School; JOMO KENYATTA UNIVERSITY OF

AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY.

Name; OSCAR MUTUGI MUTWIRI
Reg no; SCP212-0029/2018
Course; INDUSTRIAL CHEMISTRY
Title; TO DETERMINE THE HEAT OF
NEUTRALISATION OF STRONG ACID AND
STRONG BASE
Unit name; PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY ONE
Unit code; SCH 2102
Lecturer Anum Onditi
Experiment; TO DETERMINE HEAT OF
NEUTRALISATION OF DTRONG ACID AND
STRONG BASE
Date;28-10-2018
Objectives of the experiment;
i) To determine the heat of neutralization
during the reaction
ii) To determine the moles of water
produced
iii) To determine the heat evolved per mole
of water
iv) To compare the different heat values in
both cases

Theoretical review;
When aqueous solutions of hydrochloric acid
and sodium hydroxide are mixed, a reaction
takes place, the products being a salt and water
only;
 NaOH(aq) + HCl(aq) NaCl(aq) + H2O(L)
i.e. OH- + H+ H 2O

this is a neutralization reaction since the H+ ion

which is responsible for acidic properties has
reacted with the hydroxide ion which is
responsible for the basic properties.
The enthalpy of neutralization (∆H) is the
change that occurs when one equivalent of an
acid and one equivalent of a base undergo a
neutralization reaction to form salt and water
only.it is defined as the energy released with
the formation of one mole of water.
When a reaction is carried out under a standard
temperature of 298K and 1atm of pressure and
one mole of water is formed is called its
standard enthalpy of neutralization. (∆H)
The heat released in the reaction is
 Q = mcp∆T
Where m is the mass of the solution is the
specific heat capacity of the solution, and ∆T is
the temperature change observed during the
reaction.

Apparatus;
2 measuring cylinder
I plastic beaker, 100cm3
Thermometer 0-50◦c graduated to 0.1◦c

Reagents;
0.5M HCl
0.5M NaOH
0.5M HNO3
 Procedure 1;
NaOH was used as the base and hydrochloric
and nitric acid were used as the acids and the
proceeded as follows performing the
neutralization as duplicate
i) 40cm3 of 0.5M NaOH was poured into one
measuring cylinder and 40ml of the acid
was poured into the other measuring
cylinder
ii) The temperature of each solution was
measured accurately and recorded
iii) The acid and the base were poured
simultaneously into the beaker
iv) The mixture was stirred gently with the
thermometer and the highest
temperature reached was recorded
v) The beaker was washed to do the
duplicate
Procedure 2;
i) 40cm3 of 0.5M NaOH was poured into
one measuring cylinder and 40ml of the
acid (HNO3) was poured into the other
measuring cylinder
ii) The temperature of each solution was
measured accurately and recorded
iii) The acid and the base were poured
simultaneously into the beaker
iv) The mixture was stirred gently with the
thermometer and the highest
temperature reached was recorded
v) The beaker was washed to do the
duplicate

Results;
i) Using HCl
 Initial temperature of NaOH = 25.0◦c
Initial temperature of HCl = 25.0◦
Final temperature of NaOH + HCl = 27.0◦c
ii) Using HNO3
Initial temperature of NaOH = 25.0◦c
Initial temperature of HNO3 = 25.0◦c
Final temperature of NaOH + HNO3 = 27.0◦c

Results analysis;
1.Calculate the average initial
temperature of the acid and the base

Av temp= initial of acid + initial of base

2
i) = 24.5+25.0 =49.5= 24.75◦c
2 2
ii) =25.0+25.0=50 =25◦c
2 2
 2. calculate the change in temperature
T=Tf-Tav
i) T= (27.0-24.7) ◦C=2.25◦C
ii) T= (27.0-25.0) ◦C=2.0◦C
3. Calculate the heat evolved using; heat
evolved=mass × specific heat capacity×∆T (for
dilute solutions specific heat capacity equals
to that of water 4.2J/g/k)
H=mass×C×∆T
i)Density of HCl=1.19g/cm3 volume=40cm3
Mass=density×volume=1.19×40
=47.6g
Density of NaOH=2.13g/cm volume=40cm
mass of solutions=47.6+85.2=122.8g
H=122.8×4.2×2.25=1160.46J

ii)density of HNO=1.15g/cm3 volume=40cm3

 mass=density×volume=1.15×40=46.06g
mass of solution=46.0+85.2=131.2g
H=131.2×4.2×2=1102.3J

4. calculate the number of moles of water

produced

Moles of HCl/HNO= 0.5moles = 1000ml

? × 40ml
=40×0.5 = 0.02moles
1000
Mole ratio A:W=1:1
Moles of water produced=0.02moles
5. Calculate the heat evolved per mole of water
i) 0.02moles=1.160kJ
1mole × ?
 =1×1.102=58.0kJ/mole
0.02
ii) 0.02mole=1.102kJ
1 mole × ?
1×1.102 =55.1kJ/mole
0.02
6. the heat of neutralization is resembles the
heat evolved during the two reaction between
NaOH and the two different acids.
Heat of NaOH and HCl=-58.0kJ/mole
Heat of NaOH and HNO3=-55.1kJ/mole
7. the heat of neutralization in the reaction
between NaOH and the two acids (HCl and
HNO3) is fairly the same.

Error analysis;
%error= (theoretical-experimental value) ×100
Theoretical value
i)when using HCl
%error= (57.3-58.0) ×100=-1.22%
57.3
ii)when using HNO3
%error= (57.3-55.1) ×100=3.84%
57.3

Sources of error;
i) Error of parallax when reading off the
values of temperature from the
thermometer
ii) Use of contaminated apparatus maybe
have led to slight change in overall
reactions
 iii) The precision of calibration of the
apparatus may have affected the
reading
iv) Heat loss to the environment may also
have contributed as a source of error

Conclusion;
The reaction between a strong acid and a base
result in the formation of a salt and water.
Because of this the heat(enthalpy)of
neutralization of a strong acid and a strong
base is always a constant. This is because the
strong acid fully dissociates to give H+ whereas
the strong base fully dissociates to give OH-.
The ions combine to form a molecule of water
hence the similarity in the heat of
neutralization.
H+(aq)+OH-(aq) H2O(l)
The formation of water is exothermic in nature
and releases the same amount of heat for any
strong acid.

Reference;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org
https://www.quora.com