MOLE
RELATIONSHIP IN A CHEMICAL REACTION
The Law of Conservation of Matter
states that “matter is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical
reaction.” In other words, the total mass
of the reactants must equal the total mass of the products in a chemical
reaction. Chemical equations are
balanced so that they do not contradict the law of conservation of matter. The coefficients used to balance an equation
also give the relative number of moles of reactants and products.
In this activity, you will test the
Law of Conservation of Matter by causing a chemical reaction to occur with a
given amount of reactant. You will then
carefully determine the mass of one of the products. With these measurements, you will be able to
calculate the moles of one reactant and one product and compare the number of
moles. From the balanced equation, you
should be able to see the relationship between the number of moles of a
reactant and the number of moles of a product.
OBJECTIVES
-
predict a balanced equation for the reaction taking place
-
react a known mass of Na2CO3 with excess HCl
-
calculate the mole ratio between Na2CO3 and NaCl
-
determine whether your results support the Law of Conservation of Matter
EQUIPMENT
-
goggles & apron -
balance - forceps or
tongs
-
evaporating dish -
lab burner - watch glass
-
dropper pipet - 250 mL beaker
PROCEDURE
* SAFETY GOGGLES AND
LAB APRON MUST BE WORN AT ALL TIMES DURING THIS EXPERIMENT! *
1. Clean and dry an evaporating dish. Determine the mass of the empty, dry
evaporating dish to the nearest
0.01 g.
2. With a spatula, add about 1.5 grams of sodium
carbonate to the evaporating dish, and read the mass to the
nearest 0.01 g. (NOTE: You should not attempt to measure exactly 1.50
g since it is only a reference point.
For example, mass readings of 1.72
and 1.38 would be equally acceptable.)
3. Cover the evaporating dish with a watch
glass. Using the dropper bottle,
carefully add hydrochloric acid to
the evaporating dish (that already
has the Na2CO3 in it).
CAUTION: HCl causes burns; avoid skin &
eye contact. Rinse spills with plenty of
water.
Allow the drops to enter the lip of
the evaporating dish so that they gradually flow down the side.
4. Continue adding the acid slowly until the
reaction has stopped. Do not add more
acid than is needed to
complete the reaction. (If you do add more than is needed, the rest
of the lab will take longer.)
5. Tilt the dish from side to side to make sure
the HCl has reacted all of the Na2CO3. If any unreacted Na2CO3
remains, add a few more drops of HCl to complete the reaction. Remove the watch glass cover. Rinse the
underside of the watch glass with a
very small amount of water. Be careful
to wash all material into the
evaporating dish.
6. Heat the liquid in the evaporating dish with
a low flame on the lab burner until it boils GENTLY. Take care to
avoid loss of liquid from boiling
over. Continue to dry the solid slowly
until all moisture appears to have
evaporated.
7. Remove the dish from the heat and allow it to cool. Then measure and record the mass to the
nearest
0.01 g.
8. After massing, the contents of the dish may
be rinsed down the drain using plenty of water.
Clean all lab
equipment and return it to the
container.
DATA
TABLE
Mass
of empty evaporating dish |
____________________g |
Mass
of evaporating dish & Na2CO3 |
____________________g |
Mass
of Na2CO3 |
____________________g |
Mass
of evaporating dish & NaCl |
____________________g |
Mass
of NaCl |
____________________g |
QUESTIONS
AND CALCULATIONS
1. One of the products in this reaction was NaCl, the
other two products were gases. These gases
are
also produced in a combustion
reaction. Write the balanced equation
for the reaction in this
experiment.
2. From your balanced equation, what is the mole
ratio between Na2CO3 and NaCl?
3. Suppose you had started with 3.25 moles of
sodium carbonate. How many moles of
sodium
chloride would you expect to be
formed? If you started with X moles of
Na2CO3, how many moles
of NaCl
would you expect to be formed? Explain.
4. Calculate the number of moles of Na2CO3
used in this reaction.
5. Calculate the number of moles of NaCl produced in this reaction.
6. From the data you collected in the lab, what
is the mole ratio between Na2CO3 and NaCl?
7. How does the mole ratio from the
balanced equation compare to the mole ratio from the
experiment?
8. Using the mass of Na2CO3
that you actually used in the experiment, determine the theoretical yield
of NaCl in
this experiment. (You will need to do a stoichiometry problem starting with your mass of Na2CO3
and determine the number of grams of
NaCl that should
have been produced.)
9. Compare the theoretical yield with your
actual yield. What is your percent
yield?
10. Was your percent yield more or less than 100
%? Explain what your percent yield
means.
(Explain why – in terms of the lab procedure - your percent yield was less than
or more than 100 %.)
11. Write a paragraph describing the observations
of this chemical reaction. Also include
in this
paragraph:
-
What are the indicators that a chemical reaction occurred?
- What were two (2) sources of error in this
experiment? (Assume balances are correct
and
that all instrument readings
were done correctly.)
- What could be done to prevent these errors
if you did the experiment again?