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Chemistry Lab Introduction

Determining the Molar Mass of a Solid Compound

Given the masses of each element in a sample of a compound, you can determine the molar ratios of the elements, and thus write down an empirical formula for the compound. For example, glucose has the molar ratios of carbon : hydrogen : oxygen = 1 : 2 : 1, and therefore, the empirical formula !2". !owever, this empirical formula doesn#t actually say how many , ! and " atoms are in each glucose molecule. $his information is contained in the molecular formula, %!12"%. $o determine the molecular formula of a compund, we need, in addition to the mass fractions of ech element, the molar mass of the compound & ie & the mass of 1 mole = %.'2 x 1' 2( molecules)formula units of the compound. $hen, *nowing that the molar mass is e+ual to some integer multiple of the ,empirical formula molar mass-, we can determine the molecular formula: .o, !ow do we determine the molar mass/0 1e use the fact that if a solid substance 2&ie& sugar3 is dissolved in a solvent 2ie & water3, then the solvent#s boliding temperature will increase. $he amount of temperature increase is directly proportional to the number of moles of the solid dissolved, regardless of what that solid is. 4n other words, 1 mole of sugar will have the same effect on the boiling point as one mole of salt && it really doesn#t matter what you#ve dissolved0 4s this not weird/0 5athematically, the temperature increase of the boiling point is given by: $ = 6 x 1''' x m solid , mli+uid x 55solid

1here 6 is a constant 2 = '.712 for water3, m solid is the mass, in grams, of the solid compound, m li+uid is the mass, in grams, of the li+uid, and 55solid is, you guessed it, the molar mass of the solid, the +uantity we#re loo*ing for0 .o, we solve this e+uation for 55solid: 55solid = 6 x 1''' x msolid m li+uid x $

8ow, let#s go into the lab and see if this formula is any good0 Procedure A) alibration of the $hermometer. $he thermometers we use are of the cheap hinese variety. $hey tend to be a bit inaccurate in their measurements. !owever, we are smarter than their stupidity, 9cause we#ve all ta*en :lgebra 4... :ssume that the correct temperature is a linear function of the measured temperature 2measured on the lousy thermometer3. $hat is, if x = the measured temperature, and y = the correct temperature, we can find constants m and b such that y = mx ; b. $hen, we have a formula for the correct temperature in terms of the inaccurate temperature we measure with our cheap thermometer. $o determine the e+uation of a line, we need two points 2x 1,y13 and 2x2,y23. 4n other words, we need to ma*e two measurements in which we *now for sure what the real temperature is. $he obvious choices are 13 the temperature of ice water 2' o 3, and 23 the boiling temperature of water 21'' o 3. For example, say we measure these two temperatures and find that our thermometer reads: 5easurement $rue $emperature 5easured $emperature 4ce 1ater 'o 2o o <oiling water 1'' 1'= o $hen 2x1,y13 = >>>>>>> 2x2,y23 = >>>>>>> 8ow we plug these two points into the formula y & y1 = m 2x & x13, where m = 2y2&y13)2x2&x13, and get

y = 1''2x & 23 1'2 or more generally: $actual = 1'' 2$measured &$4 ?3 $<@ & $4 ?

1here $4 ? is your measured value for the temperature of ice, and $<@ is your measured value for the boiling point of water. .o: @erform the measurements and record them here: $4 ? = >>>> o $<@A = >>>> o :nd the formula for $ actual is: $actual = >>>>2$ measured & >>> 3 B) Betermination of the 55 of a .olid @owder. 4 now the right answer. $he +uestion is, is your lab techni+ue good enough to reproduce it/ $he group that gets closest wins a priCe0 13 1eigh out about 12' g of the solid powder, recording the mass to the nearest '.'1 g: 5 solid = >>>>>>> g 23 arefully measure out 1'' mD of distilled water into a bea*er. :dd 1 mD extra to compensate for water lost due to evaporation. (3 :dd the white powder to the water, and heat over a bunsen burner. =3 :ssemble the thermometer stand as shown by instructor. 73 :llow solution to come to a raging boil. Eecord boiling temperature. Betermine actual boiling temperature, and calculate $. Finally, given 6 = '.712 and 5water = 1''g, determine 55solid. Eecord Bata !ere: 5solid = >>>>> g 5easured boiling point 2with solid dissolved3 = >>>>> o :ctual boiling point = >>>> o $ = >>>> o 55solid = >>>> g

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