the
temperature of the mixture every 15 seconds
for 3 minutes. The temperatures were
recorded and were used to calculate the Ccal,
the heat capacity of the calorimeter.
Calibration was done for six trials and the
mean was taken as the heat capacity of the
calorimeter.
Heat of Neutralization of HCl-NaOH
As the heat capacity was already
obtained, the heat of neutralization was
performed. Using the volumetric flask,
pipette and aspirator and distilled water,
1000 mL each 1.0 M of NaOH, 1.0 M of
HCl and 1.0 M of CH3COOH were
prepared. These chemicals were then used
for the experiment. First done was the
neutralization between HCl and NaOH.
Noting that all the chemicals must have
equal temperature or in thermal equilibrium
with the surroundings, the experiment was
performed. Fifty milliliters of NaOH was
placed on the clean dry calorimeter. After
few minutes, the temperature was measured
and served as the initial temperature. A 50
mL of the prepared 0.1 M HCl was poured
into the calorimeter and the calorimeter was
covered and stirred with the thermometer
and the temperature was obtained every 15
seconds for three minutes. The temperature
of the mixture was then obtained and was
recorded. Another setup was performed. But
the difference was that the HCL was
replaced with acetic acid, a weak acid and
the procedures were followed as it was in
the HCl-NaOH neutralization.

Results & Discussion

The basic principle that governs the
experiment is the conservation of energy on
which the heat lost by the system will
always be equal to the heat gained by the
surrounding or another system. Another one
is that the neutralization of an acid and a
base produces water and its side product as
heat. Thus upon formation water in the
neutralization, heat is also released. These
concepts led to the objective of this
experiment to experimentally measure the
heat of neutralization of a particular
neutralization reaction and compare it to the
theoretical values established by the
literatures.
Prior the determination of the heat of
neutralization was the determination of the
heat capacity or heat constant of the
calorimeter made out of the polystyrene
cups. In this part of the activity six trial were
done and mean was taken as the heat
capacity in order to establish accuracy. The
cooler water used have temperatures near
the room temperature and the warmer water
have twice the temperature of the cooler
water. They were mixed in such a way to get
the temperature in which they are in thermal
equilibrium in the environment. After
getting the water to equilibrate with the
surroundings, heat loss of the warm water in
calories can now be determined as well as
the heat gained by the cool water and the
loss towards the calorimeter. With the data
gathered from the lost and gained
temperatures, the heat capacity of the

polystyrene cup calorimeter was obtained

by dividing the heat loss to the calorimeter
by the temperature increase by the cooler
water. For further presentation of data, its
recorded in tabular form as the table 1 shows
below.

Table 1 Heat Capacity of Calorimeter

Paramete
rs
temp. cool
water, oC
temp.
warm
water, oc
temp.
after
mixed, oC
t, oC
Heat loss
by warm
water, cal
Heat
gained by
cool water,
cal
Heat loss
to
calorimete
r, cal/oC
Heat
capacity
of
calorimete
r, cal/oC

21

24

24

24

27

24

45

44

36

42

42

40

35

34

32

34

34

34

10
50
0

10
500

4
20
0

8
40
0

8
40
0

6
300

70
0

500

40
0

50
0

35
0

500

20
0

20
0

10
0

50

200

14.
28

25

10

20
7.1
4

The
heat
of
neutralization
experiment was performed using a pair of a
strong acid and a strong base and the other

one was a pair of weak acid and a strong

base. The strong base used was NaOH (1.0
M) and the strong acid used was HCl (1.0
M). The weak acid used on the second setup
was CH3COOH (1.0 M). The experiment
started with the heat of neutralization of
NaOH-HCl neutralization reaction.
The results presented in table 2
showed the information needed to
experimentally determine and calculate the
heat of neutralization of the particular
exothermic reaction, that is the amount of
heat released when an acid and a base reacts
to form water.
Stoichiometrically determined, the
amount of water produced in the reaction of
50 mL each of HCl and NaOH is found to be
0.05 moles. Thus the heat calculated was
divided with 0.05 moles and obtained the
enthalpy of reaction per mole of water
formed. For the neutralization reaction of
HCl and NaOH, according to literature
should be -57.1 KJ. For the acetic acid and
NaOH should be -55.9 KJ. Thus the errors
for the two reactions are 1.94% and a4.45%
respectively. The data for neutralization
reaction between HCl and NaOH and
between acetic acid and sodium hydroxide
are shown in the table 2 and 3 below.
In conduct of the experiment, unit of
heat is either in calories or in Joules. But
conventions suggest the utilization of the
unit Joule in dealing with heat. The
experiment used a constant pressure
calorimeter which is simpler compared to
constant volume calorimeter. Since the
pressure in constant, thus the heat changes
being measured would be equal to the
enthalpy changes.

