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Instant cold packs, often used to ice athletic injuries on the field, contain am

ID: 509030 • Letter: I

Question

Instant cold packs, often used to ice athletic injuries on the field, contain ammonium nitrate and water separated by a thin plastic divider. When the divider is broken, the ammonium nitrate dissolves according, to the following endothermic reaction: NH_4NO_3(s) rightarrow NH^+_4 (aq) + NO^-_3 (aq) In order to measure the change in enthalpy for this reaction, 1.25 g of ammonium nitrate is dissolved in enough water to make 25.0 mL of solution. The initial temperature is 25.8 degree C and final temperature (after the solid dissolves) is 21.9 degree C. Calculate the change in enthalpy for the reaction in kJ.

Explanation / Answer

Mass of solution = 25.0 mL = 25.0 g.

Specific heat of solution = 4.184 J/g.oC

Initial temperature = 25.8 0C

Final temperature = 21.9 0C

Therefore,

q = m * s * (t2 - t1)

q = 25.0 * 4.184 * (21.9 - 25.8 )

q = - 407.9 J

Mass of ammonium nitrate = 1.25 g.

No.of moles of ammonium nitrate = mass / molar mass = 1.25 / 80.043 = 0.0156 mol

therefore,

change in enthalpy, delta H = q / n = 407.9 / 0.0156 = 26147 J/mol = 26.1 kJ/mol

26.1 kJ of heat has been absorbed.