February 13, 2014

Peter Fenger
Experiment 11.1
Effect of Temperature on the Solubility of Solid Solutes
I. Purpose
The purpose of this experiment is to see how the solubility of a solid solute depends on the temperature
at which the solution is made. A solute is the element that is being dissolved, and solubility is the
dissolving ability of that substance. The following experiment will show us how temperature effects
the solubility of a substance.
II. Hypothesis
If a solid solutes solubility increases with increased temperature, then solid solutes solubility must
decrease with decreased temperature.
III.Materials/Supplies

250 mL beaker
100 mL beaker
Graduated Cylinder
Flame Heater, Bunsen Burner, or Stove
Stirring Rod or Spoon
Thermometer
Mass Scale
Salt
Filter Paper
Funnel
Oven Mitt
Freezer/Refrigerator
Tap Water from sink
Safety Goggles

IV. Procedure
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

With your mass scale measure out 50.0 grams of table salt
Put salt into the 250 mL beaker
Add 50.0 mL of water to the salt and stir it vigorously with your stirring rod
Allow the solution to stand, while you fold your filter paper and place it in the funnel.
Heat the solution with your flame heater
Stir the solution with your thermometer and continue to take a temperature of the solution until
it reaches 95 degrees Celsius.
7. Carefully pick up your hot beaker with the oven mitt, and with your other hand pick up the
funnel with filter paper and hold it over the 100 mL beaker.
8. Carefully pour your solution into the filter paper funnel, and continue to filter the solution in

February 13, 2014

Peter Fenger
this way until you have 20 mL of solution in your 100 mL beaker.
9. Look at the solution in your 100 mL beaker, and observe what you see.
10. Place the 100 mL beaker in the freezer for 20 minutes. Then remove it and observe.
11. Clean up your mess.
V. Observation/Data
1. We measured out our salt to as close as we could to 50.0 grams we actually ended up measuring
it at 50.03 grams, so it was close enough I guess.
2. We now added the salt to our 250 mL beaker.
3. Then we added about 50.0 mL of tap water and then stirred the salt and water. It looked like
milk. Sort of a white color.
4. We now let our solution sit as we put our filter paper into the funnel sort of like in experiment
4.1.
5-6. As we heated our solution it seemed to take a long time for the solution to get up to 95
degrees celsius but eventually it finally did! As we heated the solution up the water seemed to
become a little less milky probably because the heat was dissolving the salt.
7-9. As we poured our solution in the beaker it appeared that a lot of the salt was being filtered out
because the color changed from a white milky color to a clear watery color. So the only salt that could
have been in there was dissolved salt because the undissolved salt stayed in our other beaker.
10. After we had put this solution in the freezer for about 20 minutes, we took it out and saw that
there was salt in the solution again. It seemed like all of the salt that was once dissolved was
undissolved!
VI. Conclusion
When we heated our solution up to 95 degrees Celsius the solubility of the solution increased. That
must have been why the salt in the solution seemed to dissolve a bit more as we saw the solution
become a bit less milky as we heated it with the flame heater. So, when we filtered the salt out of the
solution it was totally clear because the salt in it had totally dissolved. When we placed the solution in
the freezer it cooled to a temperature of less that 0 degrees Celsius. After taking it out, the reason we
saw salt back in its originally solid phase must have been because the solubility of the solution had
decreased when the temperature decreased. Thus, solubility of a solid solute must decrease when the
temperature decreases. This is the only explanation as to why the salt was solid again. Therefore my
hypothesis that: if a solid solutes solubility increases with increased temperature, then solid solutes
solubility must decrease with decreased temperature must be correct. It's amazing that all it takes to
undissolve a solid is just to freeze it for a few minutes!