1

DAV Senior Secondary

School

CHEMISTRY
PROJECT

On

ALLOY
ANALYSIS
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WHY I CHOSE THIS PROJECT

Alloys are one of the most common variety of substances used in

everyday life. Just about every single piece of metal that we come
into contact with on a daily basis is an alloy of some kind. There are
very few pure metals used for anything. Alloys are made with far
superior characteristics than the raw metals they are made from,
which is the reason they are so widely used.

The uses of alloys are limitless, and include an extensive range of

marine, medical, military, commercial, industrial, residential and
manufacturing applications. Even brass and bronze, two of the
earliest alloys produced, still have extensive uses, and remain in
high demand. Therefore, by curiosity and general interest, I was
intrigued and was eager to study the constituents of a couple of
alloys, namely Bronze and Brass, which are the most commonly
used in the industrial world.
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INDEX

1. Bonafide Certificate ---------------------------------------- 2

2. Why I Chose This Project -----------------------------------

3

3. Introduction ------------------------------------------------- 6

4. Experiment – 1 ----------------------------------------------- 8

5. Experiment – 2 --------------------------------------------- 10

6. Bibliography ------------------------------------------------ 13
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INTRODUCTION

An alloy is a partial or complete solid solution of one or

more elements in a metallic matrix. Complete solid solution
alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial
solutions give two or more phases that may be homogeneousin
distribution depending on thermal (heat treatment) history.
Alloys usually have different properties from those of the
component elements.

Alloying one metal with other metal(s) or non-metal(s) often

enhances its properties. For example, steel is stronger than iron,
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its primary element. The physical properties, such

as density, reactivity, Young's modulus, and electrical and
thermal conductivity of an alloy may not differ greatly from
those of its elements, but engineering properties such astensile
strength and shear strength may be substantially different from
those of the constituent materials. This is sometimes due to the
sizes of the atoms in the alloy, since larger atoms exert a
compressive force on neighboring atoms, and smaller atoms
exert a tensile force on their neighbors, helping the alloy resist
deformation. Sometimes alloys may exhibit marked differences
in behavior even when small amounts of one element occur.

For example, impurities in semi-conducting ferromagnetic alloys

lead to different properties. Some alloys are made by melting
and mixing two or more metals. Bronze, an alloy of copper
and tin, was the first alloy discovered during
the prehistoric period now known as the bronze age; it was
harder than pure copper and originally used to make tools and

weapons, but was later superseded by metals and alloys with

better properties. In later times bronze has been use
for ornaments, bells, statues, and bearings. Brass is an alloy
made from copper and zinc.
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Experiment - 1

Aim:
To analyze a sample of brass qualitatively.

Requirements:
China dish, test-tube funnel, filter paper and common laboratory
reagents.

Theory:
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. with the following
composition.

Composition :
Cu = 60-90% and Zn = 10-40%.

Thus Cu and Zn form the main constituents of brass. Both these

metals are dissolved in 50% of nitric acid due to formation of
nitrates which are soluble.

3Cu + 8HNO3 (Dil)  3Cu(NO3)2 + 2NO + 4H2O

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(or)
Cu + 8H + 2NO3  3Cu+2 + 2NO + 4H2O
+

4Zn + 10HNO3 (Dil)  4Zn(NO2)2 + N2O + 5H2O

4Zn + 2NO3– + 10H+  4 Zn+2 + N2O + 5H2O

The solution is boiled to expel the oxides of nitrogen and the

resulting solution is tested for Cu2+ and Zn+2 ions.

Procedure:

1. Place a small piece of brass in a china dish and heat this with
minimum quantity of 50% HNO3 so as to dissolve the piece
completely.

2. Continue heating the solution till a dry solid residue is

obtained.

3. Dissolve the solid residue in dil.HCl and filter. Add distilled

water to the filtrate.

4. Pass H2S gas through the filtrate. A black precipitate of copper

sulphide is obtained. Separate the black ppt. and keep the
filtrate for the test of Zn+2 ions. Dissolve black ppt. by heating
them with 50% HNO3. To this solution add ammonium hydroxide
solution. Appearance of deep blue colouration in the solution
shows the presence of copper ions in the solution.

