Biophysics Lab 4: Melting Point of Wax

Biophysics Lab 4: Determination of the Melting Point of Wax

• Course: Biophysics, First Level, Fall Semester 2024-2025
• Course Code: FAC-104
• Lab Number: 4
• Topic: Determination of the melting point of wax

Outline

• Name: Determination of the Melting Point of Wax
• Aim: Determine the melting point of wax.
• Theory: Definition, formulas, and units related to the experiment, including phase changes, and how the physical characteristics of a substance change from one form to another.
• Tools/Apparatus: Electric heater, thermometer, two calorimeters, and a test tube containing wax.
• Method (Procedure):
  • Fill half of a larger calorimeter with water.
  • Place the calorimeter on an electric heater.
  • Add a measured amount of wax to a test tube.
  • Place the test tube containing the wax and a thermometer inside the water bath.
  • Heat the water bath until the wax completely melts and raises the temperature to about 70°C.
  • Carefully remove the test tube from the water bath and allow it to cool.
  • Record the temperature of the wax every 30 seconds.
  • Plot the temperature-time cooling curve.
  • Determine the melting point from the cooling curve.

Importance of Studying Wax Melting Point in Medical Applications

• Dental Applications: Wax is used in dentistry for making molds and models. Understanding its melting behavior helps dental students handle it correctly during procedures.
• Laboratory Skills Development: Melting point experiments enhance lab skills, such as heating and temperature control.
• Thermal Analysis: This experiment is relevant to thermal analysis, a technique useful in medical research and diagnostics.

Pharmacology and Drug Delivery

• Drug Capsules: Some soft gel capsules use wax-like substances in their shells. The melting point ensures the capsule stays intact during storage but dissolves upon ingestion and exposure to body temperature.
• Medical Ointments: Wax-like ingredients in topical ointments help maintain a suitable consistency, ensuring spreadability at room and body temperature without melting or becoming too hard.

Medical Devices

• Bone Wax: Used in surgery to control bleeding from bones. Its melting point ensures it remains solid and effective at body temperature.
• Prosthetics and Biomaterials: Understanding the melting point of materials is important in designing prosthetics and implants to withstand body temperatures without deforming.
• Orthopedic Casts: Wax or similar materials may be included in coatings for orthopedic casts to provide a moisture barrier, ensuring stability at body temperature during the healing process.

Phase Changes

• Phase change: a case where the physical characteristics of a substance change from one form to another (e.g., solid to liquid, liquid to gas).
• Melting: Solid to liquid.
• Freezing: Liquid to solid.
• Vaporization: Liquid to gas
• Condensation: Gas to liquid
• Sublimation: Solid to gas
• Deposition: Gas to solid

Melting Process

• Definition: material changes from solid phase to liquid phase.

Vaporization Process

• Definition: material changes from liquid phase to gas phase.

Solidification Process

• Definition: material changes from liquid phase to solid phase.

Condensation Process

• Definition: material changes from gas phase to liquid phase.

Latent Heat

• The heat needed to change the material from one phase to another at a constant temperature

Graph Interpretation

• Graph: A graph shows the cooling curve of wax with Temperature (y-axis) and time(x-axis).
• Melting Point: The point on the graph where the slope steepens rapidly, marking the transition from solid to liquid.

Apparatus

• Electric heater
• Thermometer
• Two calorimeters
• Tube of wax

Results

• Date: (Insert Date)
• Time: (Insert Time)
• Room Temperature: (Insert Room Temp in °C)
• Table: Collect data on time and temperature readings of cooling wax.
• Melting Temperature: The temperature at the melting point.
• Graph: Cooling curve of wax.

Engage in the practical exploration of melting point determination in Biophysics Lab 4. This lab focuses on understanding phase changes and the properties of wax. Utilize thermal tools and calorimeters to observe temperature variations during the melting process.