Hanne Martine G. Rstad 1j 18.03.

2014 Chemistry

1 | P a g e

Heating of Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate
Chemistry Report Experiment 1
Aim
To determine the masses of the reactants and products in the chemical reaction which is created
when heating Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate (NaHCO
3
).
Apparatus
Porcelain crucible
Tripod stand
String triangle
Bunsen burner
NaHCO
3
(solid)
Scale
Theory
When sodium hydrogen carbonate (NaHCO
3
)

is heated/burnt, the products of this chemical reaction
will be carbon dioxide (CO
2
), steam (H
2
O) and sodium carbonate (Na
2
CO
3
). In this case, both CO
2
and
H
2
O will be released in their gaseous states, so Na
2
CO
3
is the only solid that remains after the
reaction.
In this experiment, our goal is to find the value of yielded Na
2
CO
3
for a given amount of NaHCO
3
using
both theoretical calculations to determine a theoretical value, and an experiment with a practical
weighing method to determine an experimental value.
Procedure
An empty crucible is washed and dried, and then placed in the string triangle on the tripod stand
over the fire of the Bunsen burner to be cleansed. Any remains of chemicals in the crucible that could
react with heat thereby interfering with our reaction and results should do so then instead of
later. After it has been cleansed, the crucible is weighed on a scale. Its mass is noted as m
1
in the
results.
The crucible is then half-filled with NaHCO
3
and weighed once more. The mass of the crucible with
contents is noted as m
2
in the results.
The crucible containing the reactant is then placed over the Bunsen burner once more, and is heated
over a high flame (with the lid of the crucible on) for approximately eight to ten minutes. Then, as
the reaction is complete, the crucible with contents is once again weighed. The mass of crucible with
contents after the reaction is noted as m
3
in the results.
We can then find the value of NaHCO
3
used by subtracting m
1
from m
2
, and the mass of the products
remaining in the crucible by subtracting m
1
from m
3
. Since carbon dioxide and steam are both in
gaseous forms, the mass of the remains in the crucible will be the mass of Na
2
CO
3
yielded. This will
be our experimental value.
The theoretical value will be calculated by first making a balanced chemical equation for the reaction,
and then using the value we have found for the amount of NaHCO
3
used, we can calculate how much
Na
2
CO
3
should theoretically be left in the crucible.
Hanne Martine G. Rstad 1j 18.03.2014 Chemistry

2 | P a g e

Data and calculations
Raw data
Mass of empty crucible (w/ lid) - m
1
: 22.7 g
Mass of crucible with NaHCO
3
m
2
: 29.5 g
Mass of crucible with contents after reaction m
3
: 27 g
Processed data - calculations for experimental value
mass of NaHCO
3
used = m
2
m
1
= 29.5 22.7 = 6.8 g
mass of Na
2
CO
3
yielded = m
3
m
1
= 27 22.7 = 4.3 g
Experimental value: 4.3 g of Na
2
CO
3
yielded
Calculations for theoretical value
First we must write a balanced chemical equation for the reaction:

()

()

()

Then we need to find how many moles of NaHCO
3
was used. To do this we first calculate the molar
mass (M) of the compound.
Ar
(Na)
=23, Ar
(H)
=1, Ar
(C)
=12, Ar
(O)
=16
M of NaHCO
3
= 23 + 1 + 12 + (16 * 3) = 84u
As

where n is no. of moles, m is mass and M is molar mass, the number of moles of
NaHCO
3
will in this case be

= 0.08mol.
The stoichiometric ratio of the equation is 2:1:1:1. This shows that the ratio between NaHCO
3
and
Na
2
CO
3
in particular is 2:1. Therefore, the amount of moles of Na
2
CO
3
yielded will be half of the
moles of NaHCO
3
used.

= 0.04mol
Before we can calculate the mass of Na
2
CO
3
yielded, we will need to find the molar mass of Na
2
CO
3
.
Ar
(Na)
=23, Ar
(C)
=12, Ar
(O)
=16
M of Na
2
CO
3
= (23 * 2) + 12 + (16 * 3) = 106
We can then rearrange the formula we used earlier (

) into an expression for mass:

Mass of Na
2
CO
3
yielded = n * M = 0.04 * 106 = 4.24 g
Theoretical value: 4.24 g of Na
2
CO
3
yielded
Conclusion
Percentage error/Difference
We can then calculate the percentage difference between our experimental value and the
theoretical/standard value.

Hanne Martine G. Rstad 1j 18.03.2014 Chemistry

3 | P a g e

Evaluation
In the end, the difference between our experimental value and the theoretical value turned out to be
very small. The difference there was could possibly be a result of rounding numbers during collection
of data and calculations. If not, it could be slight carelessness in measuring mass or maybe the
reaction was not fully completed when the remains were weighed.