RST

Lab: What’s in the Water?

Anthony Park

Lab Partner(s): Curtis, Michael

Date Performed: Wed, Jan. 17
Date Submitted: Thurs, Jan. 18
Course: SCH3UR
Teacher: Ms. Gauthier
St. Francis Xavier Catholic High School

Introduction:
 In this final lab, you are taking the role of an environmental chemist, tasked with
determining the degree of contamination of 3 water supplies. You are provided 3 unknown
aqueous solutions which are known to be sulfuric acid, H2SO4 (aq), barium chloride, BaCl2 (aq)
and magnesium nitrate, Mg(NO3)2 (aq).
(Aq) is a short form of aqueous meaning a solution that contains water. Using these
chemicals there will always be a double displacement reaction, which is a chemical reaction in
which the positive ions of two ionic compounds exchange places, resulting in the formation of
two new ionic compounds, one of them will form a precipitate, an insoluble solid or product that
is formed. You will be measuring the solutions using any measuring apparatus’, remember to
pour moderately to overcome the surface tension and measure using the meniscus meaning the
curved surface of a solution in a labware. Think about how to prepare this lab, there are many
possible sources of error.

Purpose:
The purpose of this lab is to identify the 3 unknown solutions and calculating the concentrations
of sulfuric acid and barium chloride or magnesium nitrate.

Hypothesis:
If sulfuric acid, H2SO4 (aq) reacts with lead (II) nitrate, Pb(NO3)2 (aq) then a precipitate will form
because the double displacement taking place of two aqueous solutions.
If barium chloride, BaCl2 (aq) reacts with sulfuric acid, H2SO4 (aq) then a precipitate will form
because the double displacement taking place of two aqueous solutions.

Materials:
2 g of 40 mL Pb(NO3)2 (aq) Tape 2 Filter papers
100 mL H2SO4 (aq) 3 pieces of Litmus paper Marker
50 mL BaCl2 (aq) Paper towels
500 mL Distilled water 1 L of Tap water

Apparatus:
4 x 200 mL Beakers 2 Retort stands Glass stir rod
3 x 100 mL Beakers 2 Ring clamps Electronic balance
2 x 125 mL Erlenmeyer flasks 2 Funnels Chemical spoon
1 x 100 mL Graduated cylinder Wash bottle Goggles and Apron

Procedure:

Concentration for Sulfuric Acid

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Part A: Identify the Solutions
1. Ask the teacher for solutions A, B, C using 3 x 100 mL beakers.
2. Use a blue litmus paper for each solution.
3. Once, one of the three litmus papers turn pink on one side, there is the acid. Throw out the
litmus papers and label which solution is which.

Part B: Using the solutions to form the precipitate

1. Ask the teacher for 2 g of lead (II) nitrate, Pb(NO3)2 (s) and place the powder in a 200 mL
beaker.
2. Pour 40 mL into the 100 mL graduated cylinder, then pour it into the 200 mL beaker
containing lead (II) nitrate, Pb(NO3)2 (s). Calculate the molarity.
3. Stir using a glass rod to dissolve every the substance until it is fully transparent.
4. Use the graduated cylinder and measure out 50 mL of sulfuric acid, H2SO4 (aq), pour it into
another 200 mL beaker.
5. Pour the 2 g of 40 mL lead (II) nitrate, Pb(NO3)2 (aq) in with the 50 mL of sulfuric acid,
H2SO4 (aq).
6. Watch as the solutions form a white cloudy mixture, at the same time set up the retort
stand, ring clamp, funnel, and 125 mL Erlenmeyer flask.
7. After that’s set up, fold the filter paper in half then half again. Use the first flap. Use the
wash bottle to make the filter paper stick to the funnel.
8. Slowly pour the newly formed products into the funnel, a little bit at a time until the beaker
is fully transparent with no residue of the precipitate.
9. Give it time to let it dry itself.

Part C: Weighing
1. When it is fully dried up, use an electronic balance and weigh the filter paper with the
precipitate.
2. Make sure to weigh the filter paper separately.
3. Subtract the mass of the filter paper from the mass of the precipitate with the filter paper to
find the mass of the precipitate. Record data. Rinse and clean everything.

Concentration for Barium Chloride

Part A: Identify the Solutions

1. Ask the teacher for solutions A, B, C using 3 x 100 mL beakers.
2. Since A has been found, you can choose either B or C to find the barium chloride,
BaCl2 (aq).

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 3. Pour 5 mL of B or C into the 100 mL graduated cylinder and transfer it into the 200 mL
beaker, clean the graduated cylinder.
4. Pour 5 mL of A, repeat step 3 and watch as it reacts or nothing reacts. If there is a white
precipitate, you found barium chloride, BaCl2 (aq).
5. Throw out the newly formed reaction into the waste container and clean the beaker and
graduated cylinder.

Part B: Using the solutions to form the precipitate

1. Fill one beaker with 50 mL of sulfuric acid, H2SO4 (aq) using a graduated cylinder to ensure
the amount is exact.
2. Transfer the 50 mL into a 200 mL beaker.
3. Set up the retort stand, ring clamp, funnel, and 125 mL Erlenmeyer flask.
4. After that’s set up, fold the filter paper in half then half again. Use the first flap. Use the
wash bottle to make the filter paper stick to the funnel.
5. Slowly pour the newly formed products into the funnel, a little bit at a time until the beaker
is fully transparent with no residue of the precipitate.
6. Give it time to let it dry itself.

Part C: Weighing
1. When it is fully dried up, use a electronic balance and weigh the filter paper with the
precipitate.
2. Make sure to weigh the filter paper separately.
3. Subtract the mass of the filter paper from the mass of the precipitate with the filter paper to
find the mass of the precipitate. Record data. Rinse and clean everything.

