Chemistry project work

On
Qualitative Analysis of Alloys

Acknowledgement

I would

like to
thank Sir Prakash
Chhetrifor
providing
me with this
project work as it
Submitted by Pema Wrangdrol
Class: Xll Science ‘A’
made
me
do a Index No.:012180260034
lot of

Roll Number:35
Ugyen Academy
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researchand for helping me finalize this piece. With Sir’s guidance and advice, I could finally
complete it perfectly. While going through many websites and books, I came to discover and
understand things at a completely new level and all this credit goes to Sir Prakash. Not only did I
understand certain important things but also discovered some new information’s that was
unknown to me. I would also want to thank my parents and friends for lending me with different
forms of support, which made my road to success easy, and for helping me to finalize the project
within the limited time. With their support and care, I did not face much hindrance and burden
while doing this work.

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 Table of Content

Sl.No. Topic Page Number

1 Introduction Research questions 4
Hypothesis
2 Background Brass 5
information Bronze 6
Substitutional and Interstitial 7
Alloys

Preparation of Alloys 8

3 Methodology Analysis of an alloys 9

4 Experiment Aim 10-11

Materials used
Theory
Procedure
Precautions 12
Observation

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 INTRODUCTION

An alloy is a homogenous mixture of two or more metals or a metal and a non-metal.

Alloys are usually harder than their components but very often less ductile and less malleable.
Thus, the hardness of gold is increased by addition of copper to it. The melting point of gold is
increased by addition of copper to it. The melting point of an alloy is always lower than the
melting points of the constituent metals. Other properties such as reactivity towards atmosphere
oxygen and moisture, mechanical strength, ductility, colour, etc. also undergo a change when an
alloy is made from its constituents (metals). This change of properties is very useful and makes
an alloy beneficial.
Alloys present in the market tend to have impurities in them for marketing purposes. Testing
these alloys for assured quality is essential while purchasing them. Thus such an analytical
experiment is crucial.The sole purpose of this experiment is to investigate the components of
samples of alloy and compare them with the standard components to ensure the purity of alloys.
In this project, we will analyze the components of three well-known alloys; brass, bronze and
duralumin.
The main purpose of selecting this project is due to my keen interest in this topic and to explore
more about alloys and learn new amazing things about alloys.

Research questions:
I. What is Brass made up of?

II. Can such a project prove alloys namely brass, bronze and duralumin to be genuine?

III. Can the constituents of alloys such as brass be figured out experimentally?

IV. Are alloys useful in our daily life?

Hypothesis:

A qualitative analysis of the samples of alloys will show their respective constituent metals and/or
non-metals.

“If the alloys are pure, then their analysis will reveal their constituent to be identical to
the standard components.”
 Analysis of Brass will show presence of copper and zinc, its two main components.

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 BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Alloying a metal is done by combining it with one or more other elements that often enhance its
properties. For example, the combinations of carbon with iron produces steel, which is stronger
than iron, its primary element. The electrical and thermal conductivity of alloys is usually lower
than that of the pure metals.
The physical properties, such as density, reactivity, Young’s modulus of an alloy may not differ
gently from those of its base element, but engineering properties such as tensile , strength,
ductility, and shear strength may be substantially different from those of the constituent materials.
This is sometimes a result of the sizes of the atoms in the alloy, because larger atoms exert a
compressive force on their neighboring atoms, and smaller atoms exert a ensile force on their
neighbors, helping the alloy resist deformation.
Sometimes alloys may exhibit marked differences in behavior even when small amount of one
element are present. For example, impurities in semiconducting ferromagnetic alloys lead to
different properties.
Some alloys are made by melting and mixing two or more metals. Bronze, an alloy of copper and
tin, was the first alloy discovered, during the prehistoric period now known as the bronze-age. It
was harder than pure copper and originally used to make tools and weapons, but was later
suppressed by metals and alloys with better properties.
Unlike pure metals, most alloys do not have a single melting point, but a melting range during
which the material is a mixture of solid and liquid phase (a slush). The temperature at which
melting begins is called the solidus, and the temperature when melting is just complete is called
the liquidus. For many alloys there is a particular alloy proportion (in some cases more than one),
which gives the alloy a unique and low melting point, and no liquid or solid slush transition.
Some of the alloys along with their composition is given below:

i. Brass: Brass is a metal alloy made of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and
copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties. It is a
substitutional alloy (explained later). Atoms of the two constituents may replace each
other within the same crystal structure.

