SAINT MARY’S UNIVERSITY

3700 Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines

School of Health and Natural Sciences

CENTER FOR NATURAL SCIENCES
Analytical Chemistry Laboratory

Activity 4
PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION OF HYDRATES

INTRODUCTION

Hydrates are ionic compounds (salts) that have a definite amount of water as part of
their structure. This “water of hydration” is released as vapour when the hydrate is heated.
The remaining solid is known as the anhydrous salt. The general reaction for heating a
hydrate is:

Hydrate Anhydrous salt + water

The Δ sign means that heat is applied. The percent of water in a hydrate can be
found experimentally by accurately determining the mass of the hydrate and the mass
of the anhydrous salt. The difference in mass is due to the water lost by the hydrate. The
percent of water in the original hydrate can be calculated easily:

In this experiment, a hydrate of copper (II) sulphate (CuSO 4 5H2O) will be studied.
The change from copper (II) sulphate pentahydrate to anhydrous copper (II) sulphate is
accompanied by a change in colour.

This investigation should aid in the understanding of the composition of hydrates,

simple decomposition reactions, and the Law of Definite Composition.

OBJECTIVE

This activity should enable you to:

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 SAINT MARY’S UNIVERSITY
3700 Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines

1. Determine the percent of water in the hydrate.

2. Determine the mass of the hydrate.
3. Compute the actual yield.

MATERIALS

copper (II) sulfate, CuSO 4 5H2O spatula desiccator analytical balance furnace
crucible tong crucible

PROCEDURE

1. Get your crucible from the desiccator and get its mass.
2. Weigh ±2.000 g of copper (II) sulphate pentahydrate. Be sure the spatula is clean
to avoid contamination.
3. Put the crucible with the sample in the furnace. Set the furnace at 500 oC.
4. Maintain the temperature of the furnace at 500 oC for one hour. Start timing when
the temperature of the furnace reaches 500 oC so that the hydrate will
decompose completely, i. e., until all of the blue colour has disappeared.
5. After 1 hour, cool the furnace between 150 oC and 200 oC for 30 minutes.
6. Find the mass of the crucible plus the anhydrous salt, and record. The crucible must
be weighed before the compound reabsorbs water from the atmosphere.

DATA AND RESULTS

Mass in grams (g)

1. Mass of crucible 36.36 g
2. Mass of crucible + hydrate 37.35 g
3. Mass of crucible + anhydrous salt 36.96 g
4. Mass of anhydrous salt 0.60 g
5. Mass of water 0.39 g
Yield
1. Theoretical Yield (anhydrous salt) 0.63 g
2. Theoretical Yield (water) 0.36 g
3. Actual Yield (anhydrous salt) 0.60 g
4. Actual Yield (water) 0.39 g
5. Percent Yield (water) 108.33%
6. Percent Yield (anhydrous salt) 95.23%

Copyright 2021. All rights reserved. No parts of this lecture may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, including information
storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review.
 SAINT MARY’S UNIVERSITY
3700 Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines

CALCULATIONS
Remember to show all your pertinent solution.

1. Calculate the mass of water lost from the hydrate.

Given: mass of crucible + anhydrous salt = 36.96 g
mass of crucible + hydrate = 37.35 g
Equation: mwater = mass of crucible + hydrate – mass of crucible + anhydrous salt

CSw/UC: mwater = 37.35 g – 36.96 g = 0.39 g H20

Final Answer: mwater = 0.39 g H20

2. Find the percent of water lost from the original hydrate

Given: from #1: mass of water = 0.39 g
mass of hydrate = 0.99 g
mass of water
Equation: %H20 = × 100%
mass of hydrate

