Heat of Fusion Calculator

| Added in Chemistry

What is Heat of Fusion and Why Should You Care?

The Heat of Fusion is the amount of energy per unit mass required to change a substance from solid to liquid at its melting point. It's useful for determining energy requirements in industrial processes, refrigeration systems, and understanding phase changes.

How to Calculate Heat of Fusion

The formula is simple:

[\text{Heat of Fusion} = \frac{\text{Total Heat Used to Melt Solid}}{\text{Mass of Solid Melted}}]

Where:

  • Total Heat Used to Melt Solid is the total energy applied (in Joules)
  • Mass of Solid Melted is the mass of the solid that was melted (in grams)

Calculation Example

Step 1: Determine the mass of the solid

We have a block of ice weighing 75 grams.

Step 2: Determine the total heat required

It took 6000 Joules of energy to melt this block of ice.

Step 3: Use the formula

[\text{Heat of Fusion} = \frac{6000 \text{ J}}{75 \text{ g}} = 80 \text{ J/g}]

The Heat of Fusion for this example is 80 J/g.

Frequently Asked Questions

Heat of fusion is the amount of energy per unit mass required to change a substance from solid to liquid at its melting point.

Divide the total heat energy used to melt the solid by the mass of the solid that was melted.

The heat of fusion of water (ice) is approximately 334 J/g or 80 calories per gram.

It helps calculate energy requirements for melting processes in industrial applications, refrigeration, and understanding phase changes.