Eduardo Soto 11/5/12 Period 5 Ionic vs.

Covalent Bonding lab investigation Introduction: Atoms in nature are never found alone, due to their desire to be complete or in other words have an octet. When an atom has an octet it is at it's most stable state. Most atoms bond with others either in ionic or covalent bonds. Ionic bonds are formed when the valence electrons of an atom are completely transferred to another. Ionic bonds produce cations & anions that are attracted to each other through the electrostatic attractive force. The ions form a crystal like structure. In covalent bonds atoms share electrons, dont conduct electricity, and form a molecular structure. Hypothesis: Table 1: The expected results of different substances Compounds to be tested Chemical formula Hypothesis 1: Ionic or Covalent Distilled (pure) water Sodium Chloride Sucrose (sugar) C12H22O11 Covalent Low NaCl Ionic High Only when dissolved in water No H2O Covalent Hypothesis 2: High or low melting point? Low Hypothesis 3: Will it conduct electricity? No

Eduardo Soto 11/5/12 Period 5 Dextrose C6H12O6 Covalent Low No

Sodium sulfate

NaSO4

Covalent

High

Only when dissolved in water

Procedures: Part I. Melting points and strength of bonds 1. Fold aluminum into a neat square and place the 4 different compounds on it. 2. Place the Aluminum on the ring stand and heat. 3. Record observations, while keeping track of which samples melt. Also, note which ones have a strong or weak bond. 4. Rinse foil and throw it away. Part II. Electrical Conductivity 1. Test compound dry for conductivity and record your observations with a yes or no. 2. Add distilled water to dissolve the compounds. 3. Now test the solution for conductivity, record observations, and wash the tester with distilled water after every use. 4. Repeat previous steps for each compound.

Results: Table 2: The results of testing five different chemical substances. Name/Chemical Formula: Part I: Melting point (1-5; High, Med. Or Low?) 1= lowest: (already melted) Part II. Conducted Electricity? Dry N/A Dissolved No Final Conclusion: Ionic or Covalent Bonds? Covalent

1.Distilled (pure)Water/H2O

Eduardo Soto 11/5/12 Period 5 2.Sodium Nacl Chloride/ 5 2 3 4 No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Ionic Covalent Covalent Ionic

3.Sucrose(sugar)/ C12H22O11 4.Dextrose/ C6H12O6 5. Sodium NaSO4 Sulfate/

Conclusion: After this laboratory, it was concluded that sodium chloride and sodium sulfate were ionic compounds, while sucrose, dextrose, and water were covalent compounds. These results prove the prior hypotheses correct. From these results, the ionic compounds were those that conducted electricity in water and had high melting points (strong points). However, the covalent compounds did not conduct electricity at all at any point and had lower melting points than the ionic compounds; therefore, they have weak bonds. Ionic bonds are formed from metal cattions and non-metal anions that conduct electricity when dissolved in water. Additionally, ionic bonds are very strong since the ions are held together by the electrostatic attractive force in a called a crystal lattice. However, the covalent compounds did not conduct electricity, because the electrons are tightly shared in a molecular structure. Since the valence electrons are shared between the atoms, the valence electrons are tightly held, and do not conduct electricity. Covalent bonds are weakly bonded due to their lack of ions.