Unfortunately, we were not able to complete this lab, and therefore did not see any changes. When we boiled the 200 mL of water without NaCl, we obtained a boiling point of 99.8 degrees Celsius. This result is very close to the boiling point that was expected. However, due to the time constraint, we were not able to get past this first step, as we were midway through adding NaCl when we were forced to stop. If we were able to continue this experiment, we should have noticed that the boiling point increased as more NaCl was added.
2. What were your results compared to the other groups?
Although many groups did not get to finish, the groups who completed the experiment saw an increase in the boiling point as more NaCl was added. However, there were one or two groups whose boiling point decreased or stayed the same. This was very interesting, as ideally, the boiling point would increase as more NaCl was added. Due to the environment that we are in, there are many variables that could result in the decrease of the boiling point. For example, the time after boiling point when the temperature was recorded. Some groups recorded their temperature just as the water was brought to a boil, while some recorded the temperature after the boiling had continued for a few minutes. Furthermore, the amount of water and the amount of salt could have varied from group to group, resulting in these changes that ultimately affected the outcome of the experiment.
3. What were the relative differences?
See question number 2 (above).
4. As you doubled the amount of solute, what was the relative change in boiling point?
Although we did not get to this point in the experiment, we can hypothesize that as we doubled the amount of solute, the boiling point would increase. However, the boiling point would most likely not double. Judging from the results of the other groups, the boiling point would only increase by a little less than 2%. It would be interesting to see if the change in boiling point is linear or non-linear if we doubled the salt again. Although there are many independent variables, there should be some relationship between the amount of NaCl added and the increase in boiling point. It would be interesting to see what our increase in boiling point would have been if we had been able to complete the experiment.
