LAB: Heat of Fusion of Ice
(DCP, CE)
Purpose: Using a simple calorimeter, find the heat of fusion of ice.
The Latent Heat of Fusion is defined as the amount of energy needed to melt 1 gram of ice when it is at 0oC. The
heat required to melt the ice will be supplied by the water. By measuring the temperature change (Δ T) of the
water, we can calculate the quantity of heat exchanged between the water and the ice. Using these experimental
data, we will calculate the heat of fusion of ice.
Equipment & Materials:
graduated cylinder, 100ml
ice
paper towels
PASCO GLX
safety glasses
Styrofoam cup
temperature sensor
tongs
water
Procedures:
1) Place a magnetic stirring bar in the bottom of a Styrofoam cup.
2) Measure 100 ml of distilled water using a 100 ml graduated cylinder and pour into the Styrofoam cup.
3) Place a temperature sensor in the water and adjust the settings on the PASCO GLX for data collection. It’s
up to YOU to decide how much data to collect.
4) Turn the stir plate on to its lowest stir rate.
5) Begin data collection on the GLX; measure and record the temperature of the water in the Styrofoam cup.
6) Using tongs to hold the ice cubes, take two small freely melting ice cubes, which, if freely melting will be
at 0°C, and dry them quickly with a paper towel.
7) Drop the dried ice cubes into the cup after you have a baseline of temperature data.
8) Continue to collect data, making note of the temperature when the ice has just melted.
9) When two minutes or more have passed since the last bits of ice melted, press stop on the GLX.
10) Export data as a text file and save it on your USB drive.
11) Measure the final volume of the liquid in the cup so that you can determine the volume of the ice cubes
that you added.
12) Open your text file in Excel for data processing and analysis.
13) Assuming the density of the water = 1 g cm-3, calculate the latent heat of fusion of ice.
Lab #12