Exploring Thermal Changes in Sodium Hydroxide Solutions

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Energy
In this lab, we dissolved Sodium hydroxide, a strong base and corrosive, in 50ml of water to observe the change in temperature of the solution. At room temperature, sodium hydroxide is a white crystal-like odorless solid that absorbs moisture from the air. When dissolved in water or used to neutralized acid, it unleashes substantial heat which undoubtedly the predominant catalyst for the change in the energy. The heat that is produced by sodium hydroxide is sufficient to ignite combustible substances, as it is very corrosive. Sodium hydroxide is often manufactured to soaps, paper, explosives, and petroleum products. It is also used in processing cotton fabric, laundering and bleaching, and metal cleaning and processing. Additionally, it is commonly present in commercial drains and oven cleaners. (“SODIUM HYDROXIDE”)
As mentioned before, this lab will involve the compound, Sodium hydroxide, being dissolved in water in order to observe the change in temperature and ultimately the change in enthalpy (ΔH). This lab will also examine the change in temperature as if there was no loss heat\energy to the environment. All these objectives will achieved through a number calculations and graphical procedures. The experiment can be expressed in the following equation: NaOH(s)+ H2O(l) NaOH(aq) + heat.
Aim …show more content…

Moreover, the temperature will witness a decrease after certain amount of time, as the temperature of the solution will decrease to that of the surroundings after peaking. This experiment is also deemed to be exothermic, as energy will be released in the process. Thus, the change in enthalpy will be negative. The graph will also have increasing points, a peak, and a gradual decrease.(The graph will be used to

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