Observations:
Table 1: Finding the Concentration of Sulfuric Acid, H2SO4 (aq)
Solution Concentration Actual mL used Mass of Dry Qualitative Observations
precipitate

H2SO4 0.2 M 0.2 M 50 mL 2.33 g Transparent aqueous solutions

White chalky solid precipitate

Pb(NO3)2 0.2 M N/A 40 mL Type of limestone chalk

Harder than BaSO4

Table 2: Finding the Concentration of Barium Chloride, BaCl2 (aq)

Solution Concentration Actual mL used Mass of Dry Qualitative Observations
precipitate

H2SO4 0.2 M 0.2 M 50 mL 1.17 g Transparent aqueous solutions

White chalky solid precipitate

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BaCl2 0.1 M 0.1 M 50 mL Type of limestone chalk
Less harder than PbSO4
Mass of filter paper: 1.71 g

Analysis:

Table 1: Calculation for the concentration of Pb(NO3)2 (aq)

2 g Pb(NO3)2 x 1 mol Pb(NO3)2 x 1 mol Pb(NO3)2 = 0.1509570678 M

331.22 g Pb(NO3)2 0.04 L Pb(NO3)2 = 0.2 M Pb(NO3)2
∴ The concentration for Pb(NO3)2 is 0.2 M.
Table 1: Calculation for the concentration of acid solution H2SO4 (aq)
H2SO4 (aq) + Pb(NO3)2 (aq) → PbSO4 (s) + 2 HNO3 (aq)

40 mL Pb(NO3)2 x 1 L Pb(NO3)2 x 0.2 mol Pb(NO3)2 x 1 mol H2SO4 x 1 mol H2SO4

1000 mL Pb(NO3)2 1 L Pb(NO3)2 1 mol Pb(NO3)2 0.05 L H2SO4
0.2 M H2SO4 = 0.2 M Pb(NO3)2
∴ There is no limiting reagent, both are equalled to 0.2 M.
2.33 g PbSO4 x 1 mol PbSO4 x 1 mol H2SO4 x 1 mol H2SO4 = 0.1536584562 M
303.27 g PbSO4 1 mol PbSO4 0.05 L H2SO4 = 0.2 M H2SO4
∴ The concentration for H2SO4 is 0.2 M.

Table 2: Calculation for the concentration of salt solution BaCl2 (aq)

H2SO4 (aq) + BaCl2 (aq) → BaSO4 (s) + 2 HCl (aq)

50 mL H2SO4 x 1 L H2SO4 x 0.2 mol H2SO4 x 1 mol BaCl2 x 1 mol BaCl2

1000 mL H2SO4 1 L H2SO4 1 mol H2SO4 0.05 L BaCl2
0.2 M BaCl2 = 0.2 M H2SO4
∴ There is no limiting reagent, both are equalled to 0.2 M.
1.17 g BaSO4 x 1 mol BaSO4 x 1 mol BaCl2 x 1 mol BaCl2 = 0.1002570694 M
233.40 g BaSO4 1 mol BaSO4 0.05 L BaCl2 = 0.1 M BaCl2
∴ The concentration for BaCl2 is 0.1 M.

Conclusion:
In conclusion of this lab, referring to our purpose, the concentration of our acid and salt
matched with the actual concentrations which were 0.2 M sulfuric acid, H 2SO4 (aq) and 0.1 M
barium chloride, BaCl2 (aq). From our findings if we had decreased the amount of distilled water
for the lead (II) nitrate, Pb(NO3)2 (aq) we would have found a greater concentration that is closer
to 0.2 M than 0.15 M. Solution A is sulfuric acid, H2SO4 (aq), Solution B is barium chloride, BaCl2
(aq) and Solution C was magnesium nitrate, Mg(NO3)2 (aq), using the blue litmus papers we
identified the acid and using the acid with either solution B or C identified the solution of barium

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chloride, BaCl2 (aq) or magnesium nitrate, Mg(NO3)2 (aq). For barium chloride, BaCl2 (aq) if it
combined with sulfuric acid, H2SO4 (aq) a white solid precipitate will form due to the double
displacement reaction and when sulfuric acid, H2SO4 (aq) is mixed with magnesium nitrate,
Mg(NO3)2 (aq) there is a double displacement reaction, when the two solutions react they stay in
aqueous form, thus there is no reaction occurring. From our finding the concentration of the acid
is 0.2 M and the concentration of the salt is 0.1 M.

Sources of Error:
1. Cross Contamination, if you used the pipette to transfer the acid to the flask and then not
clean the pipette, afterward using it to transfer the base to the burette, and now it is
possible that the acid and base have mixed with each other.
2. Miscalculation, if you forgot to write down the number where the initial meniscus volume is
and went on the experiment, you have to do lots of calculations in order to know the right
amount used. Significant figures.
3. Adding too much distilled water, this can affect the concentration, the lower the
concentration of the created solution lowers the concentration of the unknown
concentration.
4. Wasting chemicals, there is a chance that you can mix up the chemicals for example,
instead of using A, you use B and that mixes with C. Sometimes there isn’t enough to redo
the experiment, don’t be too wasteful. Don’t forget to label everything.
5. Filtering, this can be kind of a challenge when or if the filter paper breaks and the
precipitate transfer into the Erlenmeyer flask. What would happen is that you wouldn’t
obtain all the precipitate which will change the outcome of the mass.

Suggestions:
1. Using the 0.4 M sodium hydroxide, NaOH (aq) to perform a titration to obtain a more
accurate result for the sulfuric acid H2SO4 (aq).
2. Not spilling any of the reactants to obtain the correct actual result of the precipitate.
3. Using a better filter paper to drain out the water.
4. Clean up the lab area to prevent any injuries, etc.
5. Not to be interrupted while holding or mixing chemicals.

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