Grade 10 · Practical
Investigation: heating and cooling curve of water
Prescribed investigations · about 3 min
Visual overview: Investigation: heating and cooling curve of water1 MIN READ
2 study sections · pause after each one and recall the key ideaAim: to investigate how the temperature of water changes with time during heating, and to identify the plateau at a change of state.
Key points- Apparatus: beaker, water, ice, thermometer, hot plate, stopwatch.
- Method: record the temperature every 30 seconds from ice through to boiling.
- Plot temperature (y) against time (x) and describe the shape.
- The flat sections show energy going into the change of state, not into temperature.
- Plateau — the flat part of the curve during a phase change.
- Latent heat — energy absorbed during a change of state.
EXAM TIP
the standard question asks why temperature stays constant while heat is added — answer with energy breaking intermolecular forces.