The Identification, Properties, and Synthesis of an Unknown Ionic Compound

Will Gooding
Chemistry 101 Laboratory, Section 004
Instructor: Timmy Thiounn
October 11, 2016

My signature indicates that this document represents my own work. Excluding shared
data, the information, thoughts and ideas are our/my own, except as indicated in the references

Discussion and Scientific Explanations

The goal of this project is to determine the identity of an unknown solution found in a
landfill. By testing the physical and chemical properties, the substances behavior and longevity
can be determined. This can be used to determine if the substance has been disposed of properly.
The physical properties of the unknown substance are that it comes in small, white
clumps, as shown in Table 1.
The first test ran on the unknown substance was a solubility test that involved 25 mL of
water with .4 g of the unknown solution added into the water. The result, as shown in Table 2,
shows that the solution was clear and soluble. For the quantitative testing, there was 0.016 g/mL
of the unknown substance. Since the solution was soluble with water, this leads to the conclusion
that the unknown substance must be an ionic compound as stated on Purdue Universitys web
page Solubility2, the negative oxygen atoms of water attract the positive ions of the substance
while the positive hydrogen atoms attract the negative ions of the substance.
This is only a starting point as the elements in the substance are still unknown. Since the
last test only said that the unknown substance was a soluble ionic compound, we must determine
which of these ionic compounds the unknown substance is. This can be determined by using an
anion test to determine whether the unknown substance is a chloride, sulfate, nitrate, or a
carbonate. The anion test works by adding a solution to the unknown substance and watching for
a reaction. As shown in Table 3, the only anion that tested positive for our substance was
Chloride which formed a white precipitate in the test tube. This precipitate is from the formation
of silver chloride (AgCl) when the unknown substance was mixed with silver nitrate (AgNO3).

This lead to the conclusion that there must be chlorine within the unknown substance as that is
the only way the white precipitate could have formed.
Now that the anion of the unknown substance is known, the focus can be shifted
to what the cation of the unknown substance is. For the cation test, the unknown substance was
suspended over an open flame and the color of the flame was observed for changes in the color
of the flame. As shown in Table 5, the unknown substance produced a light violet/peach color.
This indicates that the cation is potassium, as shown by the chart on page 63 of the Cooperative
Chemistry Lab Manuel1.
After conducting the cation and anion test, it was determined that the unknown substance
was possibly potassium chloride (KCl), but more tests are needed to confirm whether this is
correct. The first test that was conducted was a conductivity test which involved .4 g of the
unknown solution and 25 mL of water and .4 g of potassium chloride with 25mL of water in
separate beakers. As shown in Table 4, both of the solutions showed no conductivity, giving
potassium chloride and our unknown substance a common characteristic.
Another tests conducted on the unknown substance was a comparison of reactions
between potassium chloride and the unknown substance on Sodium Hydroxide, Acetic Acid,
Magnesium Sulfate, Sodium Sulfate, Calcium Hydroxide, and Lead Nitrate. Based on the
information on Table 6, the unknown substance was negative with all the compounds except for
Lead Nitrate, which it formed a white precipitate with. This was the same for potassium chloride
as well. The white precipitate is formed because of the potassium from the potassium chloride
bonding with the nitrate from lead nitrate causing potassium nitrate to form, which can create a
white precipitate3.

In conclusion, the unknown substance was identified as potassium chloride. This was
determined in many ways, such as through physical properties, the solubility test, the cation test
and the anion test. The unknown substance was then confirmed as potassium chloride by testing
the conductivity of both potassium chloride and the unknown solution and testing both solution
with different compounds to see if they form a different reaction. There are some discrepancies
in the work, such as not putting enough of the unknown substance into the water during the
solubility test as the water could have held more of the unknown substance. This couldve given
us a better idea of the solubility of the solution.

Reference
1. Cooper M. M., Cooperative Chemistry Laboratories, McGraw-Hill New York, NY, 2012
2. Solubility http://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/topicreview/bp/ch18/soluble.php
Purdue University (October 9, 2016)
3. What happens when Lead is added to a Solution of Potassium Chloride?
http://classroom.synonym.com/happens-lead-added-solution-potassium-chloride-13100.html
Synonym (October 9, 2016)