Basic Chemistry

Practicals

Okori, Bassey Sam-Uket

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 Basic Chemistry Practicals

Published by God’s Grace Publishers

No 7 Kagha Street, Owerri, Imo State-Nigeria
Tel: 08032734989
ISBN: 978-978-045-894-2

All rights reserved. No Part of this Publication should be

reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means
without the written permission of the author who is the
copyright owner

Designed, printed and bound in Nigeria by

GOD’S GRACE PUBLISHERS

No. 7 Kagha Street, Owerri, Imo State-Nigeria

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 PREFACE

For a considerable time I have felt that there was no single book suitable to
cover the requirements of various examination bodies. This book is a very
good attempt to meet this need especially for those in senior secondary
schools, colleges of education and first year students in tertiary institutions.

Practical experiments must be the basis of knowledge in chemistry. Apart

from the practical emphasis, the student will soon realize how practical
makes the theory real. The choice of experiments and the order in which
they are arranged are based on many years of experience in teaching of
chemistry and practical chemistry to senior students in schools. Instructions
given for each experiment are fully described so that the student may work
with minimum supervision.

Chemistry teachers will also find this book very resourceful in teaching and
instructing students. The book is in four parts, part one which introduces
students to chemistry practical and laboratory standard practices. Part two
which deals with volumetric/quantitative analysis. Part three which covers
practicals in organic chemistry and simple food test and part four which
deals with rate of chemical reactions.

This book is strongly recommended for students preparing for WAEC,

NECO, GCE, JAMB and for those in their first year in tertiary institutions
who offer the first year general chemistry courses.

OKORI, BASSEY SAM-UKET

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 DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to all Chemistry Students

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank the almighty God for His grace and providence from the writing
stage through the publishing of this book.

I sincerely wish to thank the management of Almohass Secondary School,

Gwagwalada and other schools where I have taught for giving me the
opportunity to serve as staff- A period I harnessed to confirm most of the
experiments contained in this book.

My sincere appreciation goes to Ekanem, Akanimo Nelson (Ph.D.) who

proofread and wrote the foreword of the book. I also thank individuals and
friends whose opinions I have used to make this publication a reality. It is
my prayer that you all remain within the grace of God. Amen

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 FOREWORD

Tutoring and carrying out practicals at any level in school require instructional guide
such as practical manual or textbooks. 'Basic Chemistry practicals' has been well
prepared and written for beginners in colleges and schools to give a good background in
practical chemistry.

The book covers the syllabuses of chemistry practicals in schools and colleges. It covers
areas such a safety rules in chemistry laboratory to inform the students on the 'dos' and
'don'ts' in the laboratory. It also exposes the students to the different laboratory
apparatuses and their uses. Other important topics in the textbook that are given
adequate attention by the author include separation of mixtures, salts and solubility,
quantitative and qualitative analysis, redox reactions, simple food test and rate of
chemical reactions For high schools and presumably undergraduate students interested
in chemistry practicals, this book ignites a flame of curiosity and excitement by
motivating them to dive into this ever - expanding fields of science.

It is therefore with all amount of joy that I recommend this book to students in high
schools and colleges. It will serve as an important source of basic chemistry-practical
information as the author who has taught at this level in different high schools for many
years is conversant with problems learners at this stage of education normally encounter
and has made this resource material to provide for such needs.

Akanimo Nelson Ekanem (Ph. D.), MCSN

Lecturer, Department of Chemistry
Akwa Ibom State University, Mkpat Enin L.G.A

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction - - - - - - 1
1.1 Safety rules in the chemistry laboratory - - - 2
1.2 Chemistry laboratory first aid - - - - 4
1.3 Some materials in the laboratory - - - 6
1.3.1 Concentrated solutions - - - - - 6
1.3.2 Dilute solutions - - - - - - 6
1.3.3 Solids- - - - - - - 6
1.4 Some laboratory apparatus and their uses - - 7

