Waters of Constitution and Hydration

AP Chemistry

Purpose: To determine the number of moles of water in one mole of an unknown hydrate. (CuSO4.xH2O)
Materials: Burner, crucibles and covers, ring stand, ring, clay triangle, balance, tongs, hydrate, NaHCO3.
Pre-lab:

1. Watch the pre-lab video on the class website.

2. A student performs the experiment outlined below and finds the mass of the hydrate to be 2.31g
and the anhydrate equals 0.98g. Calculate the percent of water in the hydrate. Show work below.

Part One: Determine the Chemical Formula of an Unknown Hydrate.

Hints: Obtain and clean a crucible and cover. Always use tongs when transporting the crucible and cover. Never
weigh hot equipment. Use close to 2 grams of hydrate. Record all measurements, then calculate the formula and
show your work with proper units and significant figures.

Additional Questions:
1. Find the present of water in the hydrate.

2. Assume the hydrate is hydrophilic. How would that affect the value of x in CuSO4.xH2O?

3. Some hydrates spontaneously lose some of all of the waters of hydration when they are exposed to air.
These are called efflorescent. Suppose your metal sulfate hydrate is efflorescent. How would that affect the
moles of water in the hydrate? Would it increase, decrease or remain the same?

Part Two: Thermal Decomposition of Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate: When two moles of sodium hydrogen
carbonate decompose to form water, carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide, another product is produced containing
sodium. Using similar techniques as above, you will determine the products of the reaction and compare the actual
mass recovered to the theoretical mass.
2NaHCO3(s) H2O(g) + CO2(g) + Sodium containing solid
Hints: Re-clean crucible and cover. Use approximately 2.5grams of sodium hydrogen carbonate. Treat as a
hydrate. Record all measurements, then determine the formula and show your work with proper units and
significant figures.

Additional Questions:
1. Write a complete balanced equation for the decomposition of sodium hydrogen carbonate in Part Two.

2. Calculate the theoretical mass of the solid recovered using dimensional analysis.

3. Compare the percent yield of solid recovered.