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It's Just a Phase Chemistry Lab
October 2, 2012
Mrs. Hinn's eighth grade physical science students were introduced to the science lab experience by conducting an experiment entitled “It's Just a Phase.” The purpose of the lab was to investigate the solid-liquid phase changes for organic solids. Each team of students was given an “unknown substance” for their experiment. Teams measured temperature versus time as the liquefied substance cooled into a solid and then measured again as the solid was reheated into a liquid. They graphed the data to develop heating and cooling curves and then used that data to identify the melting point of their substance. Students were then given the melting point of three different “known” substances. Using their melting point data, the students were then able to determine the identity of their “unknown” substance!
