NAME OF STUDENT

April 23, 2015

Chemistry I Honors
Mrs. Abdeljaber/Ms. Rotola
Period 9
Lab Report II

Finding Empirical Formula of Hydrate

Objective:
The objective of this lab was to calculate the number of moles of H2O in
hydrated compound. Using the number of moles calculate the
empirical formula.
Materials:
- Bunsen Burner
- Clay Triangle
- Crucible
- Hydrated Sulfate
- Lighter
- Ring
- Ring Stand
- Scale
- Tongs
- Weigh Boat
Procedure:
1. Put on safety goggles
2. Gather all of the materials needed for the lab.
3. Measure the mass of the crucible on the scale. Record the mass
in grams.
4. Add the Hydrated Compound Sulfate to the crucible.
5. Find the mass of the crucible and the compound by putting it on
the scale.
6. Subtract the mass of the crucible and the compound by the mass
of the crucible found in step three. Record the mass of the
crucible.
7. Place the clay triangle on the ring stand. Adjust the ring stand so
that the flame from the Bunsen burner, when turned on will be
touching the bottom of the crucible.
8. Place the crucible in the clay triangle.
9. Turn the Bunsen burner on so that the compound could start to
heat up. If the compound starts to turn brown or black, the flame
is too strong, and will burn the compound. You can turn the
Bunsen burner off once the compound turns white.
10.
Let the crucible cool off before moving onto the next step.
11.
Use the tongs to take it off of the clay triangle, onto the
scale.
12.
Since we already know the mass of the crucible, we can
scale the mass in grams of the crucible and the compound.
13.
Subtract the mass of the crucible and the compound after
heating by the mass of the crucible and record the mass in
grams.

14.
Clean up your table, and put all the materials back where
they were.
Data:
Weight Boat-2.111g
Compound Before Heating-1.689g
Compound After Heating-1.239g
Mass of Evaporated H2O-0.45g
Calculations:
MassOfEvaporatedWater
# ofMoles
MolarMassOfWater
H O=
2

0.45g
0.025mol
18.015g/ mol

#OfMolesInCompound
# OfMolesInRatio 0.025mol 3.2216mol
Smallest#OfMolesOfThe2Compounds
0.00776mol
MassOfEvaporatedWater
1.239g
# ofMoles
0.00776mol
MolarMassOfWater
159.602g/
m
ol
CuSO4=
#OfMolesInCompound
# OfMolesInRatio 0.00776mol 1mol
Smallest#OfMolesOfThe2Compounds
0.00776mol
Results:
Using these calculations we can conclude that 3.2216 moles can
be rounded down to 3 moles for the ratio. The ratio is 1 mole of CuSO4
to 3 moles of H2O. The empirical formula is CuSO4*3(H2O). The actual
ratio should be 1 mole of CuSO4: 5 moles of H2O.
Conclusion:
Since I did not get the correct ratio of CuSO4 to H2O my ratio was
1:3. The correct ratio is 1 mole of CuSO4: 5 moles of H2O. Some sources
of error could be how long the compound was heated for. Another
source of error could have been the strength of the Bunsen burner, or
how close the crucible was to the flame. A source of error could be the
amount of time the compound was heated for. If the compound were to
be heated longer, the mass of the compound after heating would have
been smaller due to evaporation. That would mean that the mass of
the evaporated H2O would be different affecting the calculations. If the
calculations were a little different than the number of moles would be
close to the correct ratio of 1:5 moles. The empirical formula of my
experimental mass is CuSO4*3(H2O). The empirical formula of the
actual mass is CuSO4*5(H2O).