Jotter

Data/results
Discussion
The objectives of the experiment are: i) to identify a compound on the basis on its chemical
properties, ii) to determine the identity of given unknown compounds based on their
chemicals properties. From part A (Observation of Chemical Properties of Known
Compounds), when silver nitrate solution is added to sodium chloride solution, white
precipitate formed. Ion chloride is the white precipitate formed at the bottom of the test tube.
When silver nitrate solution is added to sodium carbonate solution, it produced white
precipitate while silver nitrate is added to magnesium sulphate, it has no changes. When
sodium hydroxide is added to sodium chloride solution, no reaction occurs. When sodium
hydroxide is added to sodium carbonate, it has no visible changes. When sodium hydroxide is
added to magnesium sulphate solution, the solution turns from colourless to white solution
after 7 drops of sodium hydroxide. When hydrochloric acid is added to sodium chloride
solution, no reaction occurs while when hydrochloric acid is added to sodium carbonate, it
formed a cloudy solution. When hydrochloric is added to magnesium sulphate, no visible
changes occur.

From part B (Observation for Unknown Solutions), when silver nitrate is added to unknown
solution 1, no changes happen while when silver nitrate is added to unknown solution 2,
brown precipitate formed after 7 drops. When silver nitrate is added to unknown solution 3, it
forms white precipitate. When sodium hydroxide is added to unknown solution 1, it forms
cloudy solution while when added to unknown solution 2, it has no changes. No reaction
occurs when sodium hydroxide is added to unknown solution 3. When hydrochloric acid is
added to unknown solution 1, no reaction occurs while when added to unknown solution 2, it
forms air bubble (cloudy solution). When hydrochloric acid is added to unknown solution 3,
there is no visible changes.

From the experiment, we can conclude that unknown solution 1 is magnesium sulphate,
unknown solution 2 is sodium carbonate while unknown solution 3 is sodium chloride.
Question

1. Three colourless solutions are placed in test tubes with no labels. Lying beside the test
tubes are three labels: 0.10 M K2CO3, 0.10 M H2SO4, and 0.10 M NaOH. You are to
place the labels on the test tubes using only three solutions. Here are your tests:
(a) A few drops of the solution from test tube 1 added to a similar volume of the
solution in test tube 2 produces no visible reaction but the solution becomes warm.
- 0.10M NaOH
(b) A few drops of the solution from test tube 1 added to a similar volume of the
solution in test tube 3 produces carbon dioxide gas.
- 0.10M K2CO3
(c) On the basis of your observations, how would you label the three test tubes?
- Labelled with labelling paper. In test 1, when acid reacts with base, it produces
salt and water. Clear solutions is formed and becomes warm. In test 2, when
acid reacts with carbonate, it produces carbon dioxide gas, water and salt.
Conclusion
From the experiment, a compound can be identified on the basis of its chemical properties.
Also, the identity of given unknown compounds can be determined based on their chemical
properties. The unknown solutions are: Solution 1, magnesium sulphate, MgSO4. Solution 2,
sodium carbonate, Na2CO3. Solution 3, sodium chloride, NaCl. The unknown solutions were
tested by adding three test reagents by observing the reaction between unknown solutions
with the three reagents.
References
• Feldman, S. R. (2000). Sodium chloride. Kirk‐Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical
Technology.
• Gordon, M. C., & Iams, J. D. (1995). Magnesium sulfate. Clinical Obstetrics and
Gynecology, 38(4), 706-712.
• De Backer, A., Haentjens, P., & Willems, G. (1985). Hydrochloric acid. Digestive
diseases and sciences, 30(9), 884-890.