Honors Core Chemistry Class Probe Phase Change/Energy Relationship

In Ms. Meyer's Honors Core Chemistry class, the ninth graders use temperature probes, graphing calculators and laptops to determine the change in temperture that occurs in a phase change (solid to liquid/liquid to solid).  Graphing this data, they should be able to visualize the relationships that exist between temperature, heat and energy by observing the trend/pattern shown in the graph.  They can then calculate the actual amount of energy absorbed (during melting) and released (during freezing). This initial investigation introduces the students to thermochemistry. Further investigations will involve determining the specific heat of a metal and determining the Calorie content in a cheese doodle!!!