1.

TitleofExperiment:
ChemicalsinEverydayLife
2.Purpose:
Thepurposeofthisexperimentwastoidentifytencommonhouseholdsubstances,byperformingtestsbasedon
theirchemicalproperties.

3.ExperimentalMethods:
TheexperimentalprocedureofthislabwasreferencedfromthelaboratoryhandoutExp#5Chemicalsin
EverydayLifewithnomodifications.

4.DataandObservations(someCalculations):YourlabnotebookpagesaresubmittedtoyourTAbefore
leavingthelab.Whensubmittingthereport,thelabnotebookpagesareobtainedfromyourTAandstapledto
report.
5.Results(andadditionalCalculations):
Thetenunknownswereidentifiedasfollowsbasedontheresultsofthetests:
#1ConfectionerySugar
Identifiedbasedonthesulfuricacidtestanditsappearanceincomparisontotheothersubstancesthattested
positive(whitepowdercomparedtocrystals)
#2Epsomsalt
Identifiedbasedonphysicalappearance(solidwhitecrystals)aswellastestingpositiveforthebariumtest
#3Cornstarch
Identifiedbasedonsolubility,pH,andpositiveforthestarchtest
#4Laundrydetergent
IdentifiedbasedonpHandtestingpositiveontheUVtest
#5Bakingsoda
Identifiedbasedonprocessofelimination(testedpositivefornotests)
#6Talcumpowder
Identifiedbasedonsolubility,physicalappearance,andfortestingpositivefornotest
#7Powderedmilk
Identifiedbasedonappearance,solubility(cloudy),andtestingpositiveonthebiurettest
#8Tablesalt
Identifiedbasedonappearanceandtestingpositiveforthesilvertest
#9Granularsugar
Identifiedbasedonappearance(crystals)andtestingpositiveonthesulfuricacidtest
#10Flour
Identifiedbasedontestingpositiveforthestarchtestandappearance

6a.Discussion:
Theobjectiveofthislabwasmetsuccessfullyas10unknownhouseholditemswereidentifiedafter
performingseveraltestsoneachsubstance.Thislabdemonstratedthesignificanceofchemicalpropertiesas
wellashighlightedthechemicalcompositionofeverydaysubstances.Thesubstanceswereidentifiedonthe
basisthattheirchemicalpropertiessetthemapart,giventhatmostsubstanceshadsimilarappearances.For
instance,sincesugarsreactwithsulfuricacidtoproduceacharredsubstance,theunknownsubstancesthat
weresugarscouldbeidentifiedbyaddingsulfuricacidtotheunknownsandobservingtheeffect.Inthis
manner,itissignificanttonoticethatthetestsusedwerechosentoproduceunambiguousresults,i.e.the
sugarsonlytestpositiveforthesulfuricacidtest,sothateachunknownsubstancecanbeuniquelyidentified
basedontheirrespectiveproperties.

6b.Conclusion:
Whilealltenunknownsubstanceswereidentified,eitherbyachemicalproperty,physicalproperty,orboth,
thedatacollectedinthelabwasattimesambiguous.Forinstance,thesulfuricacidtest,usedtotestfor
sugars,wasrecordedpositiveforthreesubstances,whileonly2ofthesubstanceswereknowntobesugars.
Similarly,thebiurettest,atestthatidentifiesproteins,shouldhave,again,beenpositivefortwosubstances,
eventhoughonlyonesubstancerecordedapositiveforthetest.Therefore,itispossiblethatallofthe
substanceswerenotusedintheexperimentandtheidentifiedsubstancesintheresultssectionmaynot
accuratelyreflectthechemicalpropertiesoftherespectivesubstances.Inordertoeliminateerrorssuchas
these,alltesttubesshouldbeproperlylabeledandusedaccordingly.Nonetheless,theexperimentallowedfor
theexplorationoftheconceptsmentionedinthediscussionsectionandinsightintothechemistryofeveryday
substances.

7.PostlabQuestions
1.Solidsilversulfatewillform,asshownbythenetionicequation:
+ Ag2 S O 4 (s)

2+2 Ag
S O 4
2.YoucanmixaqueousEpsomsaltsolutionintothewater.Ifthesampleofwaterhaslead,thenasolid,lead
(II)sulfateshouldform.

8.AdditionalReferences:
Chem01LaboratoryHandout.Exp#5Chemicalsineverydaylife.TuftsUniversity.Fall2015