Lab Report: Percent Composition and Empirical Formula of Hydrate

Your Name: _____Sarah McMinn_____________________________________________________________ Prelab Questions Answer each of the following before starting the lab. Some of your answers will be used throughout the lab. You may enter the data for these questions directly into data table 1 in the report below.

1. Differentiate between a hydrated salt and an anhydrous salt. 2. 3.

Purpose of this Lab What is the goal of this lab? What question is it trying to answer, or what problem is it trying to explain? TO find the percent composition of a hydrate salt. To understand the Empirical formula of a chemical compound and calculate the empirical formula of a hydrate salt.

Hypothesis

After reading the lab instructions - but before starting the lab - record your best educated guess about what will happen in the experiment. Give your reasons and outline any assumptions that lead you to this hypothesis.
I believe that the empirical formula of a chemical compound will be difficult to learn and understand but with practice I will come to understand it more.

Experimental Design

List the materials used in this lab, and the procedure you followed.

Materials: 1.Hydrated Salt 2.Desiccator 3.Crucible Procedure (list steps in the order in which you performed them): Put on goggles Place crucible on tripod Place thermometer on crucible Click on low flame and heat to 23-27 centigrade Weigh crucible and take down weight Put crucible back on lab bench and put any one of the jars in front of it. Put some salt in the crucible and put the crucible back on the scale Put the crucible back on the tripod until the bottom turns a dull red Observe changes in salt Put the desiccators on lab bench Put crucible in the desiccator to cool Once cooled determine the empirical formula for the hydrated salt Repeat all steps with different salts

Data Record the data you collected in the lab.

Percent water Composition of a Hydrate / Empirical Formula Experiment 1: Find the percent composition of a hydrate salt.

Understand the meaning of empirical formula of a chemical compound and calculate the empirical formula of a hydrate salt.
Mass of Mass of crucible Mass of Formula wt. of Formula wt. crucible + cover + cover Formula of crucible+ anhydrous salt of water + sample + sample after anhydrous salt cover g / mol g/mol before heating heating (in g) a (in g) b (in g) c CuSO4 159.62 18.016 10.503 11.000 10.812 NiCl2 129.59 18.016 10.504 11.059 10.802 CoCl2 129.83 18.016 10.505 11.050 10.798 CuCl2 134.45 18.016 10.502 11.112 10.993

S.No.

1. 2. 3. 4.

5.

MgSO4

130.38

18.016

10.501

11.105

10.789

Data Table 2: Moles Moles of Number of (nwater) of water Number of Weight Of moles[nsalt] of the water in associated grams of water Empirical formula Anhydrous Salt anhydrous salt hydrate with 1 mole in grams (w2 = for the hydrate. in grams [=w1/formula sample = w2/ of the b c) (w1 = c-a ) weight] formula wt. of anhydrous water salt .309 .298 .293 .491 .288 .001936 .002300 .002257 .003652 .002209 .188 .257 .252 .119 .316 .01044 .01427 .01399 .006605 .01754 5.39 6.20 6.20 1.81 7.94 CuSO45H2O NiCl26H2O CoCl26H2O CuCl22H2O MgSO47H2O

CALCULATIONS: Empirical Formula Calculation 1. Calculate the number of grams [w1] of the anhydrous salt you prepared. This is a simple subtraction from your data. (w1 = c a)
.309 .298 .293 .491 .288

2. From the number of grams of the anhydrous salt in step 1, calculate the number of moles[nsalt] of the anhydrous salt you prepared [=w1/formula weight]
.001936 .002300 .002257 .003652 .002209

3. Calculate number of grams of water [w2] in your hydrate sample. This is the difference in mass, between the hydrate and the anhydrous salt. (w2 = b c)
.188 .257 .252 .119 .316

4. Calculate moles of water[nwater] in your hydrate sample = w2/ formula wt. of water.
.01044 .01427 .01399 .006605 .01754

5. Calculate number of moles of water associated with 1 mole of the anhydrous salt = Number of moles of water / Number of moles of anhydrous salt. (nwater / nsalt)
5.39 6.20 6.20 1.81 7.94

REMEMBER, we cannot use part of a water molecule, so round your answer to the nearest whole number.

Show your work here:

Analysis Using your data above, you can determine how much water evaporated from each of the hydrated salts. This allows you to determine the percent of water that was present before evaporation in each of the hydrates. This is the experimental percent composition of water. Using the true empirical formulas of each hydrated salt (listed below in order from left to right on lab bench), the expected percent of water in each of the hydrated salts can be determined. This is the actual percent composition of water. The experimental value and the actual value of each salt can be used to determine the percent error that resulted in the lab. Use the steps and the table below to determine the percent error for each of the hydrates.

1. Calculate the mass of the hydrated salt (x). This is a simple subtraction from your data (b-a). 2. Calculate the mass of water lost as a result of heating the substance. This is also a simple subtraction from your data (b-c). 3. Calculate the experimental percent composition of water using the formula below. Experimental % Comp. of water = (Mass of water / Mass of Hydrate) x 100. 4. Use the true chemical formula of each hydrated salt to determine the actual percent composition of water.

Actual % Comp. of water = (Mass of water in true formula / Mass of Hydrate) x 100. 5. Use the values from steps 3 and 4 to determine the percent error for each salt.

Percent Error = Experimental Value Accepted Value x 100 Accepted Value

Conclusion After conducting the experiment, how would you now explain the problem(s) or answer the question(s) raised when you described the purpose of the lab? Be sure to base your answer on the data you collected. Consider whether your conclusion is the only explanation for the data you collected, or if there could be alternate explanations. If I had not heated the salt until all of the water was gone the weight could have been inaccurate. The calculations were not to terribly hard they were difficult to grasp at first but I do believe that I have a better understanding of it all now.

Post Lab Questions: 1. In an actual laboratory setting, the best method for performing this lab would be to
perform the evaporation and weighing of the salt 3 times. In doing so, the goal is to end up with a constant mass. Explain why this is important.

2.

3.

It is important because if two masses have identical readings, it is a good indication that all of the water has been evaporated from the crystal structure of the compound Some experimental error exists in the performance of all labs. Describe 2 possible sources of error in this lab. (Calculation errors are not acceptable answers). All of the water wasnt evaporated upon heating. Some of the water evaporated prior to determining initial mass. Popcorn kernels are made mostly of starch and water. The water is found between the kernels of starch. Explain a procedure that you could use to determine the percent composition of water in popcorn. Mass the popcorn before heating it. Pop the corn, allowing its water to turn to steam and expand the kernels. Once the kernel has exploded, its water (steam) will escape into the air. When you weigh the popped corn after it cools, its mass will be less by the number of grams of water that have escaped. The % H2O in the UN popped corn is found by dividing the grams of H2O by the mass of the un popped corn and then multiplying by 100.