Anthony Borrelli

Lab Report
Calculating The Heat Transfer
Between Wax And Water.

Introduction
The heat of crystallization of a substance is the same as the heat of fusion of that same

substance. Heat of crystallization is heat released by the substance and heat of fusion is

heat absorbed by the substance. They are the same amount of heat. When freezing takes

place in a calorimeter, the water will absorb the energy. This can be used to calculate heat

transfer.
Background Info

100 mL of H20 =100g of H20

Specific heat of H20 = 4.18 J/g*C

Problem
How much heat is transferred between solidifying candle wax and 100g of H20?

Materials
● Water
● Two Beakers
● Hot Plate
● Test Tube With Wax Inside
● Thermometer
● Styrofoam Cup
● Test Tube Tongs

Procedure
1.) Fill a 250-mL beaker with 100 mL of water. Place on a hot plate and bring the water

to the boiling point.

2.) Determine the mass of the wax sample. The mass of the empty test tube is written

on the front board.

3.) Place the test tube into the hot water bath and melt until the wax sample has

completely melted.
4.) Measure 100-mL of cold tap water into a graduated cylinder (front of room) and

pour it into the Styrofoam cup. Place a thermometer into the Styrofoam cup and

measure the temperature of the water.

5.) Using test tube tongs, remove the tube of wax from the hot water bath. Hold the

sample up to the light and watch carefully for the first sign of cloudiness. This

indicates the beginning of solidification. It will start at the bottom of the test tube, so

watch there!
6.) At the instant solidification starts, measure and record the temperature of the water

in the Styrofoam cup. Immediately place the test tube into the cup.
7.) Rotate the test tube while the wax solidifies. Record the maximum temperature

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 reached by the water.

Data

Mass of Empty Test Tube 23.185g

Mass of Test Tube And Wax Sample 31.445g

Mass of Wax Sample 8.26g

Mass of H20 In Styrofoam Cup 100g

Initial temperature of H20 In Styrofoam 20*C

Cup

Final Temperature of H20 In Styrofoam Cup 23*C

Change In Temperature of H20 3*C

Calculations And Analysis / Conclusion

The amount of heat gained by the water in the Styrofoam cup was 1.2343. The math
that I used to solve this (shown below)

Q=m∙c∙△T Q=(100) ∙ (4.18) ∙ (3)=1.2343

The answer that I got was that the heat gained by 1.2343 inside of the Styrofoam cup.

This would be considered an exothermic process because there was 1.254 joules was
released. The amount of heat that was released by the wax was 1.254 joules. Next we
had to calculate the heat of fusion of the wax which we did using this math (shown
below.

Q=mtte 1.254/8.26=151.8159806

The percent error would be 152-42,000/42,000. Some possible reasons for the percent
error value could be because some of the heat had left.

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