Dystan Medical Supply Company - Cold Packs and Hot Packs

Elizabeth Michie
Suliana Gonzalez
General Chemistry 1220
March 21, 2015

Introduction
Cold packs and hot packs are done with endothermic and exothermic processes
respectively and are used often. Cold packs and hot packs are often used by athletes who get
injuries. Theyre created by ionic salts mixing with water and dissolving. Cold packs help reduce
inflammation by lowering the temperature of where it is applied. Blood vessels reduce blood
flow and the inflammation decreases. Hot packs do the opposite, they heat the injured area
increasing blood flow which then brings oxygen and nutrients to the area that helps the healing
process.
Usually the hot and cold packs consist of a two department plastic bags. One containing
water and the other the salt. When the bag is broken, the two mix and the salt dissolves. Whether
it gets cold or hot depends on the salt that is being used. How hot or cold it gets depends on how
concentrated the salt is. The cold packs reach temperatures as cold as 0 degrees celsius and the
hot packs can get as hot as 90 degrees celsius.
The Dystan Medical Supply Company wants to hire a team of chemists to find out which
salts to use in order to get optimal results while still being economical. The company already has
a large supply of ammonium nitrate, calcium chloride, lithium chloride, and potassium chloride.
the team has to figure out how much salt to use to attain a 100 mL cold pack that reaches 0
degrees celsius and a 100 mL hot pack that reaches 65 degrees celsius. The company also wants
the packs to cost less than $5.00 in order for the company to earn a profit.
The central questions are the following. What salt is the most efficient and economical to
be used among ammonium nitrate, calcium chloride, lithium chloride, and potassium chloride?
How much of each salt should be used to get 100 mL in both the cold packs and the hot packs so

that the cold pack has a temperature of 0 degrees Celsius and the hot pack a temperature of 65
degrees Celsius? And finally, how can we get it so the final cost is no more than $5.00?
To answer these question a calorimeter procedure will be done, from this molar heat of reaction
can be found. From the molar heat of reaction it can be found which salts are exothermic and
endothermic. Some equations to use to find the molar heat of reaction are as follows:
(Eq 1) H

dissolution

(Eq 2) q

solution

=q

=m

dissolution

solution

moles of the substance dissolved

T

solution

(Eq 3) qcalormeter = Ccalorimeter temperature calorimeter

(Eq 4) -qprocess=qsolution + qcalorimeter
(Eq 5) C=thermal energy in J(mass)(change in temperature)
(Eq 6) q=mCT
(Eq 7) q

calorimeter

=C

calorimeter

(Eq 8) -q = (m
rxn

solution

cool water

solution

solution

) + (C

calorimeter

solution

Experiment
Costs
Ammonium Nitrate

$26.20 per 500 g

Calcium Chloride

$31.70 per 500 g

Lithium Chloride

$65.00 per 500 g

Potassium Chloride

$28.19 per 500 g

Labor Cost per Unit

$0.73

Capital/overhead cost per unit

$0.36

Plastic bag cost per unit

$0.19
Chemicals Used

Ammonium Nitrate
Calcium Chloride
Lithium Chloride
Potassium Chloride
Part A - Calorimetry Constant
The first thing to do is to find the calorimeter constant. After obtaining styrofoam cups
and lids, a magnetic stirrer, and temperature probe, setup the MeasureNet workstation to record
temperature versus time and calibrate. Then set take the two styrofoam cups and place one on top
of the other as the calorimeter. Add 40 to 50 grams of water to the calorimeter, this will be the
cool water. Set up everything like it is normally done whenever doing a calorimetry. After this,
place 60 mL of water into a 150 mL beaker and heat on a hotplate until it is between 45 to 60
degrees above room temperature. Once it is hot, carefully place 50.0 mL of hot water into a
graduated cylinder. Press start on the MeasureNet and begin recording and turn on the magnetic
stirrer to a medium speed. After 10 seconds raise the lid and quickly pour the hot water in. Once
the temperature has risen and stabilized press stop and save the file. Do it once more for a second
trial.
Part B - Determining the Molar Heat of Dissolution of a Salt
The second part of this process is doing a similar thing but with the salts. Set up the
MeasureNet for recording a thermogram to determine the enthalpy change for a physical or a
chemical process. Take 25 mL of distilled water and pour it into the calorimeter and record the
initial temperature. Then weigh 1.00 g of a salt. Start the magnetic stirrer and start the
MeasureNet. After ten seconds have passed quickly and carefully pour in the salt. Once the

temperature has either increased or decreased and stabilized stop the recording save the file. Do
two trials. Do this for each of the four salts.
Results
Part A- Calorimeter Constant
Trial 1:
Mass of Water

Initial Temp. (deg/C)

Final Temp. (deg/C)

Mass of Water

Initial Temp. (deg/C)

Final Temp. (deg/C)

Hot Water
Cold Water
Trial 2:

Hot Water
Cold Water
Part B - Heat of Dissolution
Salt
Trial 1

Ammonium Nitrate

Trial 2

Ammonium Nitrate

Trial 1

Potassium Chloride

Trial 2

Potassium Chloride

Trial 1

Lithium Chloride

Trial 2

Lithium Chloride

Trial 1

Calcium Chloride

Trial 2

Calcium Chloride

Mass (g)

Calorimeter Constants for both Trials

Mass of H2O

Initial Temp

Final Temp

Calorimeter Constant average

Molar Heat Reaction for Each Salt and their average:
Potassium Chloride

Lithium Chloride

Calcium Chloride

Ammonium Nitrate

Costs for each Salt

Potassium Chloride

Lithium Chloride

Calcium Chloride

Ammonium Nitrate

THERMOGRAMS FOR EACH SALT

Ammonium nitrate and potassium chloride can both serve as salts for cold packs. In this
case, however, ammonium nitrate would be a better salt to use for cold packs costing $2.98 per
bag instead of the $3.81 of potassium chloride. Calcium chloride and lithium chloride can both
be used for hot packs. Calcium chloride would be a better choice costing $3.31 per bag while
using lithium chloride would cost $4.50 per bag.

Discussion
This procedure was important because the Dystan Medical Supply Company was able to
find what salts would give them the desired temperatures in the packs while having maximum
profit. The answer to the questions were clear. The results are accurate because two trials were
done for every part of the procedure. The only thing that would affect the accuracy is that during
the procedure the magnetic stir bar would hit the temperature probe, though it would not affect
the results by much. If the procedure were to be done again it would be best to make sure the stir
bar does not hit the temperature probe or the walls of the calorimeter.
Conclusion
The Dystan Medical Supply Company wanted to find the best salts for cold packs and hot
packs and their desired temperatures. The salts used would also make it so the cost of making a
single bag would be under $5.00. A calorimeter procedure was done to find the calorimeter
constant as well as the molar heat of reaction for each salt. From the results it was calculated
how much each bag would cost and which salt would be most efficient to use. From the
procedure it found that ammonium nitrate and calcium chloride would be the salt that would be
best for the cold packs and hot packs respectively.

Bibliography
Stanton, B., Zhu, L., & Atwood, C. (2010). Experiments in General Chemistry:
Featuring Measurenet (2nd ed.). Mason, Ohio: Brooks/Cole.
Zumdahl, S., & Zumdahl, S. (2012). Chemistry: An Atoms First Approach. Belmont, California:
Brooks/Cole.