Concentration lab

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Purposes:

1) To determine the unknown concentration of solutions using a known concentration and volume (pure
water) and a known volume of added solution.

2) To come up with a formula (or relationship) for how dilution affects concentration.

3) To determine the unknown mass of solute added to water in a beaker.

Materials:

-All lab materials through the Concentration 1.1.2 html5 program offered through PHET.

-You will also need a calculator and periodic table and some paper.

Procedure:

Part 1 - Determining the concentration of an original solution (you will be graded on how close your
concentration is to the original so do your work carefully) (6 points)

Background: The chem professor for a class errantly forgot to calculate the concentration of a 'standard'
solution for a class. How can he determine the concentration without evaporating the solution or
starting all over again? Not to worry, he has a concentration meter and a beaker of distilled water.

1. Open the Concentration 1.1.2 html5 program (Moodle link).

2. Make sure evaporation is set to "None" or all your work will be in vain.

3. Add 500 mL of water to the container by opening the top left valve (slide it). Add carefully and
precisely as there is no other way to measure the volume of water than the markings on the side.

4. Choose cobalt (II) chloride solution (it is not named that, but that's its formula) from the drop down
menu and radio button respectively.

5. Add 100 mL of solution by pressing the red button on the dropper. (Again, be precise!)

6. Record the new solution's concentration _____________ by placing the meter over the solution. (1
point)
7. Press "Remove Solute." You should now have 600 mL of distilled water, if not add/remove water to
get that amount.

8. Add 200 mL cobalt (II) chloride solution by pressing the red button (precision!).

9. Record the new solution's concentration __________________ by placing the meter over the
solution. (1 point)

10. Press "Remove Solute." You should now have 800 mL of distilled water, if not add/remove water to
get that amount.

11. Add 200 mL of cobalt (II) chloride solution by pressing the red button (precision!).

12. Record the new solution's concentration __________________ by placing the meter over the
solution. (1 point)

13. Repeat steps 3-12 with copper (II) sulfate. ______________, ____________, __________ mol/L . (3
points)

Part 2 - How does dilution affect concentration? (4 points)

Background: Most substances are given to chem labs in concentrated form and then diluted to the
amount desired. A student who works as a lab assistant needs to create 0.10 M solutions from 5.0 M
CoNO3 (aq) , 5.5 M drink mix and 0.4 M KMnO4 stock solutions.

1. All of these can be created in two steps. Determine the two steps required by doing the following
procedure.

2. Choose any of the three solutions. Add 500 mL of the solution to the beaker (no water yet).
(Concentration will be that above.)

3. Add 500 mL of the water. Record the concentration and identity. (2 points)

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 but start with 100 mL of solution. Record. (1 point)

5. Repeat steps 2 and 3 but start with 50 mL of solution. Record. (1 point)

Part 3 - Determine the unknown mass of a solute in known concentration (1 point)

Background: A student is tasked with determining the mass of solute in a solution of K2Cr2O7. The
solution was created by a wayward chem professor who just shook the potassium dichromate into a
beaker of water without measuring it.
1. Recreate the "standard solution". Shake a potassium dichromate into 500 mL of water. The professor
gave it one shake across the solution.

2. Record the concentration of the resulting solution. ___________ (1 point)

Analysis: (32 points)

Part 1 - 24 points

1. Determine the three original concentrations of cobalt (II) chloride and average them. (6 points for
your calculations and up to 4 points depending on how close you are)

2. The actual concentration of cobalt (II) chloride solution is 4.000 M. Determine your % error. (2 points)

3. Determine the three original concentrations of copper (II) sulfate and average them. (10 points, split
same as #1)

4. The actual concentration of copper (II) sulfate solution is 1.000 M. Determine your % error. (2 points)

Part 2 (5 points)

5. Using your numbers, determine the relationship between original concentration and dilution amount.
Explain how to create each of the solutions in two steps. (5 points, 2 for the math relationship, 1 each
for the explanation)

Part 3 (3 points)
6. Using the concentration and volume of the solution, determine the mass of potassium dichromate
that was added. (3 points, show calculations)