Problem Set #1

Analytical Chemistry
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND GRAVIMETRY


GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:
Copy each problem followed by its complete solutions, handwritten in neatly, in a bond paper. Work in
groups of three with your all your names written on top of each page.
Due until 12noon on Monday, the 28
th
of April, 2014.



01. A prosecuting attorney in a criminal case presented as principal evidence small fragments of glass
found imbedded in the coat of the accused. The attorney claimed that the fragments were identical in
composition to a rare Belgian stained glass window broken during the crime. The average of triplicate
analyses for five elements in the glass is given in the table below.









On the basis of these data, does the defendant have grounds for claiming reasonable doubt as to guilt?
Use the 99% confidence level as a criterion for doubt.


02. The homogeneity of the chloride level in a water sample from a lake was tested by analyzing portions
drawn from the top and from near the bottom of the lake, with the following results in ppm Cl:
Top of the Lake 26.30 26.43 26.28 26.19 26.49
Bottom of the Lake 26.22 26.32 26.20 26.11 26.42
Apply the t test at the 95% confidence level to determine if the chloride level from the top of the lake is
different from that at the bottom.


03. The mercury in a 1.0451-g sample was precipitated with an excess of paraperiodic acid, H
5
IO
6
:
5Hg
2+
+ 2H
5
IO
6
Hg
5
(IO
6
)
2
+ 10H
+

The precipitate was filtered, washed free of precipitating agent, dried, and weighed, and 0.5718 g was
recovered. Calculate the percentage of Hg
2
Cl
2
in the sample.


04. A 0.6407-g sample containing chloride and iodide ions gave a silver halide precipitate weighing 0.4430
g. This precipitate was then strongly heated in a stream of chlorine gas to convert the AgI to AgCl; on
completion of this treatment, the precipitate weighed 0.3181 g. Calculate the percentage of chloride and
iodide in the sample.


05. What mass in grams of carbon dioxide is evolved in the complete decomposition of a 2.300-g sample
that is 38.0% magnesium carbonate and 42.0% potassium carbonate by mass?