5. To test Zn+2 ions, boil the filtrate to remove H2S gas, then add
solid NH4Cl to this and heat to dissolve NH4Cl. Add excess of
NH4OH so that the solution is ammoniacal. Now pass H2S gas
through this ammoniacal solution. Dirty white or grey
precipitation indicates zinc. Separate the precipitate and
dissolve it in minimum amount of dil. HCl. Boil to expel H2S gas
and add Potassium Ferrocyanide solution. White or bluish white
ppt. confirms the presence of Zn+2 ions in the solution.

Result :
The given sample of brass contains copper and zinc. metals as
the main constituents
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Experiment - 2

Aim:
To analyze a sample of bronze qualitatively.

Requirements:
China dish, test-tube funnel, filter paper and common laboratory
reagents.

Theory:
Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin with the following
composition.

Composition:
Cu = 88-96% and Sn = 4-12%.

Thus, copper and zinc. form the main constituents of bronze.

Both these metals are dissolved in nitric acid.

3 Cu + 8H+ + 2NO3–  3Cu2+ + 2NO + 4H2O

4Sn + NO3– + 10H+  4Sn+2 + NH4+ + 3H2O
(Cold and Dil. Acid)
Sn + 4NO3– + 4H+  H2SnO3 + 2NO2 + H2O
(Conc. acid) (Metastannic Acid)

Excess of nitric acid is removed by heating the solution. The

resulting solution would now contain Cu+2 ions and metastannic
acid. This solution is acidified with dil.HCl and H2S gas is passed
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when the sulphides of copper and tin are formed.

Cu+2 + S2-  CuS (Black ppt.)

H2SnO3 + 2H2S  SnS2 (Black ppt.) + 3H2O

The sulphides are separated by boiling the ppt. with yellow

Ammonium sulphide. SnS2 goes into the solution as thiostannate
whereas CuS is unaffected.

SnS2 + (NH4)2S  (NH4)2 SnS2 (Soluble)

(Ammonium thiostannate)

CuS + (NH4)2S  CuS (Unaffected) (Black ppt.)

The soluble black ppt. is tested for Cu+2 ions and the solution is
tested for Sn2+ ions as in elementary qualitative analysis.

Procedure:

1. Take about 1g. of small pieces of bronze in a china dish and

add
to it 5-10 ml. of dil. HNO3.

2. Heat the contents slowly to dissolve copper and tin

completely and then boil the contents to a paste to remove
excess of HNO3.

3. Dissolve this dry mass in distilled water containing HCl (1:1) to

get a clear solution.

4. Transfer the solution in a test tube and pass H2S in excess i.e.
till the precipitation is complete. Filter and reject the filtrate.

5. Take the black ppt. in a test tube and add to it 2-3 ml. of
yellow ammonium sulphide and heat. Filter the contents. Black
residue is tested for Cu+2 ions and filtrate is tested for Sn+2
ions.

6. Analysis of black residue:

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Transfer a little of the black ppt. into a test tube. Add to it 2-3 ml
of 50%. HNO3 and boil the contents of the tube. A light blue or
green sol. indicates the presence of Cu+2. Divide this sol. into
two parts.

(a) To one part add excess of NH4OH. A deep blue colouration

confirms the presence of Cu+2 ions.

(b) Acidify the second part with acetic acid and add K4 [Fe(CN)6]
i.e. potassium ferrocyanide solution. A reddish brown ppt.
confirms the presence of Cu+2 ions.

7. Analysis of filtrate:

Boil the filtrate with 1 ml of dil. HCl. A yellow ppt. is obtained.

Dissolve it in 1ml. conc. HCl. To this solution add 0.5 g. of zinc
dust and boil it for 2-3 minutes. Filter and to filtrate add 1-2 ml
of mercuric chloride solution. A white ppt. turning grey on
standing confirms the presence of Sn+2 ions.

Result:

The given sample of bronze contains - Cu and Sn as the main

constituents.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/
2. http://www.icbse.com
3. http://www.google.co.in/