4

th
Hour
September 30, 2010
Overall this was a great lab. The background was the only section that I took off
points. I felt that ideas needed to be connected a little better so the paragraph had
better flow.
Determination of a Chemical Formula
Purpose
The objective of this lab is to find the formula of copper chloride hydrate, which
has a eneral formula of !u"!ly #H2$% This will be done by findin the masses of
copper, chlorine, and water in a sample of the substance% The water will be evaporated off
and the chlorine will be filtered out%
!ackground
The law of conservation of mass states that the mass before a reaction is the same
as the mass after a reaction% &ecause of this law, the masses of the components of copper
chloride hydrate can be determined after performin various e"periments on the
substance% The composition of a pure substance, reardless of its source, is the same, as
stated by the law of definite proportions% This means the empirical formula is the same
for every sample of copper chloride hydrate% The law of multiple proportions states that
elements combine in small, whole number ratios% This will be helpful in findin the
chemical formula of copper chloride hydrate% ' chemical formula is composed of
symbols and correspondin numerical subscripts that ive the proportions of the atoms of
the elements in a substance% The empirical formula is the simplest ratio of these atoms%
The empirical formula can be determined by calculatin the mole ratio of the substance%
' mole is a unit in chemistry that represents an amount of molecules, ions, or
atoms% &y definition, a mole is the number of atoms in 12 rams of
12
!% The number of
atoms in 12 rams of
12
! is appro"imately (%02 " 10
23
)called 'voadro*s number+% The
mass of an element is e,ual to the number of moles of that element% -or e"ample,
hydroen has a mass of one ram, which is e,ual to one mole of hydroen, while, o"yen
has a mass of si"teen rams, which is e,ual to one mole of o"yen%
This is then used to determine the chemical formula of a substance% -irst,
determine the masses of the atoms of the elements in the substance, and then convert it to
moles% The ratio of the moles of each atom in the substance is the mole ratio, which is
then used to determine the chemical formula% The mole ratio of the atoms becomes the
subscripts that correspond to that element% Ta.e water, for e"ample% There are two moles
of hydroen for every one mole of o"yen in water% Therefore, the chemical formula is
H2$% &y determinin the masses of the components of the substance, it is possible to
calculate the chemical formula%
Procedure
-irst, find the mass of the water in the sample by massin the sample before and
after heatin it% Heatin the sample causes the water to evaporate off% Then, combine the
sample with water and aluminum wire% 'fter addin hydrochloric acid, remove the
aluminum wire, leavin metallic copper in a solution with aluminum salt% /e"t, use a
funnel and filter paper to filter out the aluminum salt, which leaves only copper% -inally,
after addin ethanol to the copper and allowin it to dry under a heat lamp, mass the final
substance%
4
th
Hour
September 30, 2010
Data
"aw Data
0ass of !rucible 12%122
0ass of !rucible and Hydrated Sample 13%1(3
0ass of !rucible and 4ehydrated Sample 13%2(2
0ass of 5mpty 6atch 7lass 13%311
0ass of -ilter 8aper 0%194
0ass of 6atch 7lass, -ilter 8aper, and !opper 11%223
Inferred Data
0ass of Hydrated Sample 0%11(
0ass of 4ehydrated Sample 0%210
0ass of !opper 0%333
/umber of 0oles of !opper 0%00(03 mol
0ass of 6ater 5volved 0%20(
/umber of 0oles of 6ater 0%0114 mol
0ass of !hlorine in Sample 0%402
/umber of 0oles of !hlorine 0%0119 mol
0ole :atio, !hlorine ; !opper in Sample 2;1 )1%11;1+
0ole :atio, 6ater ; !opper in Hydrated Sample 2;1 )1%31;1+
-ormula of 4ehydrated Sample !u!l2
-ormula of Hydrated Sample !u!l2 2H2$
#ctual $alues
0ass of !opper 0%321
0ass of 6ater 0%210
0ass of !hlorine 0%414
-ormula of 4ehydrated Sample !u!l2
-ormula of Hydrated Sample !u!l2 2H2$
8ercent 5rror for !opper 3%23<
8ercent 5rror for 6ater 1%10<
8ercent 5rror for !hlorine 1%(1<
Observations
The hydrated sample was a blue=reen color and it was in clumps% Heatin the
sample caused the color to chane to brown, and it had an unpleasant odor% 'fter it
