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SynthesisofMagnesiumOxideLab
Lab:SynthesisofMagnesiumOxide
I.Purpose:Thepurposeofthislabistodeterminethepercentage(bymass)ofmagnesiuminmagnesium
oxide.
II.Procedure:
1.Obtainastripofmagnesiumribbonthatisabout20.cmlonganddetermineitsmass.
2.Coilthemagnesiumribbonupintoaloosecoilandplaceitflatinthebottomofyourcrucible.If
thecoilistootightyouwon'tgetsufficientoxygeninsidethecoiltocompletelyreactwiththe
magnesium.
3.(Iwon'talwaysadviseyoutotheextentthatIaminthislab.Forexample,atthispointinthislab
youneedtorecordthemassofyourcrucibleanditscover.I'mtellingyouthisnowsothatyouare
abletogetgoodresultsfromthislab,butforfuturelabsyouareonyourown.Youneedtomake
surethatyouthinkeachlabprocedurethroughthoroughly.)
4.Setuparingstandassemblyandplaceaceramictriangleontheironring.Placethecruciblein
theceramictriangle.Placethecoveronthecrucibleandheatthecruciblestronglyforseveral
minutes.Liftthecovereveryfewsecondstoallowmoreairintothecrucible.Trynottoletany
smokeescape.
5.Whenyoucanremovethecovercompletelywithoutanysmokeescaping,heatthecruciblestrongly
withthecoveroffforoneminute.(Ifsmokedoesstarttoescape,putthecoverbackonandgoback
tostep4.
6.Allowthecrucibletocoolfor4minuteswiththecoveroff,thensquirtseveraldropsofdistilled
waterontothesolidinsidethecrucibleuntilitisfullymoist.Asyoudothiscarefullytrytosmell
anyodorthatemanatesfromthecrucible.Whatisitthatcausesthatodor?Howdiditgetthere?
Youmustfigureouttheanswerstothesequestionsanddiscussthisinyourlabreporttoshowthat
youunderstandexactlywhathashappened.
7.Placethecoveronthecrucibleandheatthecruciblestronglyforseveralminutes.Liftthecover
everyfewsecondstoallowmoreairintothecrucible.Trynottoletanysmokeescape.
8.Whenyoucanremovethecovercompletelywithoutanysmokeescaping,heatthecruciblestrongly
withthecoveroffforoneminute.
9.Allowthecrucibletocoolfor5minutes,thencarefullydeterminethemassofthemagnesiumoxide
product,thecrucibleanditscover.
10.Recordyourdata.
III.Data:
(CreateadatatablepertheLabReportFormathandout.)
IV.Calculations:
ShowanexamplecalculationusingyourowndatatodeterminethepercentageofMginMgO.
V.Conclusion:
Basedonyourdataandyourclassmates'data,whatisthepercentofMginMgO.Howconsistentwere
yourresultswiththeresultsamongyourclassmates.DoesthislabverifytheLawofDefinite
Composition?
VI.ErrorAnalysis:
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8/20/2015
SynthesisofMagnesiumOxideLab
TheactualpercentofMginMgOis60.3%.Doapercenterrorcalculationforyourdataandforyour
classaverage.
Writeanenumeratedlistofthesourcesoferrorthatwerepresentinthislab.
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