Christopher Estrada Period 6 11/5/12

Ionic vs. Covalent Bonding Lab Investigation

Introduction: Atoms need to form bonds to form full shells or octets. With two bonds, which are ionic and covalent, you can form these bonds. For ionic bonds, you get a metal and transfer its extra valence electrons to a non-mental who is in need of those valence electrons. As for covalent bonds, you share the valence electrons so both could be satisfied. In these two bonds, when they form full shells they actually make the atoms stable. These bonds are held together with electrostatic attraction. That is because in ionic bonds, you get cations and anions that attract which also cause it to conduct electricity. As for covalent bonds, they are just non-metals, so they dont have any ions to conduct electricity. Hypothesis: Table 1: The expected results of testing five different chemicals Chemical Hypothesis 1: Hypothesis 2: Compounds to Formula Ionic or Covalent be Tested High or Low Melting Point? Distilled (pure) water Sodium chloride Sucrose (sugar) Dextrose Sodium sulfate H2O NaCl C12H22O11 C6H12O6 NaSO4 Covalent Ionic Covalent Covalent Ionic Low Low High High Low Hypothesis 3: Will it conduct electricity? Yes No Yes No No

Procedures: PART I: Melting Point and Strength of Bonds

Christopher Estrada Period 6 11/5/12

1. Fold the aluminum foil into a square so it will fit neatly on the ring-stand. Put a tiny sample of each of the 4 different compounds (water is already melted) on your aluminum foil (all 4 at the same time). Take caution not to mix them up & keep track of them! 2. Carefully put the tray on the ring stand and heat it with the Bunsen burner (no longer than 1-2 min). 3. Immediately begin writing down your detailed observations, keeping track of the order in which the samples melt (or dont melt if thats the case)-which ones have strong bonds & which have weak? 4. Let the square of foil cool off and then wash it off with water in the sink. PART II: Electrical Conductivity 1. Results: Table 2: The results of testing five different chemical substances Name/Chemical PART I: Melting PART II: Conducted FINAL Formula: Point (1-5; High, Electricity? (Yes/No) CONCLUSION: Med. or Low?) Ionic or Covalent Dry Dissolved Bonds? 1. Distilled (pure) 1 = lowest: (already N/A Covalent Water / H2O melted) 2. Sodium Chloride / 5 No Yes Ionic NaCl 3. Sucrose (sugar) / 3 No No Covalent C12H22O11 4. Dextrose / C6H12O6 2 No No Covalent 5. Sodium sulfate / 4 No Yes Ionic NaSO4

Conclusion/Analysis:

Christopher Estrada Period 6 11/5/12

After this laboratory, it was concluded that Sodium Chloride and Sodium Sulfate were ionic compounds, while Sucrose and Dextrose were covalent compounds. All of the initial hypotheses were correct except 2 and 3. From the results, the Ionic compounds were those that conducted electricity in water and had high melting points (strong bonds). However, the covalent compounds had low melting points (weak bonds) and did not conduct electricity. Ionic bonds are formed from metal cations (+) and non-metal anions (-) so when they dissolve in water, electricity (moving charge) can flow through the solution. Additionally, covalent bonds are very strong since theyre formed from the anions of two non-metals, so they do not attract the electrons, which causes electricity.