Evelin Luna 11/05/12 Period: 6 Ionic vs.

Covalent Bonding Lab Investigation

Introduction
Most atoms are never found by themselves; instead they are bonded to other atoms in ionic or covalent bonds. This is because of the electrostatic attraction makes the valence electrons attract from different atoms. The bonds either share V.E. or transfer V.E. bonds have ions, either a cation or anion. For an atom to be stable it needs to have a full shell. Same bonds conduct electricity like ionic bonds.

Hypothesis
Table 1: The expected results of testing five different chemicals Compounds to be tested Distilled (pure) Water Sodium chloride Sucrose (sugar) Dextrose Sodium sulfate Chemical formula H2O NaCl C12H22O11 C6H1206 NaSO4 Hypothesis 1: Ionic or Covalent Covalent Ionic Covalent Covalent Ionic Hypothesis 2: High or Low Melting Point? Low High Low Low High Hypothesis 3: Will it conduct electricity? No Yes No No Yes

Procedures
PART I. Melting Point and Strength of Bonds 1. Fold aluminum into a square that will fit on the ring-stand. Put a small sample of each of the 4 different compounds in each corner of the aluminum square. Do not mix them and keep track of them. 2. Place the aluminum foil with the compounds on the ring stand and heat it with the Bunsen burner (no longer than 2 min). 3. Begin recording your observations. Make sure to keep track of the order in which the compounds melt, or if they dont melt. Decide which ones are strong bonds and which are weak? 4. Let the square foil cool and then wash it off into the sink. PART II. Electrical Conductivity 1. Put an small amount of each compound in different wells of the well plate. 2. Test the dry compounds for conductivity with the tester. Make sure to record the observations with a Yes or No 3. After you tested the compounds dry, add enough drops of distilled water to the well to dissolve the compound. 4. Test the compound with the tester. Record the observations, and make sure to wash the conductivity tester with distilled water after every use. 5. Repeat for all of the compound samples.

Results
Name/ Chemical Formula: Table 2: The results of testing five different chemicals PART I: PART II: Conducted Melting Point (1-5; High, Electricity? Med. or Low?) Dry Dissolved 1 = lowest: (already melted) 5 2 3 4 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A No Yes No No Yes FINAL CONCLUSION: Ionic or Covalent Bonds? Covalent Ionic Covalent Covalent Ionic

1. Distilled (pure) Water/ H2O 2. Sodium Chloride/ NaCl 3. Sucrose (sugar)/ C12H22011 4. Dextrose/ C6H1206 5. Sodium sulfate/ NaSO4

Conclusion
The purpose of this lab was met. After this laboratory it was concluded that sodium chloride and sodium sulfate were ionic compounds while water, sucrose, and dextrose were covalent compounds. All of the initial hypotheses were correct. From the results the Ionic compounds were those that conducted electricity in water and had a high melting point (strong bonds). However, the covalent compounds didnt conduct electricity in water and had a low melting point (weak bonds). Ionic bonds are formed from metal cations (+) and nonmetal anion (-) so when they dissolve in water, electricity can flow through the solution. Additionally Ionic bonds are very strong since they have a high melting point, which means they dont melt very easily. Covalent bonds are formed from sharing electrons among each other. When dissolve in water, they are held together by electrostatic attraction that doesnt allow them to conduct electricity. Additionally, covalent bonds are very weak since they have a low melting point, which means they melt easily.