An Investigation into the Identity of an Unknown Substance

Connor Pickard Noah McB Sam Hess Tim Bryant

Goals
Identity the unknown compound. Discover chemical and physical properties of compound. Devise two syntheses of our compound.

Test 1: Anion Test

Unknown:
Chloride Test Sulfate Test Nitrate Test Carbonate Test Acetate Test No formation of precipitate No formation of precipitate No formation of brown ring Violent effervescing No fruity smell Test Negative Test Negative Test Negative Test Positive Test Negative

Known:
Chloride Test Sulfate Test No formation of precipitate No formation of precipitate Test Negative Test Negative

Nitrate Test
Carbonate Test Acetate Test

No formation of brown line

Violent effervescing No fruity smell

Test Negative
Test Positive Test Negative

Test 2: Cation Test

Unknown and known both dissolved in water and did not react. This meant that a cation was not present in either.

Test 3: Solubility Test

Unknown:
Water 1M NaOH 1M HCl Toluene Acetone Soluable Soluable Soluable Not Soluable Not Soluable

Known:
Water 1M NaOH 1M HCl Toluene Acetone Soluable Soluable Soluable Not Soluable Not Soluable

Test 4: Conductivity Test

Procedure: Use digital multimeter to test conductivity of unknown Record average number on digital multimeter when it is fluctuation Multiply number on multimeter by 200 to get units in amperes Results: The unknown averaged around 360 amperes, which helps confirm that our unknown was in fact a salt.

Test 5: Flame Test

When our unknown was exposed to a flame, the flame turned a bright orange. As stated in the lab manual, a bright orange coloring is formed in the presence of Sodium. This result agrees with the presence of Sodium our unknown.

Quantitative Tests
To further test our unknown, we preformed quantitative tests on both the unknown and what we believed to be our substance. The accepted molar ratio of our known is 2 Na:1 CO3. The tests on the unknown produced the average ratio of 1.74 Na:1 CO3. Because these are very similar, it can be assumed that the two substances are the same.

Explanation of Results
Each of our tests, once on the known (Na2CO3) and once on the unknown, produced almost identical results. Our unknown data was then checked again using published scientific data for our known. Once again, the two matched up. Therefore, our unknown had to be Na2CO3.

Error and Future Changes

An error we encountered during our tests was our pH test. We did not record the actual value of the pH in order to match it to scientific data. However, we were still able to confidently identify our unknown. If given more time, we could have preformed more tests on the unknown such as a melting point test and boiling point.