02 Zinc and Copper sulphate calorimetry

Experimental Setup and Procedure
📌 The experiment utilizes a polystyrene cup functioning as a calorimeter for measuring heat changes.
🧪 25 cm³ of 0.2 M copper(II) sulfate solution ($\text{CuSO}_4$) was used as the initial reactant.
🌡️ The starting temperature of the $\text{CuSO}_4$ solution was recorded before the reaction commenced.
💥 An excess of approximately 0.7 grams of zinc metal powder was added to the solution and stirred until the highest final temperature was observed.

Key Points & Insights
➡️ The setup describes a classic displacement reaction (zinc displacing copper from $\text{CuSO}_4$) carried out under simple, insulated conditions (polystyrene cup).
➡️ Recording the initial and highest final temperature is crucial for calculating the enthalpy change ($\Delta H$) of the reaction using the formula $q = mc\Delta T$.
➡️ Using an excess of one reactant (zinc) ensures that the limiting reactant ($\text{CuSO}_4$) is fully consumed, leading to a more accurate measurement of the heat released based on the known amount of $\text{CuSO}_4$.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Feb 03, 2026, 07:34 UTC