EXPERIMENT 10

PREPARATION OF POTASH ALUM

Structure

Introduction
Objectives
Principle
Requirements
Procedure
Observations
Calculations
Result
Summary

10.1 INTRODUCTION
Potash alum is used in purification of water. Potash alum,
K2S04.A12(S04)3.24H20,is an example of a double salt. A double salt is made
up of two single salts which crystallize as a single substance, but ionise as two
distinct salts when dissolved in water. Ferrous ammonium sulphate,
FeS04.(NH4)2S04.6H20, which is commonly known as the Mohr's salt, is
another example of a double salt, which is used in redox titrations. In this
experiment, you will learn how to prepare and purify potash alum.

Objectives
After performing this experiment, you should be able to:
prepare a double salt such as potash alum,
perform crystallisation, and
calculate percent yield of potash alum.

10.2 PRINCIPLE
When a hot concentrated solution of an equimolar mixture of potassium
sulphate and aluminium sulphate is allowed to cool, potash alum crystallises
out as colourless crystals.
K2S04+ A12(S04).18H2O + 6Hz0 -----+ K2S04.A12(S04)3.24H20
When dissolved in water, the alum furnishes potassium ions (K'), aluminium
ions ( ~ l " ) and sulphate ions (SO:-) Jhe names and gram formula weights of
main compounds involved in this experiment are listed below.

. Name Formula Gram Formula Weight

glmole
Potassium sulphate K2 S0 4 174.25
Aluminium sulphate 18H20
Al~(S04)~. 666.42
Potashalum . K2S04.A12(S04)3.24H20 948.76
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Experiment 10
10.3 REQUIREMENTS
Apparatus Chemicals
Beakers 150 cm3 2 No. Potassium sulphate
Bunsen burner 1 No. Aluminium sulphate
Evaporating dish 1 No. Sulphuric acid
Funnel glass 1 No. Distilled water
Funnel stand 1 No.
Glass rod 1 No.
Measuring cylinder 1 No.
Porcelain plate 1 No.
Tripod stand 1 No.
Watch glass 1 No.
Wire gauze 1 No.
Filter paper Few circles

10.4 PROCEDURE
Weigh 5.0 g aluminium sulphate and powder it. Transfer to a 150 cm3 beaker.
Add in 15 cm3distilled water contianing 1 cm3 concentrated sulphuric acid.
Warm to dissolve and add more sulphuric acid if necessary to get a clear
solution.

Weigh 1.5 g potassium sulphate and powder it. Transfer to another 150 cm3
beaker. Add 10 cm3 distilled water. Stir to dissolve. Warm if necessary.

Filter the two solutions through a previously moistened paper into an

evaporating dish. Heat the solution on a wire gauge and concentrate the
solution to the crystallisation point, which can be checked as follows. After
every two minutes take some solution on a glass rod and blov; out air on it.
When a solid crust is formed on the end of the glass rod, this indicates that the
solution has been concentrated to the crystallisation point.

Cover with a watch glass and allow the solution to crystalllise. When the
crystallisation is complete, decant the mother liquor and wash the crystals with
5 cm3 ice cold distilled water. Dry the crystals by pressing them gently
between pads of filter papers. Allow to dry on a porous plate. Weigh the
crystals and record the yield. Calculate the percentage yield.

10.5 OBSERVATIONS
i) Mass of potasssium sulphate taken = g

ii) Mass of aluminium sulphate taken = g

Mass of potash alum formed -
iii) g
(experimental yield)

10.6 CALCULATION OF PERCENT YIELD

Your objective should be to prepare as high a yield of potash alum as possible.
To measure the efficiency of the procedure and your own performance, you
should calculate the percent yield, where
Baaic Experiments experimental yield
in Chemistry Percent yield = x 100%
theoretical yield

The theoretical yield is the calculated maximum amount of product which

might be obtained under ideal conditions from the starting materials. In an
experiment, the theoretical yield is seldom, if ever, reached. In this experiment,
the theoretical yield will be the maximum amount of potash alum which might
be obtained from the specified amounts of starting materials.

In calculating the theoretical yield, you should first calculate the moles of each
reactant and then find the limiting reagent. The limiting reagent determines the.
theoretical yield of the product. The reactant that is consumed completely in I i
"'

chemical reaction is called the limiting reagent.

g of Al,(SO4),, 18H,O taken'
No. of moles of A12(S04)3.18H20 taken = ----
gram molecular weight

-
-
5'0 - 0.0075 mol
666.2

g of K2S04
-- . taken
No. of moles of K2S04 taken =
gram inolecular weight

-
- 'SO
-- - 0.0085 mol
174.25

Since, aluminium sulphate and potassium sulphate react in equimolar ratio, the
former is the limiting reagent because it is present in less amount. Thus, the
theoretical yield of potash alum is 0.0075 mol. The theoretical yield in gram
can be calculated by multiplying the yield in rnol by the molecular weight.

Theoretical yield = 0.0075 x 948.26 = 7.1 g

experimental yield
Percent yield = x !00%
7.1

10.7 RESULT
The percent yield of potash alum = %

10.8 SUMMARY
In this experiment, you have performed the following:
prepared potash alum,
crystallized potash alum, and
calculated the percent yield of potash alum.