Brass is used for decoration for its bright gold-like appearance; for applications where
low friction is required such as locks, gears, bearings, doorbells, ammunition casing

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 and valves; for plumbing and electrical applications; and extensively in brass musical
instruments like horns, bells and trumpets.

It consists copper 50-90% and zinc 20-40%and small amounts of tin, lead and iron.

Fig 1: Brass locks Fig 2: Door and window hinges made of Brass

Fig 3: Musical instrument, Trumpet, made of brass

ii. Bronze: Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12%
tin and often with the addition of other metals such as lead, iron and sometimes non-
metals or metalloids such as arsenic, phosphorus or silicon. Alpha bronze alloys of 4-
5% tin are used to make coins, springs, turbines and blades.

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 It consists of copper 60-90% and tin 5-35% and also contains small amounts of lead,
iron and zinc.

Fig 4: Bronze coinFig 5: Bronze spring

a. Substitutional and Interstitial Alloys

When a molten metal is mixed with another substance, there are two mechanisms that can cause
an alloy to form, called atom exchange and the interstitial mechanism. The relative size of each
element in the mix plays a primary role in determining which mechanism will occur.

1. When the atoms are relatively similar in size, the atom exchange method usually happens,
where some of the atoms composing the metallic crystals are substituted with atoms of the
other constituent. This is called a substitutional alloy. Examples include bronze and brass,
in which some of the copper atoms are substituted with either tin or zinc atoms
respectively.

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 2. In the case of interstitial mechanism, one atom is usually much smaller than the other and
cannot successfully substitute for the other type of atom in the crystals of the base metal.
Instead, the smaller atoms become trapped in the spaces between the atoms of the crystal
matrix, called the interstices. This is referred to as interstitial alloy.

Steel is an example of an interstitial alloy, because the very small carbon atoms fit into the
interstices of the iron matrix.

Stainless steel is an example of a combination of interstitial and substitutional alloys, because the
carbon atoms fit into the interstices but some of the iron atoms are substituted by nickel and
chromium atoms.

Fig 8: Pure metal, Substitutional alloy, Interstitial alloy and Substitutional/Interstitial alloy

b.Preparation of Alloys

Alloys are prepared from the techniques of fusion, compression or simultaneous

electrodeposition. Generally the components are mixed together in proper properties in a fuse
clay crucible, melted and stirred with a piece of charcoal to avoid oxidation. The molten mixture
is now allowed to cool and an alloy is obtained. Example: Brass is prepared by the above method.

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 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Analysis of an alloys

The complete analysis of an alloy involves two steps:

i. Qualitative analysis

This involves identification of the components of the alloys. Since alloys have different
physical properties from their constituents, chemical means must be used to separate and
identify the components.

ii. Quantitative analysis

This involves determination of the components of the alloy. It involves the separation of
the components from the alloy quantitatively followed by determination of percentage of
each component volumetrically or gravimetrically.

In this project we will carry out qualitative analysis of alloys.

The following experiments take into consideration the variables which are necessary to be
mentioned. In all the experiments performed, the solubility of alloys and the dissociation and
association of their ions are taken as dependent variables since the results depend on it. As an
independent variable we have the quantity of the various chemicals used. The variable kept
constant throughout the experiment is the temperature for the heating of chemicals and boiling.

