UNIVERSITY OF GUYANA

FACULTY OF NATURAL SCIENCES

Department of Chemistry
CHM 1103 LaboratoryExercise#4

Determination of the mass of water present in hydrated crystals

Solids that contain water molecules as part of their crystalline structure are known as
hydrates. Water is chemically bound in a compound, usually ionic so that the water
molecules become part of the crystal structure and are present in definite proportions
relative to the other ions.

In this lab the initial mass of a hydrated compound will be accurately determined. The
hydrated compound will then be heated to remove the water. This will allow you to
determine the mass of the anhydrous compound. Assuming the loss in mass is the water of
hydration, the mole ratio of water to barium copper (II) sulphate and subsequently the
formula of the hydrate can be determined. The difference in mass of the hydrated
compound and the mass of the anhydrous compound will be the mass of water removed.
These measurements can then be used to determine the formula of the hydrated
compound.

OBJECTIVES:
The purpose of this laboratory exercise is
 To find the mole ratio of water to copper (II) sulphate in a hydrate of copper (II)
sulphate, CuSO4 . nH2O.
 To determine the percentage of water in a hydrated salt
 To calculate the number of moles of water in the empirical (simplest) formula of the
hydrated salt

MATERIAL/APPARATUS
 Hydrated copper (II) sulphate, 2.000 – 3.000g
 Spatula
 Boiling tube
 Bunsen
 Tongs
 Electronic balance

METHOD
1. Weigh boiling tube, record this mass value in your results table
2. Add between 2.000 g and 3.000 g of hydrated copper (II) sulphate crystals,
CuSO4 . nH2O. Reweigh the boiling tube, and record the new mass in the results table.
3. Heat the boiling tube containing the hydrated barium chloride crystals strongly, over a
bunsen burner flame, for approximately 10-15 minutes.
4. Allow to cool and weigh the boiling tube and its contents, record the mass
5. Reheat the boiling tube and its contents and reweigh, record the new mass

1
6. Continue reheating and reweighing until constant mass is observed. This process is
known as ‘heating to constant mass’ and ensures that all the water of crystallisation has
been removed from the hydrated crystals.
7. Complete the student lab report.

Figure 1 Mass of Boiling Tube (left) and Mass of boiling tube + hydrated salt (right)

Figure 2 Mass of the dehydrated salt after heating 3 times