Acid-Base Reaction Temperature Conundrum

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SUMMARY

The forum discussion centers on an acid-base reaction experiment involving sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and hydrochloric acid (HCl), where a group recorded a maximum temperature change of only 1.5°C, significantly lower than the 2.5°C to 7°C observed by other groups. Despite following the same procedural guidelines, including maintaining a total solution volume of 50mL and using insulated styrofoam cups, the group's results were anomalously low. The discussion highlights the importance of consistent methodology and equipment, suggesting that variations in thermometer accuracy may have contributed to the discrepancies in temperature readings.

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Dramen
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Well this is something that has been aggravating me since I did the experiment at school and really just want to solve and not have it happen again.

My problem is while mixing varying mL of NaOH and HCl we (my group and me) were supposed to record the varying changes in temperature for the different mixtures, but for some odd reason the highest temperature change we recorded was 1.5°C and 0°C.
While other groups were able to do the same mixtures, but come up with temperatures that varied from 2.5°C to 7°C.

To possibly answer future questions we used the measurements the instructions pointed so that the solution always added to 50mL, used a styrofoam cup like everyone else to insulate the heat, and even cleaned the equipment after each mix.

Any insight into this is very helpful and well appreciated. Also Thanks in Advance for any replies.
 
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Have you tried to do the experiment using different thermometer?

Did you use the same solutions others did?
 
Yeh we changed our thermometers and used the same exact chemicals everyone else was using.
 

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