CHE 133-Section 202

Ben Killam
Dr. Graham B. Griffin
1/26/2015
Experiment 2: Carbonate analysis via gas evolution
Purpose:
The experiment was conducted with the purpose of determining the identity
of an unknown carbonate. This was accomplished by first measuring the
volume of CO2 evolved when the carbonate is introduced to HCl. Additionally,
the current atmospheric pressure and the temperature of the water the gas
evolution apparatus was placed in were also recorded. The data collected
was then used in the ideal gas law equation so that the moles of CO2
generated could be calculated. By multiplying the moles of CO2 by its molar
mass, the mass of CO2 evolved was determined. Next, the mass of CO2 was
divided by the mass of the unknown substance in order to calculate the
experimental mass % of CO2. The mass % of CO2 found in lab was then
compared to the literature values of mass % of CO2 for various carbonates so
that the identity of the unknown carbonate could be determined.
Procedure:
CHE 133 Experiment 2, General Chemistry II Lab, Winter Quarter 2014-2015,
DePaul University. [Online] https://www.d2l.depaul.edu (accessed January 26,
2015)

No deviations were made.

Results Narrative:
A sample of the unknown carbonate #12 was massed to a mass in-between
0.2g and 0.25g. The sample was then placed into an 18mm x 150mm test
tube. A 10mm x 75mm was then filled with 3 ml of 6M HCl and placed inside
the 18mm x 150mm test tube. The larger test tube was then attached to the
gas transfer assembly so that the evolved gas would be captured inside a
graduated cylinder. The HCl and the unknown carbonate were mixed causing
CO2 to be evolved and the resulting gases volume was measured in mL by
the graduated cylinder. The volume of the gas was converted to liters and
multiplied by the partial pressure of CO2. That value was then divided by the

product of R (62.3656 torr*L/mol*K) and the temperature of the water bath in

degrees Kelvin in order to find the number of moles of CO2 produced. By
multiplying the moles of CO2 by its molar mass, the mass of CO2 produced
was found. The %mass of CO2 was calculated by dividing the mass of CO2
produced by the mass of the unknown carbonate. The entire process was
preformed three times so that three % masses could be acquired so that a
more accurate comparison could be made to the literature values.
Data Tables:
Data table 1 contains the partial pressures of H2O and CO2 as well as the
atmospheric pressure, volume of CO2 produced, temperature of the water
bath, moles of CO2, %mass CO2, and the mass of the unknown carbonate for
all three trials.
Table 1: Recorded pressures, masses and temperatures for the evolution of
CO2 from an unknown carbonate and HCl.
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Patm (mm Hg)
768.0
768.5
768.5
P H2O (torr)
18.2
17.9
17.9
P CO2 (torr)
749.8
750.6
750.6
V (mL)
20.72
30.35
39.5
T (C)
20.5
20.3
20.3
-4
-3
n CO2 (moles)
8.48*10
1.24*10
1.62*10-3
m CO2 (g)
0.0373
0.0548
0.0713
mts (g)
33.8966
21.1164
17.4253
mt (g)
33.6950
20.9138
17.1922
msample (g)
0.2016
0.2026
0.2331
%CO2
18.5
27.0
30.6
The average %CO2 was found to be 25.4% with a standard deviation of
6.21%
Calculations:
The mass of the sample (msample) was calculated by subtracting the mass of
the test tube (mt) from the mass of the test tube and the sample (mts).

( m sample )=( mts )( mt )

( 0.2016 g )=( 33.8966 g )(33.6950 g)

The partial pressure of the H2O (P H2O) was calculated by substituting the
temperature of the water bath in C (T) for x in the equation of the line of
best fit for curve of a graph of the vapor pressure of water shown as a
function of temperature.

( P P H 2 O )=1.1177 (T )4.7408
( 17.9torr ) =1.1177 ( 20.3 C )4.7408
The partial pressure of CO2 (P CO2) was calculated by subtracting the partial
pressure of H2O (P H2O) from the atmospheric pressure (P atm)

( P CO2 ) =( P atm )( P H 2 O)
( 750.6 torr ) =( 768.5torr )(17.9 torr)
The moles of CO2 (n CO2) were calculated by dividing the product of the
partial pressure of CO2 (P CO2) and the volume in liters (V) by the product of
the temperature in Kelvin (T) and the ideal gas constant (R).

( n CO 2) =

( PCO 2 )(V )
( R )(T )

( 1.62103 mol )=

( 750.6 torr )( 0.0395 L)

torrL
62.3656
(293.45 K )
molK

The mass of CO2 (m CO2) was calculated by multiplying the moles of CO2 (n
CO2) by the molar mass of CO2 (Mm CO2)

( mCO 2 )=( n CO2 )( MmCO 2 )

( 0.0713 g )=( 1.62103 mol )(44.0098

g
)
mol

The %CO2 (%CO2) was calculated by dividing the mass of CO2 (m CO2) by the
mass of the unknown carbonate (msample) and multiplying the product by
100%.

( mCO 2 )
( CO 2 )= ( msample) 100
( 30.6 )=

(0.0713 g)
100
(0.2331 g)

Discussion:
The unknown carbonate number 12 was determined to be closest to K2CO3.
K2CO3 was chosen because the average mass %CO2 of carbonate #12 was
25.4% which was closest to the lowest literature value 31.84%, the literature
value of K2CO3. Additionally, trial 1 and 2 which had the %CO2s of 27.0% and
30.6% respectively were much closer to the literature value than trial 1
which was far from any of the literature values. The %CO2 values in the
experiment were abnormally low meaning that there was a great deal of
error present in the collection of data for the experiment. One possible
source of such error could be the position of the graduated cylinder not being
leveled with the water when the volume of the CO2 was measured. The error
in position could cause the mass percent of CO2 to be lower by decreasing
the volume of CO2 caused by incorrect measurement readings due to the
parallax caused by a portion of the graduated cylinder being submerged.
Additionally, the presence of trapped air in the gas transfer assembly could
cause the mass% to become larger than the actual value by increasing the
volume of gas in the graduated cylinder. However, this is unlikely in the case
of this specific experiment because the three mass %s calculated were under
the expected amount rather than over. In addition to that, a leak in the gas
transfer assembly caused by a puncture or a improperly sealed rubber
stopper could have caused a loss of CO2 making the final mass % smaller
than it actually is. Finally, carbonate #12 itself could be contaminated and
would then be unable to fully react with the HCl and evolve an appropriate
amount of CO2.