CHAPTER TWO
2.0 Separation of mixtures - - - - - - 18
2.1 Types of separation techniques - - - - 18
2.1.1 Filtration - - - - - - - 18
2.1.2 Evaporation- - - - - - - 19
2.1.3 Condensation - - - - - - 19
2.1.4 Sieving - - - - - - - 20
2.1.5 Sublimation - - - - - - - 20
2.1.6 Decantation - - - - - - - 21
2.1.7 Magnetic separation - - - - - - 21
2.1.8 Separating Funnel - - - - - - 21
2.1.9 Centrifugation - - - - - - 22
2.1.10 Precipitation - - - - - - 22
2.1.11 Crystalization - - - - - - 23
2.1.12 Fractional crystallization - - - - 23
2.1.13 Solvent extraction - - - - - - 24
2.1.14 Distillation - - - - - - - 24
2.1.15 Fractional distillation - - - - - - 25
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2.1.16 Chromatography - - - - - - 26
2.2 Summary of separation techniques - - - 27

Chapter three
3.0 Salts and solubility - - - - - 29
3.1 A salt - - - - - - - - 29
3.2 Salt preparation - - - - - - 30
3.2.1 Preparing soluble salts- - - - - - 30
3.2.1.1 Acid on an insoluble base - - - - 30
3.2.1.2 Acid on a soluble base (alkali) - - - - 31
3.2.1.3 Acid on a carbonate - - - - - 31
3.2.1.4 Acid on a reactive metal - - - - - 31
3.2.2 Preparing insoluble salt - - - - - 32
3.2.2.1 Double decomposition - - - - - 32
3.2.2 Direct combination - - - - - 33
3.2.4 By titration - - - - - - - 33
3.3 Summary of salt solubility - - - - 34
3.4 Salt hydrolysis - - - - - - 34

CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 Acid-base analysis/volumetric analysis/quantitative
Analysis - - - - - - - 36
4.1 Terms used in titrimetry - - - - - 36
4.2 Preparing standard solutions of approximate
concentration - - - - - - 38
4.2.1 Preparing acid solutions of approximate
concentration - - - - - - 38
4.2.2 Preparing alkali solutions of approximate concentration -41
4.3.3 Use of pipette - - - - - - 42
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4.4 Use of burette - - - - - - 43
4.5 Use of conical flask - - - - - 44
4.6 Titration technique - - - - - 44
4.6.1 Recording results- - - - - - - 45
4.6.2 Penalties - - - - - - - 46
4.7 Indicators - - - - - - - 47
4.7.1 Common indicators and their colour in acid or base- 48
4.8 Symbols and formulae for titrimetric calculations - 48
4.8.1 Symbols - - - - - - - 48
4.8.2 Formulae - - - - - - - 49

Chapter five
5.0 Practical demonstration of titration - - - 50
5.1 Determination of concentration - - - 50
5.1.1 Determination of the concentration of NaOH using
0.1MHCl 50
5.1.2 Determination of the conc. of Na2CO3 using 0.1 MHCl- 53
5.2 Determination of relative molecular mass - - 53
5.2.1 Determination of the relative molar mass of X2CO3.10H2O
using0.09mol.dm-3HNO3 -- - - - 53
5.2.2 Determination of relative molar mass of H2X using 1.40g
of NaOH in 250cm3 of solution- - - - 55
5.3 Determination of amount, number of ions and pH- 58
5.3.1 Determination of the pH of 0.1MHCl using NaOH
(Unknown conc). - - - - - - 58
5.3.2 Determination of the number of hydrogen ion H+ in a mean
titre value - - - - - - - 59
5.4 Determination of percentage purity and impurity - 61

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5.4.1 Determination of percentage purity of impure anhydrous
Na2CO3 Using 0.1moldm-3HCl and 1.25g impure Na2CO3 per
250cm3 solution - - - - - - - 61
5.4.2 Determination of percentage purity of ethanedioc acid
using pure potassium hydroxide - - - 63
5.5 Determination of water of crystallization - - 64
5.5.1 Determination of the number of moles of water of
crystallization in sodium trioxocarbonate(iv) crystals.
Na2CO3.XH2O(aq) against HCl - - - - 66
5.5.2 Determination of percentage water of crystallization in
(COOH)2.XH2O using NaOH - - - - - - 67

