Lab Report Format 2019
Lab Report Format 2019
Title
Purpose: 3-5 sentences explaining what the lab is about and its objectives (2)
This is also where you will record any data, tables, graphs, depending on what the lab required.
Calculations: (4)
Analysis Questions: Rewrite the questions from your lab sheet and answer them in complete
sentences. (5)
Conclusion: 2-3 paragraphs tying together the purpose, the data and the analysis of that data,
and how it all fits together, in addition to relating the procedure and error sources (5)
Name: Mrs. Piersa Date Performed: 9/27/19
Purpose: This lab will demonstrate the decomposition (breakdown) of KClO3 into solid KCl
and gaseous O2 upon heating. Oxygen will be released into the atmosphere and the remaining
KCl can be measured to determine the change in mass. Using the Law of Conservation of Mass
we can determine the amount of oxygen gas released as a product and during what percentage of
oxygen was present in the original reactant.
Data:
Table 1
Mass of empty dish 42.56 g
Mass of dish + KClO3 43.66 g
Mass of dish + KCl (after heating) 43.21 g
Calculations:
6. Error analysis:
measured value – accepted value x 100 = 37% - 39% x 100 = 5.1 % experimental
error
accepted value 39%
Analysis Questions:
1. What is the Law of Conservation of Mass? The Law of Conservation of Mass states
that matter cannot be created or destroyed.
2. How do we use the Law to determine the amount of oxygen? Oxygen was contained
in the original compound and therefore was one of the components of the initial mass.
After the reaction occurred, the loss of mass resulted from the oxygen gas that escaped
during the decomposition of KClO3. Determining the difference in the mass of the
compound before and after heating allowed us to calculate how much oxygen gas was
released.
3. What are possible sources of error in this lab? Insufficient heating of the KClO3
reactant. Some oxygen would remain in the compound and the percent composition
results would be off.
4. Why does diatomic oxygen form when KClO3 is heated? Oxygen atoms are unstable
monatomically. Therefore elemental oxygen forms diatomic molecules, which are more
stable.
Conclusion:
Decomposition is a type of chemical reaction in which a single reactant breaks apart to
form two or more different substances. When a chemical reaction occurs, the total mass of the
reactants must equal the total mass of the products. This is the Law of Conservation of Mass.
During the experiment, the conservation of mass law was used to determine if mass was
lost or gained when the products were formed. The oxygen was not destroyed, but released as a
gas into the surroundings. The balanced equation also demonstrates the conservation of mass. In
the chemical equation for the reaction, the number of each type of atom in the reactants must be
equal to those in the products. For example, 2 KClO3 2 KCl + 3 O2 shows two potassium
atoms, two chlorine atoms and six oxygen atoms present in both the reactants and products.
In this experiment, the percent composition of oxygen was lower than the theoretical
percentage of oxygen. This means that the compound may have needed additional heating in
order to fully decompose the KClO3 and ensure all of the oxygen was removed.