Olivia Kerner Wolfowitz

Chemistry Period 5

Everett

04/02/17

Understanding the Colligative Properties Through Ice Cream

Purpose:

The purpose of this lab is to use the property of lowering freezing points by adding salt to water

to produce ice cream.

Hypothesis:

When adding salt to ice, the freezing point will lower, which will make the ice colder, causing

the ice cream to freeze.

Pre-Lab Questions:

1. What is a colligative property?

The colligative property is the physical properties that deal with how much of the solvent is

dissolved into the solute.

2. What are the four colligative properties?

Boiling Point Elevation, Osmotic Pressure, Freezing Point Depression, and Vapor-Pressure

Lowering.

3. What effect does increasing the concentration of a solution have on the boiling point and

freezing point of the solution?

The boiling point increases and the freezing point decreases.

Materials:

Cup of Milk

Cup of Heavy Whipping Cream

Teaspoon of Vanilla

Cup of Sugar

1 small Ziplock

1 gallon size Ziplock

2 Cups of Ice

1-2 Cups of Ice Cream Salt

Bowl

Spoon

Toppings (optional)

Thermometer

Pencil

Data Table

Procedure:

1. Add cup of milk with cup of heavy whipping cream into a small ziplock bag.

2. Add teaspoon vanilla into the milk and whipping cream mixture.

3. Add cup sugar into milk and whipping cream mixture.

4. Secure tightly and remove as much air as possible before it is completely sealed.

5. Place sealed ziplock into gallon sized ziplock.

6. Add ice into bag surrounding the smaller ziplock.

 7. Record temperature, in C, before adding salt.

8. Add in salt, and close gallon ziplock.

9. Record temperature of ice with salt

10. Shake for ten minutes, or more depending on how solid the ice cream is. Be careful not to

brake bag.

11. Record observations.

12. Once time is up remove ice cream and place into separate bowl.

13. Add optional toppings.

14. Enjoy homemade ice cream.

Data Table:

Predicted Ice Actual Temperature Predicted Ice Actual temperature

Temperature (C) Temperature with salt

0C 0C -6C -1C

Observations

- The bag Became colder with added salt

- Ice melted quickly
- Ice cream mixture solidified
- The bag produced more condensation than a normal glass of water would

Post-Lab Questions:

1. Why was salt added to the ice? (Why did your milk/cream/sugar mixture freeze?)

The temperature of ice is 0C degrees, which is also the temperature that water freezes at.

Typically, anything that is a more complicated than water, in terms of what the solution is made

up of, will have a much lower freezing point, much like the milk/cream/sugar mixture. In order
to freeze the mixture, one must lower the temperature of ice. By adding salt to the ice, an

endothermic process which made the ice absorb heat energy and created a lower temperature.

The ices new temperature was cold enough to freeze the mixture and turn it into ice cream.

2. What is the minimum temperature that pure water can exist as a liquid at standard

pressure?

The minimum temperature that pure water can exist as a liquid at standard pressure is anything

above 0C degrees, because at 0C degrees, the pure water would freeze.

3. What do you think would happen to the temperature of the ice if you added 6 cups of salt

instead of 1 cup?

If 6 cups of salt was added to one cup of ice instead of one cup of salt, the temperature would

stay at -1C degrees, but the salt and ice mixture would be supersaturated.

4. Which compound types (ionic or covalent) produce more particles when dissolved in

water and why?

Ionic compounds will produce more particles when dissolved in water because its more soluble

than covalent compounds and ionic compounds have electrolytes which can break intermolecular

forces.

5. How many moles of particles are produced when:

a. A mole of sugar dissolves?(Molecular Compound)

1 mole.

b. A mole of CO2 dissolves?(Molecular Compound)

CO2 does not dissociate.

c. A mole of sodium chloride dissolves?(Ionic Compound)

2 moles.

d. A mole of Copper (II) chloride dissolves?(Ionic Compound)

3 moles.

e. A mole of iron (III) sulfate dissolves?(Ionic Compound)

5 moles.

6. Explain in detail, using the idea of colligative properties, why salt is used to make icy

roads safe for driving on in the winter?

The colligative properties consist of four main properties, osmosis, vapor pressure lowering,

freezing point depression, and boiling point elevation. Focusing on the boiling point elevation

and freezing point depression properties, the freezing point, of any solution lowers as more

solvents are added into the solute, and the boiling point will increase as well. During the winter,

roads can become covered in ice due to water freezing on the road. To prevent this, people cover

the roads with salt. Since salt will lower the freezing point of water, the salt makes it more

challenging for the freezing temperatures to create ice on the roads. Which in turn allow drivers

to not have to worry about slipping on hazardous ice.

Conclusion:

During this experiment, scientists saw how the colligative property, freezing point

depression, changed when salt was added to ice. Freezing point depression changes temperature

depending on what is in a solution and how much of a solvent is mixed with the solute. The

hypothesis; as salt is added to ice, the freezing point will lower, which in turn will freeze the

milk/cream/sugar mixture and turn it into ice cream, was supported. Ice on its own was recorded

as 0C degrees, which is the freezing point for water. When salt is added, the temperature lowered
to -1C degrees which can be assumed is the freezing point for the cream/milk/sugar mixture. Ice

with salt caused the temperature to lower which allowed to the milk/cream/sugar mixture to

freeze and turn into ice cream. For the future, this experiment could use different types of salts

and ice to see how different the temperatures are as well as how fast the mixture will freeze. This

experiment could also be improved if one was to add toppings into the mixture, such as cookies,

into the bag with the mixture instead of after the ice cream is complete. Also this experiment

could be improved if the bag was shaken for at least 15 minutes instead of 10, since after 10

minutes, the ice cream was about 90% frozen. This lab showed the understanding of how the

colligative properties work, and how certain aspects of the properties differ when a simple

amount change occurs.