Email icon

Chemical Heat Pack NGSS

  • Chemical Heat Pack - Single
    Item #: HEA-400
  • - +
  • Chemical Heat Pack - Class Set of 12
    Item #: HEA-415
  • - +
Click a metal disk and watch the liquid crystallize.

Description

Click a metal disk and watch the liquid crystallize. Younger students can safely feel the heat of a physical change. Advanced students can determine the heat of fusion of hydrated sodium acetate (fp = 54 oC). Great for calorimetry experiments! Bending the metal disk initiates the crystallization of super-cooled sodium acetate and water; boiling in water returns the solid to a liquid. Can be used over and over. Instructions and lesson ideas provided! 10 x 10 cm (4" x 4")

Download the SDS of this product.

Video


Write a Review

Reviews

14 reviews
Chemical Heat Packs
Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Apr 30, 2019
These heat packs are a great way to put an exothermic process into the hands of the outreach guests. For me, the biggest problem is to have a sufficient number of heat packs unless I start the process and then allow the audience to pass the heat pack around to feel the energy being released. Someone indicated these heat packs are better than those sold at pharmacies because they are less likely to leak so they can be used again and again over a longer period of time. I do not know whether this is true or not. For older chemistry students, the heat packs are a great way to demonstrate a super saturated solution and what happens when they are "disturbed." Coupled with a solubility diagram, students can see why the heat is released when the sodium acetate returns to the solid phase. The students can also see why heating the heat packs results in the dissolving of the sodium acetate. What is difficult to observe is the heat packs return to a saturated solution of sodium acetate, which contains some water with dissolved sodium acetate, because the heat packs appear to only have solid sodium acetate in them. Still, there are numerous concepts that can be demonstrated using the chemical heat packs. And, if you want to show the opposite change, you can purchase chemical cold packs that contain water and solid ammonium nitrate, calcium ammonium nitrate, or urea, which when as they dissolve in the water they take in energy, an endothermic process. Unfortunately, these are not reusable.
Kenneth Duke Chemistry Outreach Lyle

Was this review helpful?

13   17

Work great, kids loved them.
Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Oct 21, 2016
Work great, kids loved them.
David

Was this review helpful?

7   20

I wanna hold it!
Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Oct 24, 2014
That's the most often heard exclamation when the 'button' is pressed! I teach science to fellow home schooled children and use the heat packs when teaching thermodynamics, supersaturated solutions, physical reactions, etc. The kids are always fascinated when the heat pack begins crystallizing! Great product!
LaDonna

Was this review helpful?

6   5

durable product
Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon May 11, 2014
These heat packs hold up better than others I have obtained. I think the thick (vinyl?) bags are less likely to develop leaks over frequent use.
Tom Wellnitz

Was this review helpful?

6   4

crystal energy device-totally awesome
Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Dec 19, 2013
Can't wait to use in the classroom after the holidays!
Dr. Ann Abraham

Was this review helpful?

3   3

Teacher
Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Sep 13, 2012
Great Hands on Demonstration. Students where able to see and feel chemical reactions.
Sarah Ludwig

Was this review helpful?

4   4

Great in a college lecture class!
Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Aug 21, 2012
I use these to illustrate how the spontaneity of a reaction is related to both enthalpy AND entropy changes in a reaction. Students love them, and they're great because they're self-contained and reusable. =)
Therese

Was this review helpful?

2   3

Reusable
Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon May 29, 2012
These are great to show saturated vs supersaturated. No mess compared to the lab and students get to see a practical application to supersaturated solutions.
Jamie Flint

Was this review helpful?

1   2

Freezing HOT???
Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon May 29, 2012
Use the heat pack to enrich and challenge the students who need differentiation up the scaffold when you are teaching changes in states of matter. Heat is usually associated with melting, so why does the heat here relate to "freezing" (turning from liquid to solid). Great way to challenge the kid that already had this lesson and needs a challenge to engage!
D. Saccoliti

Was this review helpful?

1   3

Heat Up Your Students with Awe
Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon May 22, 2012
These are more than heat packs. I pull them out at least three times a year - Excellent for demonstrating: Exothermic Reactions, Supersaturated Solution and I added one this year - catalyst! Boil them, let them cool and they are ready for use once again. I use them as a demo so the 12 pack work great for me all day!
Victoria Hornik-Rosinski

Was this review helpful?

2   2

Reusable!
Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon May 21, 2012
These were a prize at one of our workshops and they were snapped up fast!
Laura Koselak

Was this review helpful?

1   1

So many uses
Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon May 16, 2012
This product is a great replacement for disposable hand warmers as it can be reused instead of being thrown away at the end of an experiment.
Michele

Was this review helpful?

1   1

Great!
Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon May 16, 2012
Easy, fun demo for supersaturated solutions... no mess to clean up and can be reused over and over!
Lisa K

Was this review helpful?

2   1

Amazed
Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon Review star icon May 16, 2012
The tech teacher at my school brought one of these in one day and I was amazed and when I showed it to my 9th grade students they were also amazed.
Jared Ruddick

Was this review helpful?

3   1

NGSS

This product will support your students' understanding of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)*, as shown in the table below.

Elementary Middle School High School

2-PS1-2

Students can analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.

5-PS1-3

Students can use Chemical Heat Packs to make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties.

5-PS1-4

Students can use Chemical Heat Packs to conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.

MS-PS1-2

Students can analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.

MS-PS1-6

Students can use the Chemical Heat Packs to undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical process.

MS-PS1-4

Students can use the Chemical Heat Packs to develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.

DCI-MS/ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions-

A solution needs to be tested, and then modified based on the test results in order to improve it.

HS-PS1-4

Students can use the Chemical Heat Packs to develop a model to illustrate that the release or absorption of energy from a chemical reaction system depends upon the changes in total bond energy.

HS-PS1-5

Students can use the Chemical Heat Packs as evidence to provide an explanation about the effects of changing the temperature or concentration of the reacting particles on the rate at which the reaction occurs.

HS-PS1-7

Students can use the Chemical Heat Packs to construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the Periodic Table and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties.

HS-PS2-6

Students will observe and communicate scientific information about why the molecular-level structure is important in the functioning of a material.

Suggested Science Idea(s)

2-PS1-2
5-PS1-4
MS-PS1-2
MS-PS1-6
HS-PS1-4
HS-PS1-5

Students can conduct simple tests using the Chemical Heat Packs to see, feel and better understand the physical change. Advanced students can determine the heat of fusion of hydrated sodium acetate.

5-PS1-4
MS-PS1-2
MS-PS1-6
HS-PS1-4
HS-PS1-5
HS-PS1-7
HS-PS2-6

Students can use the Chemical Heat Packs to conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances. Bending the metal disk initiates the crystallization of the super-cooled sodium acetate and water; boiling the pack in water returns the solid to a liquid. This can be done over and over again.

 

* NGSS is a registered trademark of Achieve. Neither Achieve nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of, and do not endorse, this product.

Q & A