Taylor Schermer

Steve Smith
Recovering a Precise Amount of Copper from a Reaction Lab
February 28, 2020
Pre-Lab Questions:
1. What type of reaction is taking place between copper (II) sulfate and iron? See the
“Types of Reactions” EdPuzzle.
When copper (II) sulfate and iron react they go through an oxidation reduction reaction.
An oxidation reduction reaction is a reaction where one element transfers electrons (oxidation)
to another element (reduction). In the reaction of iron and copper (II) sulfate the iron transfers
two electrons to the copper producing an ion of Fe which bonds with the sulfate and pure stable
Cu.
2. Explain what is meant by the symbols (aq) and (s) in the chemical equations. As part of
your explanation explain how the molecular equation and the complete ionic equation for
this reaction are equivalent.
In a chemical equation, subsymbol states the state of matter the element/compound is in
during the reaction. The symbol (aq) means that the element is in an aqueous solution. An
aqueous solution is a solution that has a solvent of water and another compound/element. The
symbol (s) states that the compound is a solid.
Complete Ionic Equation:​ Fe​(s)​ + Cu​2+​(aq)​ + SO​4​2-​(aq)​ → Fe​2+​(aq)​ + SO​4​2-​(aq)​ + Cu​(s)
Molecular Equation: ​Fe​(s)​ + CuSO​4 (aq)​ → FeSO​4 (aq)​ + Cu​(s)
The molecular and complete ionic equations for this reaction are equivalent because the
complete ionic equation has the ions of each compound separated into their charges. Ionic
bonds, when placed in water, break apart because they are attracted to the water molecule.
This results in free moving charged particles. The complete ionic equation shows the aqueous
solution of the ions that are attracted to the water molecules. The molecular equation shows
what happens when the ions rebond and the charges cancel each other out.
3. Is the molecular chemical equation balanced? Explain how you know.
The molecular chemical equation of Fe​(s)​ + CuSO​4 (aq)​ → FeSO​4 (aq)​ + Cu​(s)​ is balanced
because there is an equal number of particles of the same element on the reactants side and
there are on the product side. There is one iron atom, one copper atom, one sulfur atom, and
four oxygen atoms on the reactant side. There is one iron atom, one copper atom, one sulfur
atom, and four oxygen atoms on the product side​.
4. Why is iron replacing/displacing copper to bond with the sulfate and create a new
compound? Be as thorough as possible in your explanation. A good explanation will
involve electrons.
Metals are electron givers while non-metals are electron takers. Sulfate compounds are
bonded ionically where sulfur takes electrons from a bonded metal. Iron is more reactive than
copper, which means, compared to copper, it gives up its electrons more easily. When copper
(II) sulfate is dissolved in water, the ionic bonds are broken and when iron is added the
negatively charged sulfate ions will bond with the positive iron ion resulting in iron sulfate and
pure copper.
 5. Imagine that you have 5.00 g of Fe and excess (more than enough) CuSO​4.​ Calculate
the mass of copper you will recover as a product at the end of the reaction assuming that
all of the iron reacts and you recover all the copper. This value is known as the
theoretical yield.

Fe CuSO​4 FeSO​4 Cu

Before 0.09 moles XS 0 0

Change -0.09 moles -0.09 moles +0.09 moles +0.09 moles

After 0 moles XS 0.09 moles 0.09 moles

Table 1: BCA for 5.00 g of Iron

0.09 moles of Iron

1 mole of Iron 5.00 g of Iron

55.85 g of Iron

Table 2: Conversion of Iron from grams to moles

5.72 g of Copper
1 mole of Copper

63.55 g of Copper 0.09 moles of

Copper

Table 3: Conversion of Copper from moles to grams

5.72 g of Copper for 5.00 g of Iron.

6. Calculate the amount of iron powder and copper (II) sulfate you will need to generate a
theoretical yield of exactly 1.00 g of copper from the reaction. Hint 1: You will need to
perform two calculations Hint 2: You should start with where you want to finish, 1.00g of
copper.

Fe CuSO​4 FeSO​4 Cu

Before 0.02 moles 0.02 moles 0 0

Change -0.02 moles -0.02 moles +0.02 moles +0.02 moles

 After 0 0 0.02 moles 0.02 moles
Table 4: BCA for 1.00 g of Copper

0.02 moles of Copper

1 mole of Copper 1.00 g of Copper

63.55 g of Copper

Table 5: Conversion of Copper from grams to moles

1.12 g of Iron
1 mole of Iron

55.85 g of Iron 0.02 moles of Iron

Table 6: Conversion of Iron from moles to grams

CuSO​4​ * 5H​2​O
3.19 g of CuSO​4
1 mole of CuSO​4

159.61 g of CuSO​4 0.02 moles of

CuSO​4

Table 7: Conversion of CuSO​4​ from moles to grams

0.36 g of H​2​O
1 mole of H​2​O

18.015 g of H​2​O 0.02 moles of H​2​O

Table 8: Conversion of H​2​O from moles to grams

CuSO​4 5H​2​O

Moles: 0.02 0.1

Grams: 3.19 1.80

 Total Grams: 4.99
Table 9: Total grams for CuSO​4​*5H​2​O
Theoretical Iron fillings: 1.12 g
Theoretical CuSO​4​: 4.99 g

7. How is a chemical equation like a recipe? Why do chemists use calculations involving
the mole and molar mass when measuring out the amounts of reactants used in a
particular reaction?
A chemical equation is like a recipe because it requires a certain amount of reactants
(ingredients) to produce the correct amount of product. If too much of one ingredient is added to
a recipe it will change to the total result. If you add too much salt into brownies then the
brownies will be gross and salty. Chefs use cups, teaspoons, tablespoons, etc. to create the
right ratio of ingredients. Chemists use moles (6.02214 * 10​23​ atoms) to create the correct ratio.
It isn’t precise or efficient to count every atom so scientists use moles to find a ratio for a
successful chemical reaction. It also makes it easy to balance a chemical equation because the
ratio of mole vs an atom is a much more reasonable number to work with. Molar mass, which is
the mass on one mole of a certain element, allows chemists to calculate the required grams of a
substance. Each element has its own unique molar mass. The molar mass can be used to
measure a mole or a ratio of a mole in grams.

