Heating Curve Experiment
Add heat to ice and watch temperature versus time, including the flat melting and boiling plateaus.
About the Heating Curve Experiment
Free heating curve experiment. Add heat to ice and watch the temperature-time graph build, with flat plateaus at melting and boiling. Uses real specific heat and latent heat values. Built for chemistry labs, the heating curve experiment runs instantly in your browser: change a setting or drag an object and the result updates at once, so you learn by trying things out rather than only reading about them.
Add heat to ice and watch temperature versus time, including the flat melting and boiling plateaus. Use it to explore chemistry labs ideas at your own pace, then check what you found against the key ideas further down this page.
How to use the Heating Curve Experiment
- Use the controls to change Substance, Melting point, Boiling point, Liquid specific heat, Heat of fusion, and more. The simulation reacts instantly.
- Pick an option such as Water, Ethanol, Acetone, Mercury to switch modes or load an example.
- Press "Pause", "Restart" to start, reset or change what is happening.
- Where you see a glowing handle, object, weight or atom, drag it with your mouse or finger. Everything responds in real time.
- Watch the readouts and graphs update as you experiment, and compare what you see with the key ideas below.
Things to try
- Heat 50 g of ice to steam.
- Increase the mass and see the plateaus grow.
- Change the heater power.
- Find the energy needed for melting.
Key ideas you can learn
- The temperature rises while heat warms a single phase (q = mcΔT).
- During melting and boiling the temperature stays flat while heat breaks attractions (q = mL).
- Boiling needs much more energy than melting because particles must fully separate.
Where this is used in the real world
Heating curves guide cooking, steam power, metal processing and climate science. Latent heat is why steam burns are so dangerous.
Who is this simulation for?
Students preparing for practical exams and teachers who want a virtual lab. You can repeat the experiment without chemicals, waste or safety risks.
For teachers: project it on the board, let students predict what will happen, then run it together. For students: change one thing at a time and write down what changes.
Frequently asked questions
Why does temperature stay flat while ice melts?
The added energy goes into breaking the bonds holding the solid together rather than speeding up particles, so temperature holds until all the ice has melted.
Why is the boiling plateau longer than the melting one?
The latent heat of vaporisation of water (2260 J/g) is about seven times bigger than the latent heat of fusion (334 J/g).
Is the Heating Curve Experiment free to use?
Yes. It is completely free, with no signup, no download and no ads inside the simulation. It runs in your web browser.
Does the Heating Curve Experiment work on a phone or tablet?
Yes. It uses touch as well as the mouse, so you can drag objects with your finger. A larger screen makes the controls easier to see.