GENERAL CHEMISTRY 2 ​1st​ ​Semester | S.Y.

2019 – 2020

Name: ​Pabalate, Turla, Lucero, Acebuche, Tala, Reyes, Perez

Section:​ 12 - STEM 14

Report Sheet # 2
Growing Faux Gemstones with Alum Crystals

I. Laboratory Set – Up
Directions:​ Draw the laboratory set – up for boiling and crystallization process. Label the laboratory
apparatus used.

II. Data and Results

Temperature of Weight of alum Temperature of Observation on Observation after

pure water upon used pure water upon the first 12 hours 24 to 48 hours
boiling reheating

89 ​°C 120 g 97 ​°C Only a small Medium sized

portion of crystal crystal have grown
had grown in the in the pipe cleaner
pipe cleaner, while however, there is
the majority of still a large amount
crystals were of compacted
formed at the crystals at the
bottom of the jar. bottom of the jar.
The solution Moreover, the
appears to be solution appears
clear. blurry and it had
some visible
particles of alum
 GENERAL CHEMISTRY 2 ​1st​ ​Semester | S.Y. 2019 – 2020

powder that had

not been dissolved.

III. Percent Yield

Directions:​ Compute for the Percent Yield

COLLECTED DATA:
Jar with excess crystal = 157.0612 g
Jar without excess crystal = 97.5128 g
Crystallized pipe cleaner = 26.1529 g
Pipe cleaner = 0.8832 g
Mass of Powder = 120 g

REQUIRED:
Percent Yield = ?

EQUATION:
Weight of excess crystals = Jar with excess crystal - Jar without excess crystal

Mass of Crystals = Weight of excess crystals - Crystallized pipe cleaner

Actual Yield = Mass of Crystal - Mass of Pipe Cleaner

Theoretical Yield = Mass of Powder

% Percent Yield = ___​_Actual Yield____

Theoretical Yield

SOLUTION:
Weight of excess crystals
= 157.0612 g - 97.5128 g
= ​59.5484 g

Mass of Crystal
= 59.5484 g + 26.1529 g
= 85.7013 g

Actual Yield
= 85.7013 g - 0.8832 g
= 84.8181 g

Percent Yield
% PY = ​ 84.8181 g ​ x 100 = ​70. 68 %
 GENERAL CHEMISTRY 2 ​1st​ ​Semester | S.Y. 2019 – 2020

120 g

ANSWER:
Percent Yield = 70.68 %

IV. Conclusion

Our experiments primary goal is to be able to grow faux gemstones using alum crystals. By
pouring 200ml of hot water into 90g of alum, then stir while reheating to 100 °C, we were able to
create a mixture where we would soak our mold then cover so that the solution would not be
exposed to dust or any forms of contaminants and leave to rest for 12hrs. After the 12hrs has passed
we came back to our solution, took out the suspended mold and reheated it to 100 °C before adding
another 30g of alum. After we put the mold back in the jar we let it rest again for another 12hrs. After
seeing the outcome of our experiment we the researchers conclude that there is still error in
however way we conduct this experiment because the crystal growth in the pipe cleaner is lesser
than the excess crystals. Through the formula:
Percentage of Error =​_Theoretical Yield - Actual Yield_​ x 100
Theoretical Yield

Percentage of Error = _​120 g - 84.8181 g _​ x 100 ​= 29.31251 %

120 g

We are able to determine the percentage of that error. Thus we therefore conclude that the
crystallization of 120g of alum can produce a percent error of 29.31251 % and a percent yield of
70.68175 %.

V. Post - laboratory Questions

Directions: ​Write your answers on a separate sheet of short bond paper.

1. What is crystallization and upon what factors does a successful crystallization depend on?

Crystallization is the process of formation of solid crystals precipitating from a solution of a

pharmaceutical product produced chemically or through fermentation. Attributes of the resulting
crystal depend largely on factors such as temperature, and air pressure.

2. Describe what happened to the boiling point upon the addition of alum.

Upon the addition of alum the boiling point of the solution became high because alum is an
ionic compound. In regards with this, ionic compounds have high boiling point because of the strong
attractive electrostatic forces holding the oppositely charged ions together and a large number of
ionic bonds in the crystal lattice.

3. Describe how to make a supersaturated solution.

 GENERAL CHEMISTRY 2 ​1st​ ​Semester | S.Y. 2019 – 2020

To form a supersaturated solution presence of heat must be applied, but just a little heat
won't do the job. The water must be close to its boiling point. By then, the water molecules will have
more freedom to move around, and more space will be given for solute molecules. Continuously keep
stirring in salt, sugar or any other solute, and it will continue to dissolve, even though the saturation
point has been reached. After that, take away the heat and let the solution gradually cool, and the
solute will remain dissolved, at least for a time. This is, in essence, the supersaturated definition. A
supersaturated solution is highly unstable, and strange things can happen.

4. What factors affected the growth of the crystals?

Factors that control crystal growth include the amount of dissolved material, evaporation,
pressure and temperature. For instance, the higher the amount of dissolved material in the water and
the more pressure that is placed on the material, the bigger the crystals will grow.

5. What steps should be done in order to grow big sizes of crystals?

In order to grow large crystals, it is important to avoid having to many nucleation sites.
Crystals that grow more slowly, tend to be larger. While for crystals that were grown by slow cooling
of the solvent: it usually improves the quality and size of the crystals, if the solution is slowly warmed
up until almost all crystals are dissolved again and then cooled down for the second time very slowly.
This can reduce the number of crystals obtained and usually improves quality and size.