0.39 g
CSw/UC: %H20 = 100% = 39.393 %
0.99 g

Final Answer: %H20 = 39.39%

3. Calculate the theoretical yield (anhydrous salt and water): This is where we find
out how well you did. Theoretical yield is the yield you should have gotten if you
had done everything perfect.
Given: CuSO4.5H2O CuSO4 + 5H2O

mCuSO4 5H2O = 0.99 g

MMCu = 63.55 g; MMS = 32 g
MMO = 16; MMH = 1 g
MMCuSO4 = 159.55 g
MMH20 = 18 g
Equation:
1 mol CuSO4 5H2O
theoretical yield CuSO4 = mass of CuSO4 5H2O × ×
MM CuSO4 5H2O
mol CuSo4 MMCuSO4
× 1 mol CuSo4
mol CuSO4 5H2O
1 mol CuSO4 5H2O mol H20
theoretical yield H2O = mass of CuSO4 5H2O × × mol CuSO4
MM CuSO4 5H2O 5H2O

Copyright 2021. All rights reserved. No parts of this lecture may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, including information
storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review.
 SAINT MARY’S UNIVERSITY
3700 Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines

MMH2O
× 1 mol H2O

CSw/UC:
MM CuSO4.5H2O
Element Quantity Average atomic Subtotal
mass
Cu 1 × 63.55 g = 63.55 g Cu
S 1 × 32 g = 32 g S
O 9 × 16 g = 144 gO
H 10 × 1g = 10 g H
MM CuSO4.5H2O = 249.55 g CuSO4.5H2O

1 mol CuSO4 5H2O 1 mol CuSO4

theoretical yield CuSO4 = 0.99 g CuSO4 5H2O × × ×
249.55 g CuSO4 5H2O 1 mol CuSO4 5H2O
159.55 g CuSO4
1 mol CuSO4
= 0.632 g CuSO4
1 mol CuSO4 5H2O 5 mol H20
theoretical yield H2O = 0.99 g CuSO4 5H2O × × ×
249.55 g CuSO4 5H2O 1 mol CuSO4 5H2O
18 g H2O
= 0.357 g H2O
1 mol H2O

Final Answer: theoretical yield CuSO4 = 0.63 g CuSO4

theoretical yield H2O = 0.36 g H2O

4. Calculate the actual yield (anhydrous salt and water).

Given: from #3: theoretical yield CuSO4 = 0.63 g CuSO4
from #3: theoretical yield H2O = 0.36 g H2O
MMCuSO4.5H2O = 249.55 g
mCUSO4 = 0.6 g
mH2O = 0.39 g

actual yield
Equation: percent yield = × 100%
theoretical yield

theoretical yield × percent yield

actual yield =
100%

CSw/UC:
0.6 g
percent yieldCUSO4 = × 100% = 95.23%
0.63 g
0.39g
percent yieldH2O = × 100% = 108.33%
0.36 g

Copyright 2021. All rights reserved. No parts of this lecture may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, including information
storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review.
 SAINT MARY’S UNIVERSITY
3700 Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines

0.63 g × 95.23%
actual yield CuSO4 = = 0.599 g
100%

0.36 g × 108.33%
actual yield H2O = = 0.389 g
100%

Final Answer: actual yield CuSO4 = 0.60 g CuSO4

actual yield H2O = 0.39 g H2O

5. Error Calculation: To find your error, take the difference between the theoretical
yield and your actual yield. Your result should be expressed as a positive number
(absolute error – absolute value).
Error = theoretical yield – actual yield
ErrorCuSO4: 0.63 g – 0.60 = 0.03 g
ErrorH2O: 0.36 – 0.39 g = -0.03 g

6. Percent Error: To find your percentage error, follow the following formula. You will
be graded on the % error, and it is expect it within 2 – 3%. Percent error = (your
error/theoretical yield) x 100
error
Percent error = × 100
theoretical yield
0.03
Percent error CuSO4= × 100 = 4.76%
0.63
0.03
Percent error H2O= × 100 = -8.33%
0.36

GENERALIZATION
In this experiment, I have understood the composition of hydrates, simple
decomposition reactions, and the Law of Definite Composition. This activity enables me
to compute for the actual yield, determine the percent of water in the hydrate, and the
mass of the hydrate. Due to minor errors in the experiment the numbers are not equal
however, if done correctly the numbers would have been correct. Therefore, by heating
the hydrate and removing the water it was possible to calculate the percent composition
of water in the substance.

Prepared by:

Miss Shiellah Mae T. Barsicula

Instructor

Copyright 2021. All rights reserved. No parts of this lecture may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means, including information
storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review.