CHAPTER SIX
6.0 Redox reactions - - - - - - 70
6.1 Oxidizing and reducing agents- - - - -70
6.1.1 Common Reduction half equations - - - 71
6.1.2 Common oxidation half equation - - - 71
6.1.3 Test for oxidizing agent - - - - - 71
6.1.3.1 Action on iron(ii) chloride - - - - 72
6.1.3.2 Action on hydrogen sulphide- - - - - 72
6.1.4 Test for reducing agents - - - - - 72
6.1.4.1 Action on acidified potassium tetraoxomanaganete(viii) 72
6.1.4.2 Action on acidified potassium heptaoxodichromate(vi) 73
6.2 Balancing redox equations - - - - 73
6.2.1 Rules for determining oxidation numbers - - 74

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CHAPTER SEVEN
7.0 Redox titrations - - - - - - 77
7.1 Potassium permanganate - - - - -77
7.1.1 Standardization of potassium permanaganate solution
by an iron(ii) salt - - - - - - 79
7.1.2 Standardization of Potassium permanganate solution by
sodium oxalate - - - - - - 82

CHAPTER EIGHT
8.0 Inorganic qualitative analyses - - - - 85
8.1 Apparatus for qualitative analysis -- - - 85
8.2 Reagents for qualitative analysis - - - 85
8.3 Procedure - - - - - - - 86
8.3.1 Cleanliness of apparatus - - - - - 86
8.3.2 Using reagents - - - - - - 86
8.3.3 Preparation of a solution/sample - - - 86
8.4 Course of an analysis - - - - - 87
8.4.1 Preliminary test - - - - - - 87
8.4.1.1 Appearance and colour as well as state, smell and
texture - - - - - - - 87
8.4.1.2 Flame test - - - - - - - 88
8.4.1.3 Ammonium radical test - - - - - 88
8.4.1.4 Action of heat - - - - - - 89
8.4.1.5 Solubility test - - - - - - 90
8.4.2 Test for anions - - - - - - 91
8.4.2.1 Sulphate radicals - - - - - 91
8.4.2.3 Halide Radical - - - - - - 91
8.4.2.4 Nitrate radical - - - - - - 92
8.4.2.5 Carbonate radical - - - - - - 993
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8.4.3 Test for cation - - - - - - -95
Summary table for cation/metallic radical test- - -95

CHAPTER NINE
9.0 Organic qualitative analysis - - - - 101
9.1 Test for unsaturation - - - - - 101
9.1.1 Bromine water test - - - - - 101
9.1.2 Potassium permanganate test - - - - 102
9.1.3 Silver(i) chloride/copper(i) Chloride test - - 9.13
Summary table for unsaturation test - - - 104
9.2 Functional group test - - - - - 104
9.2.1 Alkanols - - - - - - - 104
9.2.1.1 Esterification - - - - - - 104
9.2.1.2 Sodium test- - - - - - - 105
9.2.1.3I Iodoform test - - - -- - - 105
9.2.1.4 Oxidizing agent such as KMnO4 or K2Cr2O7- - 105
9.2.2 Alkanals and alkanones - - - - - 106
9.2.2.1 Fehlings test - - - - - - 106
9.2.2.2 Tollen’s test - - - - - - - 106
9.2.3 Alkanoic acids - - - - - - 106
9.2.3.1 Reaction with metallic trioxocarbonate/
hydrogentrioxocarbonates(iv)- - - - - 104
9.2.3.2 Ester formation - - - - - - 107

CHAPTER TEN
10.0 Simple food test - - - - - - 108
10.1 Test for carbohydrate- - - - - - 108
10.1.1 Test for reducing sugar -- - - - - 108
10.1.2 Test for non reducing sugar - - - - 109
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10.1.3 General test for carbohydrate - - - - - 109
10.2 Test for proteins - - - - - - 110
10.3 Test for fats and oil (lipids) - - - - 111
CHAPTER ELEVEN
11.0 Rate of chemical reaction - - - - 112
11.1 Effect of concentration on rate - - - - 112
11.1.1 To study the rate curves for different concentrations
of HCl in reaction with CaCO3 - - - - 112
11.2 To show that the rate of reaction powered CaCO3 with
dilHCl is faster than that of CaCO3 chips with the acid-- 114
11.3 To show the effect of temperature on the rate of
reaction between dilHCl and Mg - - - 113
11.4 To examine the effect of the presence of MnO2 on the
decomposition of H2O2 to give H2O and O2 -- 114
Note - - - - - - - 117
References - - - - - -- - 119
Index - - - - - - 120

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