This laboratory is about a technique called calorimetry, and how that technique can be used to gain information about chemical reactions. In this lab, we will use calorimetry to investigate acid-base reactions.
Calorimetry is a technique that measures the heat evolved or absorbed during some process.
In chemistry, we are particularly interested in the heat evolved or absorbed during a chemical reaction. This type of heat flow is referred to as an enthalpy change, and the branch of chemistry that is concerned with these changes is known as thermochemistry . Notice that we have used the terms heat and enthalpy in the preceding paragraph. Although the two words are often used interchangeably, there is a subtle but important difference between the two terms. The term heat refers to the energy that is due to the motion of the atoms that comprise a system.