Results:
Beaker Mass 91.32 g

Initial mass of CuSO​4 4.99 g

Initial mass of Fe 1.1 g

Recovered (final) mass of copper 1.39 g

Table 10: Mass of Reactants, Product, and Materials

0.0204 moles of Copper

(rounded = 0.02 moles of Copper)
1 mole of Copper 1.3 g of Copper

63.55 g of Copper

Table 11: Conversion of 1.3 g of Copper from grams to moles

Fe CuSO​4 FeSO​4 Cu

Before 0.02 moles 0.02 moles 0 0

 Change -0.02 moles -0.02 moles +0.02 moles +0.02 moles

After 0 0 0.02 moles 0.02 moles

Table 12: BCA table for CuSO​4 ​reaction with Fe

Fe CuSO​4 FeSO​4 Cu

Moles 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02

Grams 1.1 3.19 3.04 1.3

Table 13: Moles to grams of reactants and products

CuSO​4 5H​2​O

Moles: 0.02 0.1

Grams: 3.19 1.80

Total Grams: 4.99

Table 14: Total grams for CuSO​4​*5H​2​O for CuSO​4​ reaction

Before (Mass of Beaker): 91.32 g

After (Mass of Beaker and Cu): 92.71 g

Results (Mass of Cu): 1.39 g of Copper

Table 15: Results

Post-Lab Questions:
1. What pieces of evidence do you have that a chemical reaction took place? Be thorough.
A chemical reaction took place because a precipitate was formed and there was a color
change in the solution. When the iron filings were introduced to the CuSO​4​ aqueous solution a
red-brown precipitate (pure copper) was formed indicating a chemical reaction. The original
solution of just CuSO​4 had
​ a bright teal color. As the iron filings were introduced the color of the
solution changed to a dark green/gray color. This was the second indication that a chemical
reaction was occurring.
2. Predict how the following scenarios would affect the amount of copper you believed you
recovered from the experiment. In particular, you should indicate whether the scenario
would increase, decrease or not affect the amount of copper you believed you
recovered. Provide a one or two-sentence explanation of your reasoning.
a. You don’t let the filter paper and filtrate completely dry before measuring their
mass.
 i. If you don’t let the filter paper and filtrate completely dry when you take
the mass you won’t be taking the mass of just the copper, you will also be
taking the mass of either water, which you washed your solution with, or
the aqueous FeSO​4​ with your recovered copper. This will give you a
higher mass than your true mass of just copper.
b. You only rinse the filtrate once.
i. If you only rinse the filtrate once then when you take the mass of the
filtrate, which is supposed to be comprised of pure copper, it may contain
leftover FeSO​4​ because it was not properly washed off the copper. This
will result in a higher mass.
c. You let the reaction proceed for three minutes as opposed to the recommended
ten.
i. If you let the reaction only occur for three minutes rather than the
recommended 10 minutes then the reaction may not have had enough
time to happen completely resulting in less copper being produced.
d. You use twice as much copper (II) sulfate to make the copper (II) sulfate solution.
i. If you use twice the amount of copper (II) sulfate to make the copper (II)
sulfate solution then you would end with copper (II) sulfate mixed into the
iron (II) sulfate at the end because there wouldn’t be enough iron to bond
with all the SO​4​ so some copper would rebond with the SO​4​. This would
not affect the amount of pure copper produced.
3. Based on what you did in the lab, would you expect your final measurements to indicate
that you recovered more or less than the theoretical yield of copper? You should answer
this question before determining your actual yield. Explain your reasoning in the context
of which sources of error and uncertainty you believe are most likely in YOUR
experiment.
Based on our final measurements, I think we recovered more mass than our theoretical
yield of 1.3 g. We washed our filtrate several times but we didn’t do it until the water ran clear
which would have resulted in FeSO​4​ being left over. Instead of just taking the mass of copper
we took the mass of copper and some FeSO​4​.
4. Calculate your percent yield of copper using the formula below.
Actual Y ield
P ercent Y ield = 100 * T heoretical Y ield
P ercent Y ield = 100 * 1.39g/1.3g
P ercent Y ield = 107%
5. Does your percent yield support the claims you made in answer to question 3? Explain.
Our percent yield does support the claims that I made in question 3 because it shows an
increase in matter compared to the theoretical yield. We had .09 grams over our theoretical
yield which would result in a FeSO​4​ being measured with our copper.
6. Why should it be impossible to have a true percent yield greater than 100%?
It should be impossible to have a true percent yield greater than 100% because that
would indicate that mass was created. Due to the law of Conservation of Mass, we know that
mass can neither be created or destroyed, so this is impossible. If done properly you should end
with 100% as your percent yield. If matter is lost along the way then your percent yield will be
less than 100%.