Running head: CHEMESTY PRELAB 1

Chemistry Prelab
Name

Institution
CHEMESTRY PRELAB 2

Determining the Saturation Temperatures for Unknown Salt

Procedure

1.

Get a 25 by 250 mm test tube and a two-hole stopper. Insert a thermometer through one hole

of the stopper positioning it so that the thermometer bulb is about 1 cm from the bottom of

the test tube. From the bottom, insert the stirrer with a small loop at the bottom through the

other stopper hole. The thermometer passes through the loop.

2.

Set up a ring stand with an iron ring and wire gauze. Put 300 ml of water into a 400 ml

beaker and place it on the ring stand. Place a Bunsen burner under the beaker and adjust the

height of the beaker so that it is 5-6 cm above the Bunsen burner.

3.

Obtain a sample of unknown salt from the instructor and record the identification code for

the given unknown salt. Weigh the sample in its container and carefully transfer the entire

sample to the large test tube and reweigh the container to obtain the mass of the unknown

salt.

4.

Fill the burette with distilled water and adjust the water level to read 0.00 ml on the burette.

Deriver approximately 3.00 ml of water to the large test tube, recording the actual volume to

0.01 ml.
CHEMESTRY PRELAB 3

5.

Collect the test tube with the stopper, thermometer and stirrer and put it into the water in the

beaker. Ensure there is no salt on the side of the test tube. Start heating the water in the

beaker with the Bunsen burner while stirring occasionally and gently. Continue heating until

the salt dissolves completely. If the salt has not dissolved completely at a temperature of 80-

85 OC, remove the test tube and add 0.5 ml more water and again record the total volume of

water delivered from the burette to 0.01 ml (record the amount of water added and not the

increments). Add more water and repeat if it still does not dissolve completely by 80-85 OC.

6.

When the sample is completely dissolved, remove the test tube from the beaker and stir the

solution as it cools. Record the temperature when the crystals start to appear. Add 0.5 ml of

water recording the volume of water added and repeat the dissolving and crystallization

process. If the change in the saturation temperature after several additions of water is very

small, add water in 1.0 ml increments. The saturation temperatures will decrease as the

solution becomes more dilute. When the saturation temperatures approach room temperature,

cool the test tube first in room temperature water and then in ice water. Obtain 8-10

saturation temperatures.

7.

Calculate the solubility in g/100 ml for each saturation temperature and use excel to graph

the solubility of the unknown salt as a function of temperature. Compare the plotted graph

with graphs of known salts in the lab manual to identify the unknown salt.