Jenell Copeland

September 26, 2014

Copper Cycle Lab Report

The purpose of this lab was to prove the Law of Conservation whether right or wrong by
performing the Copper Cycle. The Law of Conservation of Matter states that matter cannot be
created or destroyed but can only change shape, form or/and properties. In class we have been
learning about matter, lab materials, lab safety, compounds and elements. In this Copper Cycle
lab, we proved that copper, an element which is matter, cannot be destroyed or made, it is just
in a different form. Lets get started!

Hypothesis
The purpose of the lab was to determine what happens to copper when it undergoes a series of
reactions. If the Law of Conservation of Matter says that matter cannot be destroyed or made
but just in a different form then during the Copper Cycle lab copper was always there
regardless.

Materials

I.
II.

100 mL beaker
2 graduated pipettes
50 mL graduated cylinder
funnel and filter paper
spatula
copper powder, 0.1g
8 M nitric acid,HNO3-- 2 mL
1 M sulfuric acid, H2SO4-- 15 mL
8 M sodium hydroxide, -- 2 mL
stirring rod
hot plate
balance
zinc filling, 0.1g
Paraffin

Procedures
Measure just about 0.1 g of copper powder and place into a clean, dry 100 mL beaker.
Stop and wait for further instructions.
Measure 2 mL of nitric acid 8 M HNO3 . Cover your beaker 100 mL of copper with the
Paraffin and by the instructions of your teacher, go outside. When outside pour the nitric

III.
IV.
V.
VI.

VII.
VIII.
IX.

I.
II.

III.
IV.

V.

acid into the beaker onto the copper. Carefully swirl the content of the beaker so that all
of copper reacts with nitric acid.
When the brown gas is no longer being produced, place the Paraffin over the top of the
beaker and return to the lab station
Add about 25 mL of water to your beaker
Carefully measure 2 mL of sodium hydroxide, NaOH in a graduated cylinder. Carefully
pour into the beaker. Observe and record the liquid closely.
Place the beaker on a hot plate and set the to hot plate to medium. Stir with the glass
rod while heating. Continue to head until solid appear in the solution( which will take
about 5-10 minutes).
Using your hands, holding the beaker from the top lip, move the beaker from the hot
plate and place it on the lab table.
Filter the solution with a funnel and a piece of filter paper. Make sure the filter paper is
folded properly.
Remove filter paper from funnel and place on a watch glass with team initials on the
side of the filter paper.
STOP-- DAY 2
Using a small spatula, gently scrape off the solid from the filter paper into a 100mL
beaker.
Measure out 15 mL of 1M sulfuric acid, H2SO4. Slowly, while stirring, add the sulfuric
acid to the 100 mL containing the solid. As you are adding, carefully watch for any
changed to the liquid and the solid.
Measure out about 0.1 g of zinc filling. Add the zinc to the beaker. Stir the solution until it
is colorless. Observe and record your observations.
Pour off the liquid into the correct waste container without discarding the solid at the
bottom of the beaker, Add about 10 mL of water to the beaker with the solid at the
bottom, swirl the solution, and again pour off most of the liquid into another correct waste
container. Observe and record your observations.
Clean up your area. Wash glassware and return equipment.

Observations
01. Starting with the copper: reddish brown copper in the bottom of the beaker
02. Added citric acid: turned yellowish green with brown smoke arising; smelled like bleach
03. added water: turned a little clear
04. Added sodium hydroxide: tuned blue and then separated; saw the water make and
separate.
05. Heated the mixture: started to turn black and got a little hard to turn at the bottom like
there was a substance there; the water was still separated at the top.
06. Filtered the solid and added sulfuric acid: hard to scrape from the filter paper; was dark
for a minute then turned light blue
07. Added zinc: heard and saw it sizzling; made a slightly irritant gas; watched the copper
come back to its solid state.
08. Poured off liquid and rinsed: nothing new happened after the rinse

Graph/Data/Calculations
Procedure

Symbol of
chemical added

Observations

Formula and
name of copper
compound

What happened
to the cooper?

Got a sample of
copper

Cu(s)

Orange-brown
powder

solid copper
powder Cu(s)

nothing yet

Added nitric acid

HNO3(aq)

Blue liquid
yellowish brown
gas

Cu(NO3)2
Copper nitrate

formed a
compound of
copper nitrate

Added sodium
hydroxide

NaOH

dark blue solids,

clear solution at
top

CuOH2 & NaNO3

Copper
hydroxide

reacted to
sodium
hydroxide by
taken the OH
and leaving the
NA in the clear
fluid.

Added heat

none

make the solids

turn black and
separated out
the water

CuO(aq) & H2O

it turned black

Added sulfuric
acid

H2SO4

turned bluish
clear

CuSO4 & H2O

Copper sulfate

Pushed out the

water to mix with
the sulfuric acid

Added zinc

Zn

liquid turned
clear, dark
brown solid at
the bottom of
beaker, along
with sizzling

Cu(s)
solid copper

Zinc took sulfate

away for copper
and mixed to
make ZnSO4.
Also known as
zinc sulfate,
leaving solid
copper at the
bottom

Conclusions/Analysis
The point of this lab was to prove The Law of Conservation of Matter right or wrong and to learn and
interpret the copper cycle. The Law of Conservation of Matter states that matter cannot be created or

destroyed it just changes its form. And as for this lab, the copper was always there, the copper was just in
a different form. The copper was shown as a compound and not as its original solid elemental state.
Every chemical that was added changed the state of copper in its own dramatic way and each gave its
own reaction and compound name. In conclusion, the Law of Conservation of Matter was proven to be
right and matter will never be destroyed. This lab supports this theory.