Scribd
Upload
42 views1 page

Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry Practical Skills Workbook by Bryan Earl New - Unlocked-23

The document outlines an experiment to determine the freezing point of stearic acid by heating it in a water bath and then allowing it to cool while recording temperature over time. Safety precautions are emphasized, including wearing eye protection and handling hot materials carefully. The procedure involves melting the stearic acid, measuring its temperature during cooling, and plotting a cooling curve to find the freezing point.

Uploaded by

israr ahmed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
42 views1 page

Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry Practical Skills Workbook by Bryan Earl New - Unlocked-23

The document outlines an experiment to determine the freezing point of stearic acid by heating it in a water bath and then allowing it to cool while recording temperature over time. Safety precautions are emphasized, including wearing eye protection and handling hot materials carefully. The procedure involves melting the stearic acid, measuring its temperature during cooling, and plotting a cooling curve to find the freezing point.

Uploaded by

israr ahmed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

1.

3 Determination of the freezing point of stearic acid

1.3 Determination of the freezing point of stearic acid


Stearic acid is a solid at room temperature. When heated it melts to form
KEY TERM
a liquid. In this experiment you will heat stearic acid in a water bath past
its melting point. You will then allow it to cool for 15 minutes, taking the melting point
temperature at regular intervals as it forms a solid again.
You will use the data you obtain to plot a graph of temperature against
time (a cooling curve) and find the freezing point of stearic acid.

Aim
To determine the freezing point of stearic acid.

Apparatus and chemicals SAFETY GUIDANCE


l Eye protection
l Eye protection must be
l 250 cm3 beaker
worn.
l Boiling tube half full of solid stearic acid
l Take care when handling
l Thermometer
the hot glassware and
l Boiling-tube rack
hot liquids. Use tongs
l Kettle (for hot water)
and avoid direct contact
l Stopwatch
with the boiling tube
l Tongs
until it is cooled, to avoid
burns. Do not attempt to
Method move the beaker of hot
Throughout the practical the student should wear eye protection. water.
l You should stand
1 Place the boiling tube with stearic acid into a beaker. Into the beaker,
while carrying out the
pour water that has been heated to around 80 °C, which is above the
experiment and making
melting point of stearic acid.
measurements so that
you can move away
instantly if the beaker or
thermometer boiling tube containing
tongs the hot liquid breaks or
is knocked over.
water bath l Avoid getting the stearic
acid on your skin.
stearic acid
in test tube

warm water
above 80 °C

Figure 2

2 Once the stearic acid has melted, remove the boiling tube from the beaker of water using the tongs, and
place the tube in the boiling-tube rack.
3 Place the thermometer in the tube. Measure the temperature of the stearic acid every minute for
15 minutes using the thermometer to stir the stearic acid whilst it is still a liquid. Record the time and
temperature in the table in the Observations section.
4 At the end of the experiment you will need to heat the stearic acid to melt it once more to remove the
thermometer. To do this, place the boiling tube back into a beaker of boiling water from a recently boiled
kettle. Remove the thermometer when the stearic acid has once again melted.

22 Photocopying prohibited Cambridge IGCSE™ Chemistry Practical Skills Workbook

310513_01_CAM_IGCSE_CPS_WB_016-025.indd 22 12/4/20 7:38 AM

You might also like