Our Hand Warmer

By Joe Malliaras, Jonathan Stickle, Sarah Cantor, and

Scott Fischer

Purpose
Find a way to make a hand warmer in the cheapest, safest,
and most useful way by using a mixture of water and a salt of
our choosing.

Our Designs

Second Design

First Design:

Shape- Panda
Mixture- Lithium Chloride and Water

Second Design:

Shape- bag
Mixture- lithium chloride and water
Materials- Plastic bag, rubber band
How it would work- water in bottom of bag, tied rubber band to close off, salt
in upper part of bag, closed bag, release/untie rubber band to release salt into
the water

Final Design
Shape- rectangular and able to fit in your hand.
Mixture- We have a bag of 4 grams LiCl inside a bag of 40 mL water inside
another bag for the outer layer.
Materials- Lithium chloride, water, plastic bags, outer case, button
Case- Reusable

The Science Behind our Hand Warmer

2 Li(s) + 2 H2O -> 2 LiOH (aq) + H2(g)+ Heat

As the Lithium Chloride dissolves in the water it reacts with the water
Together they form a solution of lithium hydride and hydrogen gas and
release heat in an exothermic reaction.
As an ionic compound dissolves in water, water molecules separate,
surround, and disperse the ions into the liquid, and the reaction begins.

Testing
Lasting about 12 minutes
Starting Temperature

Ending Temperature

25 degrees celsius (inside of

cover directly on mixtures)

52.3 degrees celsius (inside of

cover directly on mixtures)

20 degrees celsius (outside of

cover on case)

38.4 degrees celsius (outside of

cover on case)

19.8 degrees celsius (outside of

cover on case)

38.2 degrees celsius (outside of

cover on case)

Benefits of our Final Design

The unit is small

Relatively cheap
Refillable
Looks clean and simple
Comfortable Temp
Slick and Clean

Cost

4 gram Lithium chloride cost 28 cents, so to make 100 hand warmers, it costs
$28
Naugahyde $5.00 for a roll
7mm button at $2.50 per 100 buttons
500yds white thread $3.53
90 plastic bags for $2.98
water costs are negligible

Total of 1 hand warmer(including case): $0.95

Sell for 1 with case: $2.00
1 without case: $1.00

Safety Concerns
Lithium Chloride is an irritant to body tissue and moderately toxic to ingestion.
Avoid contact with eyes. Avoid contact with eyes, skin, and clothing. Its also
nonflammable.