PT Activity 3: Making Copper

Atoms and their Masses

Scientists and philosophers have been theorizing about the atom since the
days of Democritus (Fig 3.1). It is a concept that you have undoubtedly
formed an image of in your own mind through your educational and personal
experiences with matter. We are now going to take the concept of an atom
you have developed and expand upon it. It will be important to our studies of
chemistry that you have a solid idea of what an atom is – so we will start today
by looking at atoms’ masses and learning the theory behind the atom.

You have experienced examples of both physical and chemical properties of

various elements. These properties are related to the chemical composition of
these elements. The atom is the smallest building block which reflects their
characteristics. In this activity, the meaning of the atom and its association to
atomic mass will be discovered. Macroscopic properties will be related to the
nanoscopic properties or the internal structure of atoms.
Fig 3.1

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P R E P A R I N G

WHAT DO YOU KNOW? • LE ARNING OBJECTIVES

One of the most important things we can do to learn chemistry is identify misconceptions. Think of Fish is
Fish – I don’t want you to leave here thinking a cow looks like a fish with spots, scary seaweed in its
mouth, and a big pink bag hanging off of it! The first step to correcting misconceptions is to think about
what you know. In your laboratory notebook:
1. Draw a picture of what you think an atom of carbon looks like at the nanoscale. Label the parts.
2. Answer: In front of you is approximately 12 grams of carbon. How many atoms of carbon do you
think are in 12 grams of carbon chunks?
3. State an objective for doing this lab (why are we back there?!).

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E X P E R I M E N T I N G

MAKING COPPER • QUANTITATIVE

Part A: Making Copper

Chemists combine elements to form new substances. They are able to draw conclusions about the
properties of the elements involved by determining which elements combine to form compounds,
analytically measuring the amounts of elements used, and analytically measuring the amounts of
substances formed. You will study the reaction of aluminum with copper(II) chloride.

2Al(s) + 3CuCl2(aq) 2AlCl3(aq) + 3Cu(s)

Based on Active Chemistry, Periodic Table

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 1. The balance should be in grams. Zero-out the balance with a weigh boat on it. Mass-out
approximately 2.00 grams of copper(II) chloride into the empty weigh boat. Record the value in
your observations half.
2. Add the copper(II) chloride into a clean 50 mL beaker. Using a Morh pipette, add 25.00 mL of
distilled water to the beaker to make a solution of copper(II) chloride – making copper(II) chloride
solid aqueous (aq). Be sure to pour some distilled water into a beaker and then suck it out –
never put any equipment into the distilled water bottle.
3. Mass-out approximately 0.20 grams of aluminum foil into the empty weigh boat. Record the
value that you obtain in your observations half of the entry. Place the aluminum pieces into the
50-mL beaker.
4. Record your observations in your laboratory notebook. Consider: how the beaker feels when
you touch it; what you hear when you listen closely to the beaker; what you see happening in the
beaker. As the reaction progresses, discuss with your partner: what color forms on the aluminum
pieces; what do you think is responsible for this color; where is the color coming from? Record
your general thoughts in the observations half of your entry.
5. In order to speed-up the reaction (a result of collisions of particles in the solution), use a small
stirring rod and stir the materials together. It is not necessary to constantly stir.
6. Allow the reaction to proceed until you no longer see or hear any reaction between the aluminum
and copper(II) chloride and the solution begins to clear.
7. Mass-out a piece of dry filter paper (in the desiccators). Record the value that you obtain in the
observations section of your entry.
8. Follow the indicated filtration method used in the demo. Allow the wet solid to dry over night
under a fume hood. Clean any equipment used with soap, warm water and a distilled water rinse.
9. The next day, mass the product, evaporating dish and filter paper on the electronic balance.
Record the value in your observations.
10. Calculate the mass of your product and record the value both in the observations half of your
entry and on the board in the laboratory or tablet in the classroom (ask instructor).
11. Clean any equipment used with soap, warm water and a distilled water rinse.
Part B: Making it Quantitative
The reaction you witnessed is called a single-replacement reaction. In this reaction, a single element
(copper) replaces another element (aluminum). As a result of this reaction, the copper leaves its
combined form to become an uncombined or free element. The aluminum leaves its elemental form to
join with the chlorine to form a new compound. You’ve described this qualitatively in Part A; now in this
portion of the activity, you will learn to describe it quantitatively.

Complete the following in your experimenting section. You may span both columns.
1. How many grams of aluminum did you start with? How many grams of copper did you end up
with (contents of the dry filter paper)?
2. Take a look at the coefficients in the equation presented on page 1 of this lab. What is the ratio of
copper atoms in the reactants to aluminum atoms in the products? Explain what this means.
3. We’d like to compare the same number of atoms of each element to compare the masses of
aluminum and copper. To do this, we will need to compare the same number of atoms of each.
We use the coefficients to create a conversion ratio. Take your mass of copper and multiply it by
2/3. Now both masses will represent the same number atoms of each element (because you’ve
accounted for the law of conservation of mass). You’ll learn more about this soon – just trust
me for now!
4. Determine how many times more massive copper atoms are when compared to aluminum atoms.
5. We can look at atomic masses on the periodic table to check this. Divide the atomic mass of
copper by the atomic mass of aluminum. Compare to your answer to the question above.
6. Recall that every group in your class reacted the same mass of aluminum with the same mass of
copper (II) chloride. Discuss the similarities and differences in the data on the board with a
partner. Record your thoughts as to why there are differences.
Based on Active Chemistry, Periodic Table
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A N A L Y Z I N G

RE ADING • QUESTIONS

Reading: Making Copper

,
Read ChemTalk on pages 19 - 22. Use the Chem Words and Checking Up sections on the sides of the
reading to help check your understanding.

Questions: Making Copper

1. We want to do some error analysis on this lab. If all went perfectly, you should have gotten 0.71g
of copper (Cu). Calculate your percent error with proper significant digits (note: percent error is
the difference between the observed and true values divided by the true value multiplied by
100%:

(observed value – true value)

x 100%

true value

2. It is also common to calculate a percent yield. Percent yield is the actual yield or what you got in
lab (in grams) divided by the theoretical yield (in grams, 0.71 g in this case) and then multiplying
by 100%. Please calculate your percent yield for this reaction.

C R I T I C A L L Y T H I N K I N G

CT ME AN? • KNOW? • BELIEVE? • CARE?

What does the activity mean?

Chemistry explains the macroscopic phenomenon (what you observe) with and explanation of what
happens at the nanoscopic level (atoms and molecules) using symbolic structures as a way to
communicate. Explain the meaning of this activity by completing the MNS table.

MACRO NANO SYMBOLIC

What did you see in this Explain the single What was the equation for this
reaction? displacement of aluminum by chemical reaction? Don’t
copper in the solution. forget all of the special
symbols….

How do I know?
Making specific reference to your laboratory data, how did you know for every two atoms of Al you
made three atom of Cu? (Think about Part B.)

Why do I believe?
Relate this to the first lab on chemical changes. How did you know you were observing a chemical
change?
Why do I care?
How might you relate this activity and its meaning to the challenge – analyzing an alternative model of
the PT? Briefly explain.
Based on Active Chemistry, Periodic Table
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