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Hydrate Formula Lab

This experiment determined the formula of copper(II) sulfate hydrate. Mass measurements were taken of the empty crucible, crucible with copper(II) sulfate hydrate, and crucible with the anhydrous copper(II) sulfate after heating. Calculations found 0.012 moles of copper(II) sulfate and 0.06 moles of water were present, indicating a formula of CuSO4 x 5H2O. The results supported the law of definite proportions by showing the constant 5:1 ratio of water to copper(II) sulfate.

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Colin Rich
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Hydrate Formula Lab

This experiment determined the formula of copper(II) sulfate hydrate. Mass measurements were taken of the empty crucible, crucible with copper(II) sulfate hydrate, and crucible with the anhydrous copper(II) sulfate after heating. Calculations found 0.012 moles of copper(II) sulfate and 0.06 moles of water were present, indicating a formula of CuSO4 x 5H2O. The results supported the law of definite proportions by showing the constant 5:1 ratio of water to copper(II) sulfate.

Uploaded by

Colin Rich
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Water of Crystallization and

the Formula of a Hydrate


(To determine the hydrogen formula and the proportion of water to
Copper(II) Sulfate.)
Data

Mass of empty crucible and cover 93.02g

Mass of crucible, cover and Copper(II) 96.02g


Sulfate

Mass of crucible, cover and anhydrous 94.94g


Copper(II) Sulfate after first heating

Mass of anhydrous Copper(II) Sulfate 1.92g

Moles of anhydrous Copper(II) Sulfate 0.012 moles

Mass of water driven from hydrate 1.08g

Moles of water driven from hydrate 0.06 moles

Mole ratio of water to Copper(II) Sulfate 5:1 (moles H2O


mole CuSO4)

Empirical Formula CuSO4 x 5H20


Calculations
1. Calculate the mass of the anhydrous Copper(II) Sulfate.
94.94g – 93.02g = 1.92g
2. Calculate the moles of anhydrous barium chloride.
Cu: 1(63.54) = 63.54g
S: 1(32.06) = 32.06g
+ O: 4(16.00) = 64.00g
159.60g/mol

1.92g = 0.012 moles


159.60g/mol
3. Calculate the mass of water driven from the hydrate.
96.02g – 94.94g = 1.08g
4. Calculate the moles of water driven from the hydrate.
1.08g = 0.0599 moles or 0.06 moles
18.02g
5. The reaction for this experiment is:
Mole H2O = 0.06 mol = 5
Mole CuSO4 0.012 mol

CuSO4 x 5H2O
Questions
1. How does this experiment exemplify the law of definite composition?
The experiment exemplifies the law of definite composition as it proves that the
proportion between water and Copper(II) Sulfate is always constant and stays at 5:1.
2a. Could the solid be a hydrate?
This solid could be considered a hydrate because it lost mass while it was heated,
which means that a solution evaporated during the heating.
b. If the solid after heating has a molar mass of 208 g/mol and a formula of XY, what is the
formula of the hydrate?
XY x nH20
2. Some cracker tins include a glass vial of drying material in the lid. This is often a mixture of
magnesium sulfate and cobalt chloride indicator. As the magnesium sulfate absorbs moisture
(MgSO4 x H2O → MgSO4 x 7 H2O), the indicator changes color from blue to pink (CoCl2 x 4 H2O →
CoCl2 x 6 H2O). When this drying mixture becomes totally pink, it can be restored by heating in
the oven. What two changes are caused by the heating?
Several changes that are caused by the heating include a color change and a mass
change.
Discussion of Results

The purpose of this lab was to discover the hydrogen formula, CuSO 4 x nH2O, and the

proportion of water to Copper(II) Sulfate, which was 5:1. In order to determine the empirical

formula for Copper(II) Sulfate, several steps were taken. This included finding the mass of the

anhydrous Copper(II) Sulfate, the moles of it, the mass of water driven from the hydrate, and

the moles of water driven from the hydrate. All this essentially led to the reaction for this

experiment.

The method we went about performing this experiment is heating the hydrate to

evaporate the water off. First, the compound was weighed and then heated, and finally

weighed again to determine the mass lost. Through this, the formula of Copper(II) Sulfate was

discovered, and the law of definite proportions was also tested in this lab. This law states that a

compound always contains two or more elements combined in a definite proportion by mass,

meaning that a constant ratio is applied.

The mass of the anhydrous compound was 1.92 grams, and was later divided by the

number of grams per mole in Copper(II) Sulfate, which was 159.60 g/mol. This was done to

determine the number of moles of Copper(II) Sulfate, which came out to be 0.012 moles. The

mass of the water was 1.08 grams, which was divided by the molar mass of water, resulting in

the number of moles of water in Copper(II) Sulfate, which was 0.0599 or 0.06 moles. The two

products, 0.012 and 0.06, were divided and the final result matched the ideal 5:1 ratio between

water and Copper(II) Sulfate.


There were several potential factors that may have tampered with the exact

experiment. First of all, the room’s humidity played a role as it may have prevented Copper(II)

Sulfate to become absolutely water-free. The compound may have absorbed some of the water

back, giving it more mass, and making the mass slightly inaccurate. In addition, human error

must also be taken into effect as incorrect measurements and weighing miscalculations are

always possible. When heating the substance, the flame might not have been exactly in the

ideal spot or even the cooling period may not have sufficed.

Since hydrates have a constant ratio, the result of this lab proved the original law of

definite proportions. The size of the substance would not have mattered because as the law

states, the ratio, between water and Copper(II) Sulfate, is constant and will never change.

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