Question

A student dissolves 11.1 g of potassium hydroxide (KOH) in 250. g of water in a well-insulated open cup. He then observes the temperature of the water rise from 23.0 °C to 34.0 °C over the course of 4.6 minutes.

Use this data, and any information you need from the ALEKS Data resource, to answer the questions below about this reaction:

KOH(s) â K (aq) + OH (aq)

You can make any reasonable assumptions about the physical properties of the solution. Be sure answers you calculate using measured data are rounded to the correct number of significant digits.
Note for advanced students: it's possible the student did not do the experiment carefully, and the values you calculate may not be the same as the known and published values for this reaction.

Is this reaction exothermic, endothermic, or neither?

Answer 1

The dissolution of potassium hydroxide (KOH) in water is an exothermic process, as indicated by the increase in temperature when KOH is dissolved in water.

Step-by-step explanation:

The dissolution of potassium hydroxide (KOH) in water is an exothermic process. This can be determined based on the observation that the temperature of the water increased from 23.0°C to 34.0°C when 11.1 g of KOH was dissolved in 250.0 g of water. The positive change in temperature indicates that heat was released by the KOH dissolving in water, resulting in an increase in temperature.