Table 2 Heat of Neutralization of HClNaOH

Parameter
s
Temp. acid,
o
C
Temp.
base, oC
Temp.
mixture, oC
t, oC
Heat gained
by sol., cal
Heat gained
by calor.,
cal
Total
cal
released,
cal
Moles HCl
in
50mL
1M
HCl,
mol
Moles
water
produced,
mol
Cal released
per
mole
water,
cal/mol
Expressed
in KJ/mol
Average H

T1

T2

T3

28

28

28

28

28

30

34

34

34

6
600

6
600

7
700

81.82

175

-600

-600.8

-805

0.05

0.05

0.05

0.05

0.05

0.05

-12000

-13636

-16100

-50.208 -57.055 -67.362

58.208

Table 3 Heat of
CH3COOH-NaOH
Parameter
s
Temp. acid,
o
C
Temp.
base, oC
Temp.
mixture, oC
t, oC
Heat gained
by sol., cal
Heat gained
by calor.,
cal
Total
cal
released,
cal
Moles HCl
in
50mL
1M
HCl,
mol
Moles
water
produced,
mol
Cal released
per
mole
water,
cal/mol
Expressed
in KJ/mol
Average H

Neutralization

T1

T2

T3

28

27

31

28

27

30

32

33

36

4
400

5
600

6
500

50

100

35.714

-450

-700

-535.7

0.05

0.05

0.05

0.05

0.05

0.05

-9000

-14000

-10714

37.656

-58.576

-44.829

47.0200

of

Heat changes in the neutralization

reaction vary mainly on the strength of the
acids used. Earlier studies observed that all
neutralization reactions between strong acids
and strong bases, those that dissociate
completely in water, had the same heat of
reaction. No matter which strong acid and
base reacted, and no matter which salt
formed, H was about -56.2 kJ per mole
of water formed. Arrhenius suggested that
the heat of reaction was always the same
because the actual reaction was always the
same a hydrogen ion and a hydroxide ion
formed water:
H+(aq) + OH-(aq)
rH = -56.2 kJ/mol

H2O(l)
Eq. 4

Thus for any reaction that involves

the presence of strong acids and bases would
yield the same heat of reaction. On the other
hand, when a weak acid or a weak base is
involved, the heat of reaction is lower than
in equation 4 this is because weak acids and
bases do not dissociate fully on water, not
giving its overall H+ and/or OH- in the
solution. Thus only fewer of these species
react to form water.
Some of the errors of the experiment
were too visible and could be traced in many
ways. First was the assumption that there
was no heat loss from the calorimeter
indicating the calorimeter as more or less a
perfect one but the is not due to poor quality
of materials used. General errors in the
experiment could be traced as mistakes in
thermometer readings due to the poor
precision of the thermometer used.
Conclusion & Recommendation

The experiment on the determination

of heat of neutralization on two setups of
acid base reactions were the important tools
towards the higher appreciation and
understanding of the concepts of enthalpy
changes in the systems as they would
undergo some certain reactions.
The
experimental measurement of the heat of
neutralization with lesser errors in the
experiment gave way to appreciate that there
really is a certain quantity of heat being
produced in the neutralization reactions. The
enthalpy differences between strong acidstrong base and weak acid-weak base
reactions were not that appreciated because
of some certain errors but the concept
behind them were well understood.
As the experiment is to be performed
for the next time, it is recommended that the
standardization of the solutions to be used is
done and the thermometer to be used must
be as precise as possible. The calorimeter
might be improved by using an ultra-thick
polystyrene cup to ensure that there should
be no heat lost to the environment.
References
1. SILBERBERG, M. 2006. Chemistry:
The Molecular Nature of Matter and
Change, 4th ed. PDF New
York, USA: McGraw-Hill.
2. LAIDLER,
K.J.
and
J.H.
MEISER.1999. Physical Chemistry.
3rd ed. PDF United States of
America: Houghton Mifflin Co.
3. CHANG, R. 2007. Chemistry, 10th
ed. PDF New York, USA: McGrawHill.

4. www.ccri.edu/chemistry/courses/che
m.../Enthalpy_of_Neutralization.pdf
retrieved on 2/7/216