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Experiment (Brass)

Aim:
To analyze a sample of brass qualitatively.

Materials used:
I) China dish
ii) Test-tube funnel
iii) Filter paper
iv) Common laboratory reagents.

Theory:
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc with the composition, Cu = 60 – 90% and Zn = 10 –
40%.

Thus copper and zinc form the main constituents of brass. Both these metals can be
dissolved in 50% nitric acid solution due to formation of nitrates which are soluble in
water. They then dissociate into their respective ions.

3Cu + 8HNO3 (dil.) 3Cu(NO3)2 + 2NO + 4H2O

3Cu(NO3)2 + 8H+ 3Cu2+ + 2NO + 4H2O

4Zn + 10HNO3 (dil.) 4Zn(NO3)2 + N2O + 5H2O

4Zn(NO3)2 + 10H+ 4Zn2+ + N2O + 5H2O

The solution can be boiled to expel the oxides of nitrogen and the resulting solution can be
tested for Cu2+ and Zn2+ ions.

Procedure:
i. We place a small piece of brass in a China dish and heat it with 10ml of 50% HNO 3 so
as to dissolve the piece completely.

ii. We continue heating the solution till a dry solid residue is obtained.

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iii. The solid residue is then dissolved in dil. HCl and filtered. Distilled water is added to
the filtrate.

iv. We pass this H2S gas through the filtrate. A black precipitate of copper sulphide is
obtained. The black precipitate is separated and the filtrate is kept for the test of Zn 2+
ions.

v. We dissolve the black precipitate by heating them with 50% HNO 3 solution. To this
solution, ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) solution is added. Appearance of deep blue
colouration in the solution shows the presence of copper ions in the solution.

Fig 9: Deep blue solution

vi. To test Zn2+ ions, we boil the filtrate to remove H 2S gas, then, we add solid NH4Cl
(ammonium chloride) to this and heat to dissolve NH 4Cl. Excess of NH4OH is added
so that the solution is ammonical. H 2S gas is passed through this ammonical solution.
Dirty white or grey precipitation indicates Zinc.

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Fig10: While conducting experiment Fig 11: Dirty white precipitate

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Precautions

During all of the aforementioned experiments, the necessary precautions to keep in mind are:

i. We should wear safety gloves while adding chemicals to the test tube or
alternatively use tongs to hold the test tube.

ii. While heating the chemicals, the mouth of test tube should never face us.

iii. Test tube should be cleaned thoroughly prior to the experiment in order to obtain
correct results.

iv. Experiments must be carried out under the supervision of a teacher in the case that
an accident occurs.

4. Observation

Experiment (Brass):

Observation Inference
1. Test for copper:
There was appearance of deep blue - Presence of Cu2+ ions confirmed.
colouration in the solution.

1. Test for zinc:

There was formation of dirty white - Presence of Zn2+ ions confirmed.
precipitate.

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 5. CONCLUSION

The qualitative analysis of all the samples of alloys showed the presence of their respective
constituents. Since alloys usually have two or three main components and the other components
are in minute amounts, we only tested for the main constituents which was enough to identify the
alloys.

Chemicals were used to firstly separate the constituents and form ions. Then, these ions were
tested using reagents. This method was successful in identifying the components (qualitative
analysis) but did not prove to be useful for quantitative analysis.

Using such method to analyze alloys, we can easily identify the alloys and the elements that are in
them. Thus, we can have full assurance that the alloys are completely genuine.

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 6. References

Alloys and their components. (n.d.) Metallic alloys. Retrieved July 12, 2017, from

https://sizemetal.com/product/stainless-steel

Clark, Jim. (2013). Qualitative Analysis of Alloys. Retrieved July 10, 2017, from

https://www.chemguide.co.uk.

Larsen, Delmar, Prof. (n.d.) Brass and Bronze properties. Retrieved July 11, 2017, from

https://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu

Smith, Cyril (1960) History of Metallography, MIT Press.

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