Name: Lee Arthur Date: 10/26/21
Student Exploration: Melting Points
Vocabulary: boiling point, covalent bond, intermolecular forces, ionic bond, melting point,
metallic bond, molecular solid, network solid, salt, smoke, sublimation, sublimation point,
transition point
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. Suppose you had two socks sticking together in the clothes dryer from static electricity.
What happens if they are spun gently? They let go of each other.
2. What could happen if they are tumbled rapidly? They still stick together.
Gizmo Warm-up
Like socks in the dryer, solids are held together by molecular- scale
forces. When solids are heated, molecules move faster and spread
apart as the solid becomes liquid and gas. In the Melting Points
Gizmo, you will measure the transition points atwhich melting and
boiling occur for a variety of substances.
The Gizmo shows a lab device used to determine melting points and boiling points. A smallamount of
substance is placed in a glass tube and heated inside the device.
1. To begin, check that Sodium chloride is selected. Drag the dial to the right to apply heat.
A. When the temperature is around 600 °C, drag the dial back to 0. Notice that thesodium
chloride is red-hot, but it is still a solid.
B. Drag the dial to the right. When the sodium chloride melts, move the dial back to 0.
About what temperature does sodium chloride melt? 850 degrees
2021
, 2. Click Reset. This time, decrease the setting on the dial as you get close to the melting point. Notice
that melting occurs over a range of temperatures. Can you determine the exact range of temperatures
over which melting occurs? (This may take several tries, be patient.)
What is the temperature range over which melting occurs?
2021
Student Exploration: Melting Points
Vocabulary: boiling point, covalent bond, intermolecular forces, ionic bond, melting point,
metallic bond, molecular solid, network solid, salt, smoke, sublimation, sublimation point,
transition point
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. Suppose you had two socks sticking together in the clothes dryer from static electricity.
What happens if they are spun gently? They let go of each other.
2. What could happen if they are tumbled rapidly? They still stick together.
Gizmo Warm-up
Like socks in the dryer, solids are held together by molecular- scale
forces. When solids are heated, molecules move faster and spread
apart as the solid becomes liquid and gas. In the Melting Points
Gizmo, you will measure the transition points atwhich melting and
boiling occur for a variety of substances.
The Gizmo shows a lab device used to determine melting points and boiling points. A smallamount of
substance is placed in a glass tube and heated inside the device.
1. To begin, check that Sodium chloride is selected. Drag the dial to the right to apply heat.
A. When the temperature is around 600 °C, drag the dial back to 0. Notice that thesodium
chloride is red-hot, but it is still a solid.
B. Drag the dial to the right. When the sodium chloride melts, move the dial back to 0.
About what temperature does sodium chloride melt? 850 degrees
2021
, 2. Click Reset. This time, decrease the setting on the dial as you get close to the melting point. Notice
that melting occurs over a range of temperatures. Can you determine the exact range of temperatures
over which melting occurs? (This may take several tries, be patient.)
What is the temperature range over which melting occurs?
2021
