How to figure out the amount of heat (joules) needed to melt 1g of ice?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around calculating the amount of heat required to melt 1 gram of ice, specifically focusing on the concept of latent heat of fusion in the context of chemistry.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore the relationship between specific heat capacity and latent heat of fusion, with some questioning the relevance of specific heat in this context. The original poster expresses uncertainty about how to approach the problem, while others suggest looking up the latent heat of fusion in reference tables.

Discussion Status

Some participants have provided guidance on the importance of latent heat of fusion, and there is an ongoing exploration of how to apply this concept to the problem. The original poster has identified the relevant value from their reference materials, but there is no explicit consensus on the final answer yet.

Contextual Notes

The original poster mentions a lack of prior chemistry experience, which may influence their understanding of the concepts being discussed. There is also a reference to the homework assignment being designed to connect various concepts from the provided reference tables.

wasteofo2
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So, first day of school today, and I'm in honors chemistry. I got a packet with refernce tables etc. and a homework assignment designed just to get you to use the tables and be able to connect one thing they say with another. Anyway, one question is "How much heat is required to melt 1g of ice?" I'm guessing by "how much", it's indicating that joules would be the proper unit to answer in, and the tables say that water has a specific heat capacity of 4.18 J/g times degrees celsius. My initial guess would just be 4.18 joules, but I've no real idea, can anyone explain how I'd go about figuring this out?
 
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Don't forget the latent heat of fusion.
 
Uhh...
Dude, I'm a junior in high school, besides learning the formulas for respiration and photosynthesis last year in bio, I have no real experience in chemistry at all, you completely lost me...
 
You said you got a packet with reference tables. Take a look and see if it has something called "latent heat of fusion."

Basically, it takes energy to melt ice and while the transition between solid and liquid is taking place the temperature remains constant. That energy is called the heat of fusion.

If that still doesn't help then maybe your teacher is only trying to see how much you know about chemistry by giving problems ranging from simple to advanced.
 
Tide said:
You said you got a packet with reference tables. Take a look and see if it has something called "latent heat of fusion."

Basically, it takes energy to melt ice and while the transition between solid and liquid is taking place the temperature remains constant. That energy is called the heat of fusion.

If that still doesn't help then maybe your teacher is only trying to see how much you know about chemistry by giving problems ranging from simple to advanced.
Alright...

It shows that with water, the heat of fusion is 334J/g, so that's the answer?
 
Multiply that number by 1 g and you get 334 Joules. :-)
 

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