Abbye Schwarzenberg

CHEM 108- C75

Quantities In Chemical Reactions

Abbye Schwarzenberg

The Community College of Baltimore County

800 S Rolling Rd, Catonsville, MD 21228

July 25, 2017

 Abbye Schwarzenberg
CHEM 108- C75
Abstract: The purpose of this experiment was to apply the concept of stoichiometry to predict the
yield of product expected when a known amount of magnesium metal is burned in air. The
experiment was conducted by heating a crucible with a magnesium ribbon to a constant mass,
while allowing air to flow in. Then deionized water was added to the magnesium, again heating to
a constant mass. As a result our limiting reactant magnesium, combined with air to form
magnesium oxide. To test that there was no unreacted Mg remaining the product was placed in a
50 mL beaker and 1 mL of 6 M HCl was added. Upon adding the 6 M HCl, a fizzing reaction
indicated there was remaining unreacted magnesium in the product.

Introduction: This experiment demonstrates the ability to determine the amount of one reactant needed
to get a specific amount of another reactant, through the method of stoichiometry. When two or more
reactants are allowed to react and one of the reactants gets totally consumed before the other(s), the
reactant that gets totally used is also known as the limiting reactant, which causes the reaction to stop
when it is used up. By following the experiment procedure, we heated a crucible to a constant mass, we
weighed the ceramic crucible once cooled and then add a ribbon of magnesium and air, then reheat to a
constant mass. By adding deionized water and then reheating, we then have the product of MgO. this is
called a combination reaction. Through this experiment we clearly demonstrate stoichiometry.
Stoichiometry also allows us to calculate our expected product outcome, theoretical yield, and our percent
yield which is calculated from our actual yield divided by our theoretica multiplied by 100%.

Procedure: To begin, you obtain a ceramic crucible and lid, set up the lab station with burner, stand,
metal ring and ceramic triangle, and obtained a ribbon of magnesium. The crucible was heated to a
constant mass first, with the lid, to remove any residue that may have been remaining. Once cooled
enough to touch, weighed the crucible + lid + Mg, and recorded the measurements in the data table.
Next, the crucible was heated again. but with the Mg ribbon inside with the lid partially open to allow air to
flow in for the combination reaction to occur. About half way through the lid was removed and heated for
another 5 minutes. The crucible was then removed and set on the ceramic tile to cool. Then 10-15 drops
of deionized water was added. Crucible was heated again to evaporate the water, heated until the
product was completely dry. Then the crucible was cooled and the mass was taken again. To be able to
test that all of the magnesium was fully reacted, 6 M hydrochloric acid was added to the remaining
product in a beaker. If the MgO showed any fizzing when the HCl was added this is an indicator that there
was unreacted magnesium still left in our crucible. After testing for completion, the percent yield of MgO
was calculated from the data collected throughout the experiment.

Data:

Mass of crucible 15.8066g

Mass of crucible + lid 25.7993g
Mass of crucible + lid + Mg 25.966g
Mass of Mg 0.1973g
1st Mass of crucible + lid + MgO 26.1290g
2nd Mass of crucible + lid + MgO 26.1298g
Mass MgO 0.3297
Mass of Mg used 0.1973g
Mass of product (actual yield of MgO) 0.3297
Theoretical yield of Mgo 0.3272
% Yield of MgO 100.8%

Results and Discussion: From the results of my experiment I tested the product, MgO, to see if there
was any unreacted magnesium left once the product had been through the combination reaction. My
Abbye Schwarzenberg
CHEM 108- C75
experiment did have some unreacted Mg still in it when tested with 1 mL of 6 M HCl. I could visually see
this by the emittance of fizzing (almost smoke like) from the product and the HCl. As my data shows, the
mass of the Mg used was 0.1973g, once reacted with air and the process of the reaction was completed
the mass of the product (actual yield) of MgO was 0.3297g. The theoretical yield of MgO, which I
calculated was 0.3272g. From that information, I calculated the percent yield of Mgo, which came out to
100.8%. Having a percent yield higher than 100%, may have been due to not evaporating the deionized
water completely. It was important to also heat our crucible to a constant mass each time as to be
consistent that the product was heated thoroughly enough to get a full and complete reaction. Cooling
time was also important to be sure that the measurements were accurate. If the crucible was weighed
while still very hot, it would have a lighter mass due to the air flow it would cause to appear lighter.
Another crucial step in collecting accurate data was to be sure that the deionized water had evaporated
completely. There were a few things that could have been done while conducting my experiment to
improve accuracy. The addition of the deionized water could have been done by using a disposable
dropper, as only 10-15 drops needed to be added, when doing so straight from the deionized container
caused a slightly higher amount to be added. Due to more than 15 drops being added, it also took a lot
longer to heat the crucible and product to get all the deionized water to evaporate. Also, another possible
source of error in the experiment would be if all the water was not evaporated, as the product looked dry,
the melted ribbon was in a round pile of ash and could have been hiding a small bit of water not visible
with the naked eye from looking at the crucible on the burner. It was also important to carefully measure
the mass each time on the same scale to lower potential errors in the experiment. The magnesium is the
limiting reactant, which is used to calculate the theoretical yield. From the theoretical yield of the product,
we can determine the percent yield of MgO.

Conclusion: This experiment allowed us to apply the concept of stoichiometry. From the experiment, I
predicted the yield of product expected when the known mass of Mg ribbon was burned in a combination
reaction with air. As the magnesium in this experiment is the limiting reactant, it was very important to
heat thoroughly, this is to be sure that the actual percent yield and theoretical yield are correctly
calculated. From the theoretical yield of the product, we can determine the percent yield of MgO.

References:

DiCara, E et al. CHEM 108 Fundamentals of Chemistry Laboratory, Academx Publishing Services;
Maryland, 2015 pp 65-70
Abbye Schwarzenberg
CHEM 108- C75

Experiment 8
Post-Lab Q:

1) It is necessary to heat to a constant mass to ensure that all water is driven off, giving
accurate measurements for the remainder of the experiment.

2) The theoretical mass of oxygen is 0.1324g. (mass of O x=mass of Mg 0.1973- mass

of MgO 0.3297)

3) When I added the hydrochloric acid to my magnesium, it caused fizzing. This

indicated to me that there was unreacted magnesium remaining.

4) Based on my percent yield (100.8%), one possible error that could have been
occurred in my experiment is inaccuracy of my measurement of the deionized water
added. To avoid this in the future, I would add the deionized water by using disposable
eye dropper.