Title: Identifying ions

Aim: To be able to unequivocally identify the different substances A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I

Materials:

 Reaction well Station 2

 Bunsen burner Unknown solutions (all 0.1M)
 Matches  Barium nitrate
 Calcium nitrate
Station 1  Copper (II) nitrate
Unknown solutions (all 0.5M)
 Sodium carbonate
 Sodium phosphate Station 3
 Sodium sulfate Unknown solutions (all 0.1M)
 Lead nitrate
 Sodium chloride
 Iron (II) sulfate
Known solutions  Iron (III) chloride
 1M nitric acid solution
 0.1M calcium nitrate solution Known solutions (all 0.1M)
 Potassium iodide
 1M ammonia solution
Material Hazard Control  Potassium ferricyanide
 0.1M barium nitrate solution
used  Potassium thiocyanate
0.5M sodium Slightly toxic Wash hands afterward  0.1M silver nitrate solution
phosphate if ingested
Risk Assessment
solution
0.1M barium Moderately Wash hands afterward
nitrate toxic if
solution ingested
0.1M lead Highly toxic Wash hands, Wear eye and skin protection
nitrate by all routes
solution of exposure
0.1M copper Slightly toxic Wear eye and skin protection and wash hands afterward
(II) chloride by ingestion
solution and skin
contact
0.1M iron Toxic if Wash hands afterward
(III) nitrate ingested
solution
0.1M silver Toxic if Wear eye and skin protection and wash hands afterward
nitrate ingested,
solution stains skin
black
1M nitric Corrosive and Wear eye and skin protection
acid and 1M skin irritant
sodium
hydroxide
solution
0.1M Moderately Wear eye and skin protection and wash hands afterward
Potassium toxic if
thiocynate ingested and
skin irritant
0.1M Slightly toxic Wear eye and skin protection and wash hands afterward
Potassium if ingested
ferricyanide and skin
solution irritant
0.1M lead Highly toxic, Wear eye and skin protection and wash hands afterward
iodide cumulative
solution posion
Method

Station 1

1. 10 drops of each of the unknown solutions was placed in the reaction well
2. Each solution is tested with 1M nitric acid solution and any precipitation was observed, and the colour of the
precipitation if any
3. Repeat step 1 and 2 for the remain known solutions 0.1M calcium nitrate solution, 1M ammonia solution,
0.1M barium nitrate solution, 0.1M silver nitrate solution
4. Compare the precipitations and colours of the precipitation to the anion precipitation table to identify each
of the unknown substances

Station 2

1. Set up a Bunsen burner and place in on an open flame

 2. Spray each of the unknown substance at the tip of the flame, and record the different colours produced by
each substance
3. Compare the colours of the substances to the flame test table to identify the different solutions

Station 3

1. 3 drops of each of the unknown solutions was placed in the reaction well
2. Each solution is tested with potassium iodide and observed to see if any precipitation was produced and the
colour of the precipitate if any
3. Steps 1-2 are repeated for the remaining known solutions
4. Compare results to the cation table

Results

Known Solutions Colour of Precipitates and reactions of the Unknown Solutions A,B,C,D
used
Solution A Solution B Solution C Solution D
Ba ( N O3 )2 White White White No reaction
Ca ( N O 3 )2 White White White No reaction
AgN O 3 Yellow White Yellow White
HN O3 Bubbled formed No reaction Bubbles formed No reaction
Solution A - Sodium Carbonate OR Sodium Phosphate

Solution B – Sodium Sulfate

Solution C – Sodium Carbonate OR Sodium Phosphate

Solution D – Sodium chloride

Unknown Solutions Flame colour

E Brick red
F Light green
G Yellow-green

Solution E – Calcium Nitrate

Solution F – Copper (II) Nitrate

Solution G – Barium Nitrate

Known Substances Colour of Precipitates and reactions of the Unknown Solutions H,I,J
Solution H Solution I Solution J
Potassium Thiocyanide No reaction Dark red Dark red
Potassium Iodide Bright yellow No reaction No reaction
Potassium Ferrocyanide No reaction Blue No reaction

Solution H – Lead Nitrate

Solution I – Iron (II) Sulfate

Solution J – Iron (III) Chloride

Discussion

From our series of test performed to unequivocally identify each of the ions present in the unknown solutions A, B,
C, D, E, F, G, H, I we determined that:

A - Sodium Carbonate OR Sodium Phosphate, B – Sodium Sulfate, C – Sodium Carbonate OR Sodium Phosphate, D –
Sodium chloride , E – Calcium Nitrate, F – Copper (II) Nitrate, G – Barium Nitrate , H – Lead Nitrate, I – Iron (II)
Sulfate, J – Iron (III) Chloride

The accuracy of our experiment was relatively poor and invalid as our method was unable to definitely identify some
of the ions in the solution, which was affected due to the cross-contamination of different substances. The cross-
contamination of the different solutions led to conflicting results and hence the solutions could not be distinguished.
An example of this would be in Station 1, where Solution A and Solution C yielded all the same reactions with the
same tests (e.g. Both of the bubbled when tested with nitric acid, both formed a yellow precipitate when tested with
silver nitrate). From the possible unknown anions that were present, only carbonate will effervesce when nitric acid
while phosphate will have no reaction, and only phosphate will produce a yellow precipitate with silver nitrate and
carbonate will form a white precipitate. From this we can deduce that the phosphate and carbonate ions have been
cross contaminated, as both solution A and solution B exhibit properties of both carbonate and phosphate ions and
therefore indicate their presence in both solutions. Furthermore, Solution B forms a white precipitate with Barium,
calcium and silver. As there is no possible unknown ion tested that forms a white precipitate with all three cations
(except for carbonate, however it can be deduced that solution B doesn’t isn’t carbonate as it doesn’t effervesce),
there must again be contaminated. Cross-contamination can also be seen in station 3, where the testing of
Potassium Thiocyanide resulted in a dark red precipitate in both Solution I and Solution J, indicating that Iron (III) ion
was present in both solutions. Therefore, although we were able to deduce the identity of most solutions, many
solutions were contaminated which may have affected our accuracy and thus affected the validity of the experiment
as it failed to achieve the aim of unequivocally identifying each ion in the unknown solutions. The accuracy of the
experiment could possibly be improved by using other confirmatory tests to test the substances, or use a different
method to attempt to distinguish between the ions.

The reliability of the experiment cannot be assessed as the experiment was only performed once, and the
comparison of results between the results of other groups has not been done as of yet.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we were only able to unequivocally identify only some ions in their solutions due to the contamination
of the solutions