cooled, it still loo.ed brown and was clumped% 'ddin the aluminum wire caused the
mi"ture to fi## and bubble% >t also made a soft poppin noise because of the fi##in% The
color turned from blue to a colorless, foy mi"ture% The copper that attached to the wire
was a bron#e color and it attached to the wire in clumps% The filtered solution was still
colorless and foy% 't the conclusion of the e"periment, the copper was a bron#e color
and it was in clumps%
4
th
Hour
September 30, 2010
Calculations
0ass of Hydrated Sample
Mass of Crucible and Hydrated Sample Mass of Crucible = Mass of Hydrated Sample
g g g 11( % 0 122 % 12 1(3 % 13 =
0ass of 4ehydrated Sample
Mass of Crucible and Dehydrated Sample Mass of Crucible = Mass of Dehydrated
Sample
g g g 210 % 0 122 % 12 2(2 % 13 =
0ass of !opper
Mass of Watch Glass, Filter aper, and Copper Mass of !mpty Watch Glass Mass of
Filter aper = Mass of Copper
g g g g 333 % 0 194 % 0 311 % 13 223 % 11 =
0ass of 6ater
Mass of Hydrated Sample Mass of Dehydrated Sample = Mass of Water
g g g 20( % 0 210 % 0 11( % 0 =
/umber of 0oles of !opper
0ass of !hlorine
Mass of Dehydrated Sample Mass of Copper = Mass of Chlorine
g g g 402 % 0 333 % 0 210 % 0 =
0ole :atio, !hlorine; !opper in Sample
"umber of Moles of Chlorine "umber of Moles of Copper = Mole #atio, Chlorine$Copper
0%0119 mol Cl 0%00(03 mol Cu ? 1%11
2 !l ; 1 !u
-ormula of 4ehydrated Sample
Mole #atio of Chlorine $ Copper
!u!l2
Mass of Copper from
!%periment & Mole Copper
Molar Mass of
Copper
'()*) g Cu & mol Cu
+)(,-+ g Cu
? "umber of Moles of Copper
in Sample
? '(''+') mol Cu
4
th
Hour
September 30, 2010
-ormula of Hydrated Sample
Formula of Dehydrated Sample and Mole #atio of Water $ Copper
!u!l2 2H2$
8ercent 5rror; !opper
Molar Mass of Copper Molar Mass Copper Chloride Hydrate ? ercent Composition
of Copper
(3%94( g Cu 120%431( g CuCl. .H./ ? 0%32229
Mass of Hydrated Sample " ercent Composition = 0heoretical Mass of Copper
0%11(g Cu " 0%32229 = 0%321g Cu
!rror
g
g g
!rror
l 0heoretica
1ctual l 0heoretica
< 23 % 3 100
321 % 0
333 % 0 321 % 0
< 100
=

"esults
> found the chemical formula of copper chloride hydrate to be !u!l2 2H2$,
which is the correct chemical formula%
%rror #nalysis
The percent error for copper is 3%23 percent, which is 0%012 rams too hih@ the
percent error for chlorine it is 1%(1 percent, which is 0%002 rams too low@ and the percent
error for water it is 1%10 percent, which is 0%004 rams too low% 'n e"planation for this is
that not all of the water had evaporated off of the copper when it was ta.en out of oven at
the end of the e"periment% The oven was opened many times, which allowed some heat to
escape% 'lso, there were many other samples of copper in the oven that had water
evaporatin off% This means there was a build up of water in the oven, lenthenin the
time it would ta.e the water to evaporate% 6e waited about an hour and a half before
massin the copper, which may not have been enouh time considerin the build up of
water and the fact that heat was escapin% >t would have been assumed that the added
mass of water was copper, causin the data to show the mass of copper to be hiher than
it should have been% This would cause the mass of chlorine to be lower than it should
have been )the mass of copper was used to find the mass of chlorine+% 'n error for the
lower amount of water would have occurred at the beinnin of the e"periment% 8ossibly,
all of the water may not have evaporated off of the compound when it was heated, or the
compound rehydrated as it was coolin% Therefore, when the dehydrated substance was
massed, there were still some water atoms in the substance% However, it was assumed that
all the water had evaporated off, so any water that remained was assumed to be copper
chloride% This would cause the mass of water to be lower than the actual value, which
was the case% 'nother reason for the error is that in massin somethin a few times, there
may have been unwanted mass% Some unwanted mass could have been oil from our hands
or somethin such as water from the table% This would unintentionally increase the mass
of that item, but only by a small value% This is a reasonable e"planation, because the
percent error was very low%