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Student Exploration: Phase Changes

Vocabulary (refer to vocab file located on the Gizmo site for definitions): altitude, boil,
boiling point, freeze, freezing point, gas, liquid, melt, melting point, phase, solid

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

1. A family from Minnesota turns off the heat and flies to Florida for a winter holiday.
When they come home, all of their water pipes have burst. What do you think
happened? The water pipes froze, meaning the water expanded and the pipes burst.

2. Spaghetti takes about 9 minutes to cook at sea level, but about 14 minutes in the
mountains. Why do you think this is so? An altitude increases and atmosphere
pressure decrease, the boiling point of water decrease.

Gizmo Warm-up
In the Phase Changes Gizmo™, select the Micro view
and set the Ice volume to 50 cc. Click Play ( ) and
observe molecules in the solid (ice), liquid (water), and
gas (air) phases.

1. In which phase(s) are the molecules held rigidly

together? Solid-ice

2. In which phase(s) do the molecules move freely?

Gas

3. In which phase(s) are the molecules held in a defined shape?

Solid-ice

4. In which phase(s) do the molecules take the shape of their container?

Liquid and gas

 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A:
 Click Reset ( ) and select Macro view.
Phase changes  Set the Water temperature to 10 °C.
 Set the Ice volume to 0 cc.

Question: How is temperature related to phase changes?

1. Predict: Based on your prior knowledge, predict the following:

A. At what temperature will water change from a liquid to a solid (freeze)? 0

degrees C
B. At what temperature will water change from a solid to a liquid (melt)? 55
degrees C
C. At what temperature will water change from a liquid to a gas (boil)? 100
degrees C

2. Investigate: Use the Gizmo to explore phase changes. Use the Add/remove heat
energy slider to control the water temperature. Record your observations in your
notes, then answer the questions below:

A. At what temperature does water freeze? O degrees C This is the freezing

point.

B. At what temperature does ice melt? 0 degrees C This is the melting point.

C. At what temperature does water boil? 100 degrees C This is the boiling
point.

3. Observe: Set up the Gizmo to observe freezing. What do you notice about the
temperature while the water is in the process of freezing? Temp goes down

4. Explore: Use the Gizmo to investigate melting and boiling. Does the temperature
change while either of these phase changes is occurring temp goes up

5. Interpret: Select the GRAPH tab to see a graph of temperature vs. time. Click the “–”
button until the whole graph is visible. What does the graph look like during a phase
change? As it gets hotter it exponentially goes up

6. Extend your thinking: Why do you think the temperature does not change much
during a phase change? Since the energy involved in a phase change is used
to break bonds, there is no increases in the kinetic energies of the
particles, and therefore no rise in temperature.
 Activity B: Get the Gizmo ready:
Temperature  Click Reset, and select the Micro view.
and molecular  Set Ice volume to 0 cc.
motion  Set Add/remove heat energy to 0 J/s.

Question: Why do phase changes occur?

1. Compare: Set the Water temperature to 0 °C and click Play. Observe the water
molecules. Click Reset, set the Water temperature to 100 °C, and click Play again.

What do you notice? The water particle moves faster when the water is heated than
cold.

2. Observe: Click Reset. The mean molecular speed of the water molecules is
displayed below the container. Set the Water temperature to 0 °C and Add/remove
heat energy to 400 J/s. Click Play.

A. How does the mean speed of the water molecules change as they are heated?
Moves much faster when heated

B. Does the mean molecular speed change as much as the temperature as the

water heats up? Explain. When its already reached maximum

temperature the molecules stay at the same fast rate, but as the
temperature increase the molecular speed increases at a steady rate.

3. Explain: How is temperature related to the motions of molecules? As the

temperature increases, the molecular speed increases.
4. Observe: Click Reset. Set the Water temperature to 20 °C and the Ice volume to
50 cc. Set Add/remove heat energy to 0 J/s. Click Play. How do the molecules in
the liquid interact with the molecules in the solid?
The liquid molecules take away the solids molecules as it melts and as it
freezes the molecules don't go back to the solid, they freeze in place.

(Activity B continued on next page)

Activity B (continued from previous page)

5. Observe: Click Reset. Set the Water temperature to 100 °C and the Ice volume to
50 cc. Click Play. How does this situation compare to the previous one? Ice melts
much faster and all is liquid in seconds

6. Propose a theory: Based on what you have observed, explain why you think phase
changes occur. If possible, discuss your theory with your classmates and teacher.
Phase changes occur due to the molecular speed and vibrations of
molecules. For instance when they are close together and small
movements occur then ice is formed, along with he decreasing
temperature.

7. Apply: Use your theory to explain what happens at the molecular level in each of
the following situations. Also, list the temperature at which each transition occurs.

A. Ice is warmed to the melting point. Molecule go from vibrating in place

to moving freelyTemperature: 0C

B. Water is warmed to the boiling point. Molecules go from moving slowing

and freely to moving in the air and fast with no extent
Temperature: 100C

C. Water is cooled to the freezing point. Molecules go from moving freely to

an extent to just vibrating in place
Temperature0C

8. Extend your thinking: Click Reset. Set the Water temperature to 0 °C, the Ice
volume to 0 cc, and Add/remove heat energy to -400 J/s. Click Play and wait until
all the water freezes.

A. What volume of ice is created from 200 cc of water? 217.4

B. Why do water pipes sometimes burst in the winter? The ice expands,
taking up volume as it freezes.

Complete the five-question quiz for this activity located under the Gizmo screen
on the ExploreLearning website. Your results will be viewed by your instructor and
included as part of the score for this activity.

Continue to the next page for Activity C – Extra Credit

 Activity C: Get the Gizmo ready:
 Click Reset.
Altitude and  Set Ice volume to 0 cc.
phase changes  Set the Altitude to 5,000 meters (16,404 feet).

EXTRA CREDIT (Optional)

Question: The altitude of a location is its vertical distance above sea level. How does
altitude affect phase changes?

1. Form a hypothesis: As altitude increases, the air pressure decreases. How do you
think the lower pressure will affect the following? (Highlight your answers.)

A. Freezing point: Increase Stay the same Decrease

B. Melting point: Increase Stay the same Decrease

C. Boiling point: Increase Stay the same Decrease

2. Experiment: Use the Gizmo to find the freezing, melting, and boiling points of water
at 5,000 meters (16,404 feet). Write these values below.

Freezing point: -100C Melting point:100C Boiling point: 83C

3. Analyze: How did altitude affect the freezing, melting, and boiling points of water? All
decrease
4. Apply: Why does pasta take longer to cook in the mountains? As attitude
increases and atmosphere pressure decrease, the boiling point of water
decreases.

5. Apply: A pressure cooker allows food to be cooked under high pressure. Why is this
useful? Reduce time cooking