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Ionic Compound

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Formula of an Ionic Compound Introduction: The purpose of this lab is to determine the empirical formula of an unknown compound. An empirical formula is a formula that gives the proportions or the kinds of elements present in a compound but not the exact numbers or arrangement of atoms. In this lab, two solutions with equal mouths of reactant ions will be combined; the total volume of the solution will be held constant while the volume ratio of the reactant is varied. The amount if precipitate in each reaction will be measured against the volume ratio, then, the empirical formula can be found. The expected formula is Cu3(PO4)2 when predicted using the charges of ions, which would be at a 1 :1 ratio. Methods: First, seven small test tubes that are labeled in a test tube rack were obtained. Next, with two puppets ready, one pipet was filled with 0.1 M cooper (II) chloride and the other with 0.1 M sodium phosphate. Then, the appropriate number of drops of both solutions were added into the labeled test tubes. The drops were determined by a 1:1 ratio. Time was …show more content…

Discussion: According to the data the ratio of Copper (II) ions to phosphate ions in the compound is 2:3 because it has the most ppt. The expected formula was Cu3(PO4)2 but our data says the accurate formula is Cu2(PO4)3. When 2 parts CuCl2 and 3 parts Na3PO4 was tested it got the highest amount of precipitate compared to all the rest, measuring at 24 mm tall. The next tallest which was “the correct answer” was #5 measuring at 20 mm tall. This could have been affected by the fact that maybe not all drops in each test tube were accurate, some tubes could have gained an extra drop while another tube did not have enough. This would explain why every group didn't get the same answer, because each group put more or less drops of each solutions in each test

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