Experiment No.

1
COMMON LABORATORY OPERATIONS

I. OBJECTIVES 1. To become acquainted with some common laboratory operations

2. To demonstrate proper laboratory techniques and skills involved in
some common laboratory operations.

II. APPARATUS

2 measuring cup 50 mL, table spoon, gas burner/electric burner, medicine dropper, empty disposable
clear cups /glass, empty glass container, plastic funnel, small pan

III. MATERIALS Cheesecloth, tap water, liquid milk, Cocacola softdrink, table salt

IV. PROCEDURE

1. MEASURING AND ESTIMATING LIQUID VOLUMES

Fill an empty disposable clear cups/glass with water up to 10mL using a medicine dropper and
mark it. In reading the volume of clear liquids keeps your eye with the lower meniscus (see Fig.
1). Transfer this water to another empty disposable clear cups/glass.
NOTE: When reading the volume of clear liquids keep your eye on the level of the lower
meniscus (see Fig. 1).

Figure 1. Measuring and Estimating Liquid Volumes

Note: From “General Chemistry 1 Laboratory Manual”, by Monsanto, A. B., & Pineda, H. A., 2013.
Copyright 2013 by Mutya Publishing House, Inc.

In your own disposable cup, estimate 2mL of water. Check if your estimation is correct using
medicine dropper. Practice this procedure several times until you can correctly estimate 2mL,
5mL and 10mL.
 OBSERVATIONS

2. TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS

Take 2 50 mL of measuring cup or glass or disposable cups. Fill one with about ¾ full of water.
Take the vessel with water in one hand and a tablespoon in the other hand. Hold the
table spoon against the lip of the vessel con down the spoon into the empty vessel (see Fig.
2).

Figure 2 Transferring liquid from one container to another

Note: From “General Chemistry 1 Laboratory Manual”, by Monsanto, A. B., & Pineda, H. A., 2013.
Copyright 2013 by Mutya Publishing House, Inc

Why should one use a table spoon in transferring liquids from one vessel to another?

3. PRECIPITATION (Reserve resulting mixture for Operation No.4)

Fill a glass about ¾ full of softdrink. Slowly add liquid milk. Note the solid calcium phosphate
formed. Such a solid formed by the reaction between two solutions is called a precipitate. Allow
the precipitate to settle to the bottom of the glass. Add a few more drops of liquid milk. Do this
carefully so as not to agitate the solution. Repeat this procedure until no more precipitate
is formed.
WORD CHEMICAL EQUATION

BALANCED CHEMICAL EQUATION

4. FILTRATION (Reserve result for Operation Nos. 5 and 6)

Figure 4

Note: From “General Chemistry 1 Laboratory Manual”, by Monsanto, A. B., & Pineda, H. A., 2013.
Copyright 2013 by Mutya Publishing House, Inc

Prepare a cheesecloth by folding it as shown in Fig. 4(b-d). At the corner where three layers of
paper overlap on the outside of the cone, tear off a small corner from the double overlap (see
Fig. 4e). Open the folded triangle to form a cone with one layer of paper on one side and three
layers of paper on the other side.

Place the prepared cone in the plastic funnel and moisten it with water to make it stick to the sides
of the plastic funnel (see Fig. 4f). Place a clean container under the stem of the funnel. With the
moistened cheesecloth in place and the empty clear glass container/ disposable cups positioned
under the stem of the funnel, carefully pour the contents of the glass reserved in Operation
No. 4 into the funnel. This process is known as filtration and the liquid which passes through the
filter paper is called filtrate.

Figure 5 Proper filtration techniques

Note: From “General Chemistry 1 Laboratory Manual”, by Monsanto, A. B., & Pineda, H. A., 2013.
Copyright 2013 by Mutya Publishing House, Inc
 Use a table spoon to guide the flow of the liquid from the glass to the funnel to avoid
spattering as shown in Fig. 5(a). Use a tablespoon to scrape the precipitate from the
glass into the funnel as shown in Fig. 5(b). After transferring as much precipitate in the
glass into the funnel as possible, rinse the insides of the glass using a wash bottle as
shown in Fig. 5(c). Use a gentle stream of distilled water from the wash bottle to wash the
precipitate down the sides of the filter paper cone to the bottom.

NOTE: Washing with several small portions of water is more efficient than washing with one large
portion.

Figure 6 Filtration using Erlenmeyer flask

Note: From “General Chemistry 1 Laboratory Manual”, by Monsanto, A. B., & Pineda, H. A., 2013.
Copyright 2013 by Mutya Publishing House, Inc

5. DECANTATION
Transfer the precipitate reserved in Operation No. 4 into an empty clear glass/disposable cup
by piercing the cheesecloth with the tip of the spoon or cut it with a scissors. Add about 5mL of water
to the transferred precipitate. Shake well. Allow the precipitate to settle to the bottom of the test
tube. Slowly and carefully pour off the supernatant liquid into another empty clear glass/disposable
cup so that the precipitate remains in the empty clear glass/disposable cup. This method of
separating a liquid from a solid is called decantation. Rinse the precipitate with some more water.
Allow the precipitate to settle and decant again.
What other method of separating a liquid from a solid did you learn today other than filtration?

Which is the more effective, filtration or decantation?

6. EVAPORATION
Add ½ tablespoon of table salt to 50 mL of tap water in an empty clear glass/disposable cup and mix.
Place a small pan containing the filtrate on the center of the lighted burner. Slowly heat the filtrate to
allow the liquid to evaporate. Do this carefully so as not to overheat the white crystals being
formed. When all the liquid has been evaporated, turn off the gas burner/electric burner and cover
the small pan with a pan cover and allow the contents to cool. The solid resulting from such an
operation is called a residue. In this case, the residue is sodium chloride.
 OBSERVATIONS

IV. Conclusion:

Reference:

Monsanto, A. B., & Pineda, H. A. (2013). General Chemistry 1 Laboratory Manual. Malabon City: Mutya
Publishing House, Inc.