+## Introduction
+
+Many chemical reactions involve a transfer of heat energy, exxpressed by the change in enthalpy /\H. This value is positive for endothermic reactions (absorption of energy) and negative for exothermic reactions (release of energy). A characteristic /\H value for a particular chemical reaction can be determined through thermal calorimetry, which measures the temperature change caused by a reaction in an (approximately) thermally-isolated system.
+
+Enthalpy of neutralisation refers to the enthalpy change caused by the reaction with an acid and base undergoing a neutralisation reaction. These reactions convert an acid and a base to a salt and water. The reactants are fully dissociated, so only the cation of the acid and the anion of the base are involved in the reaction, resulting in the following process:
+
+H+ + OH- --> H2O
+
+The aim of this experiment is to determine the enthalpy of neutralisation for three sodium salts (NaOH, Na2CO3 and Na2SO4), thereby showing the effect that different anions and cations can have on the /\H value for a thermochemical equation.
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