Heat of Fusion

In a chemical reaction, solids can be heated to the point where the molecules holding their bonds together break
apart and form a liquid. The most common example is solid ice turning into liquid water. This process is better known
as melting, or heat of fusion, and results in the molecules within the substance becoming more chaotic. When a
substance converts from a solid state to a liquid state, the change in heat (H) is positive. However, if the substance
is transforming from a liquid state to a solid state the change in heat (H) is negative. This process is commonly
known as the freezing, and results in the molecules within the substance becoming more ordered.

Determining the heat of fusion is fairly straightforward. When a solid undergoes melting or freezing, the temperature
stays at a constant rate until the entire phase change is complete. One can visualize this process by examining the
heating/cooling chart . By drawing this chart before conducting a heat of fusion analysis, one can easily map out the
required steps in completing the analysis. The equation for determining the heat change of fusion (H) is listed
below.

H=nHfus
with

n= number of moles
Hfus the molar heat of the substance

Sublimation
In some cases, the solid will bypass the liquid state and transition into the gaseous state. This direct transformation
from solid to gas is called sublimation. The opposite reaction, when a gas directly transforms into a solid, is known as
deposition. Therefore, these two processes can be summarized in the following equation:

Hsub=Hfux+Hvap
with

Hsub = change in heat sublimation

Hfus = change in heat fusion
Hvap = change in heat vaporization

Important things to remember about Heat

of Fusion
The units for H fusion are kilojoules/mol. Freezing and melting points are the nearly the same. The only difference is
the sign in front of the value. Freezing has a negative H value, and heat of fusion/melting has a positive H value.
One can find more change in heat of fusion (H) values in table 12.4 or Appendix D in the chemistry textbook.
http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Physical_Chemistry/

Heat represents the thermal energy of molecules in a substance. Water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius. But
the temperature of an ice cube can fall well below that. When an ice cube is removed from a freezer, the
cube's temperature increases as it absorbs heat from its surroundings. But once the ice cube reaches 0 C, it
begins to melt and its temperature stays at 0 throughout the melting process, even though the ice cube
continues to absorb heat. This occurs because the thermal energy absorbed by the ice cube is consumed
by water molecules separating from each other during melting. The amount of heat absorbed by a solid
during its melting phase is known as the latent heat of fusion and is measured via calorimetry.
Read more : http://www.ehow.com/how_8097648_measure-heat-fusion-ice.html

Applications
The heat of fusion process can be seen in countless applications and evidenced in the creation of many common
household items. As mentioned in the opening paragraph, the most common application of the heat of fusion is the
melting of ice to water. The vast majority of examples where heat of fusion is commonplace can be seen in the
manufacturing industry. The following examples have been used for hundreds of years and are still perfected to this
day. The processes of coin making, glassblowing, forging metal objects, and transforming blow molded plastics into
household products all require heat of fusion to become final product. The change in your wallet, the glass vase on
your fireplace mantel, and the plastic soda bottle from the vending machine all went through a heat of fusion
manufacturing process.
In coin making, solid zinc and copper (metals in American pennies) are placed into a casting furnace and heated by
the heat of fusion process until they reach the liquid phase. Once in the liquid phase, the molten zinc and copper are
poured into a mold, and cast into long bars. In the casting process, the molten metal transforms from the liquid phase
to the solid phase, becoming a solid bar. The long bars are flattened by heavy machinery and stamped into
thousands of coins. Without the heat of fusion process, a monetary system would not exist in the United States.
Calorimetry:ice
Introduction
When a chemical or physical change takes place heat is given off or absorbed. That is, the change is
either exothermic or endothermic. It is important for chemists to be able to measure this heat.
Measurements of this sort are made in a device called a calorimeter. The technique used in making these
measurements is called calorimetry.
In simplest terms, a calorimeter is an insulated container made up of two chambers (see figure above).
The outer chamber contains a known mass of water. In the inner chamber, the experimenter places the
materials that are to lose or gain heat while undergoing a physical or chemical change. The basic principal
on which the calorimeter works is that when two bodies at different temperatures are in contact with one
another, heat will flow from the warmer body to the colder body. Thus, the heat lost by one body will be
gained by the other. This exchange of heat of heat will continue until the two bodies are at the same
temperature. In a calorimeter, heat is exchanged between the water and the materials undergoing change

until the temperatures are the same. The experimenter can thus make a direct measurement of the
temperature change of the water. From this information, the heat gained (lost) by the water can be
calculated. The experimenter then uses these data to determine the heat lost (or gained) by the materials
undergoing change.Nitrogen is the major (79%) component of air. Even though nitrogen is a gas at room temperature
(Boiling Point = 77K) it is possible to obtain it in the liquid state. In part two of this lab we will determine
the heat of vaporization of nitrogen by making use of the ideas of conservation of energy, change of state,
calorimetry and specific heat.
Unlike most calorimeters, the simple Styrofoam-cup calorimeter used in this experiment will have only
one chamber. In part 1 of this experiment, you will place the ice directly into a measured amount of water.
The heat required to melt ice will be supplied by the water. By measuring the temperature change (DT) of
the water, you can calculate the quantity of heat exchanged between the water and the ice. Using these
experimental data, you will calculate the heat of fusion of ice.
The following relationships will be used in part one of this experiment:
heat lost (or gained) original mass change in specific heat
a. by the water in = of water in X temperature X capacity
the calorimeter the calorimeter of the water of water
In symbols, this word formula becomes:
q = m X DT X c
b. heat given off by the water = heat absorbed by the ice
c. heat absorbed by the ice = heat of fusion of ice
mass of melted ice
The specific heat capacity of a substance is the quantity of heat energy needed to raise the
temperature of 1 gram of a substance by 1C. The specific heat capacity of water is 4.184 J/(g X C).
http://phs.princetonk12.org/teachers/rcorell/HeatofFusionVaporiz.pdf