To investigate the temperature change in a displacement reaction between Copper Sulphate Solution and Zinc Powder :: GCSE Chemistry Coursework Investigation

To investigate the temperature change in a displacement reaction between Copper Sulphate Solution and Zinc Powder Preliminary Experiment: Correlating Magnesium Powder and Copper Sulphate Solution ========================================================= I will mix 4cm of Magnesium ribbon and 50cm ³ of Copper Sulphate Solution into a polystyrene cup until I find a reaction. =============================================================== Prediction ========== The magnesium will displace the copper and the temperature will rise. Magnesium + Copper Sulphate †  Copper + Magnesium ------------------------------------------------ Mg + CuSO4 †  Cu + MgSO4 Hypothesis ========== The Magnesium will displace the Copper and rise in temperature because it is more reactive and it is an exothermic reaction. Results ======= Start Temperature 22 °C End Temperature 28 °C Rise In Temperature 6 °C This preliminary experiment was very useful because it is clear that there was a very small rise in temperature. This can be solved by using the powdered form of metal, that can be used to increase the surface area. Main Experiment: ================ Correlating Zinc and Copper Sulphate Solution ============================================= Prediction ========== I predict that the zinc will displace the copper to become zinc sulphate. --------------------------------------------------------------- Zinc + Copper Sulphate Zinc Sulphate + Copper I predict that the copper sulphate will only partially be heated during the reaction depending on the mass of zinc added to the solution of 50ml3. I predict that this reaction of the zinc and copper sulphate will be exothermic, therefore it will produce it’s own heat. I predict that the zinc powder will release more heat than zinc ribbon. I predict that the more zinc added to this reaction, the more the temperature would become up to a certain point. I predict that the temperature will increase when adding more zinc until a certain mass of zinc is reached. If more zinc is added when the ‘peak’ has been reached, then the temperature will decrease. Hypothesis ========== The copper will be displaced because zinc is higher in the reactivity series than copper therefore zinc is more reactive. The copper sulphate solution will only partially be heated during the reaction because there is not enough zinc to react with all of the copper depending on the mass of zinc. This reaction will be exothermic because all the heat will be given off in this reaction. The zinc powder will release more heat than zinc ribbon due to the powder having a larger surface area. The peak temperature is when there is about enough zinc to react with the copper sulphate. Any less zinc and it would not react as much producing less heat. Any more zinc would leave excess amounts, which would be harder to heat up and will reduce temperatures.