Teach freezing-point depression, a colligative property, and yield a delicious result. Students use sodium chloride to lower the freezing point of ice and freeze a single serving of nondairy instant creamer. Varying the amount of sodium chloride gives unexpected (but still tasty!) results. Students measure the temperature of the ice bath over time and graph their results to determine the freezing-point depression. This activity covers the nature and real-life applications of colligative properties, freezing-point constant, and the van't Hoff factor. The experiment is clean, simple, and much easier to manage than other methods of making ice cream. Plus, the only consumable items are ice and creamers.
Nondairy Instant Creamers Refill contains 48 creamers. Materials are sufficient for 30 students working in pairs.