EXPERIMENT 4: DEGREE OF HYDRATION OF COPPER (II) SULFATE

by Hoang Quang Anh TG506, CHE506H

Introduction

When some substances crystallise, the crystals that they form contain a fixed proportion
of water molecules chemically bonded into the crystal structure. This is known as water of
crystallization and shown, separated by a dot, in the chemical formula. In some cases this water
is evolved when the crystals are heated, without any other chemical change occurring. When the
blue crystals of hydrated copper sulfate are heated their appearance changes as they form white
anhydrous copper sulfate powder. The bottle of the blue hydrated crystals states the formula as
� 4 • xH2 .

The composition of hydrated crystals can be obtained by weighing before and after heating. It is
assumed that when the hydrated crystals are heated only the water in the crystal structure is
driven off. If the crystals are heated for long enough all the water is driven off and the anhydrous
crystals will be left. Assuming that the formula of the anhydrous salt is � 4, the ratio of water
to � 4 can be found from the mass before and after heating.

� 4 • xH2 →� 4 + xH2

Methodology

A clean and dry crucible with its lid was first weighed using an electronic balance. About
1g of copper (II) sulfate was then added into the crucible and weighed on the electronic balance.
With the use of crucible tongs, the closed crucible with the lid was then placed onto the tripod
with the porcelain triangle. After this had been set up, the crucible was then heated with a
Bunsen flame until the blue copper (II) sulfate crystals had formed a white powder. The crucible
was left to cool until it could be safely placed on the electronic balance, where it was weighed
with its lid on. The mass was recorded. After this, the crucible was placed back onto the tripod
and heated with the Bunsen flame again for about half a minute before the previous step of
cooling and weighing it was performed again. This is continued until there is a negligible amount
or no more change in mass when heated, to ensure that dehydration was complete. The final
mass of the crucible with lid and the copper (II) sulfate was recorded.
 EXPERIMENT 4: DEGREE OF HYDRATION OF COPPER (II) SULFATE
by Hoang Quang Anh TG506, CHE506H

Raw Data

mass of crucible + mass of crucible +

mass of crucible
Trial No. copper(II) sulfate before copper(II) sulfate after
(±0.001)/g
heating (±0.001)/g heating (±0.001)/g
1 25.592 26.597 26.205
2 23.839 24.921 24.530
3 25.207 26.180 25.802
4 24.281 25.349 24.922
5 23.027 24.041 23.679
6 23.452 24.514 24.047

Table 1: Raw Data

 EXPERIMENT 4: DEGREE OF HYDRATION OF COPPER (II) SULFATE
by Hoang Quang Anh TG506, CHE506H
% uncertainty of % uncertainty of
Trial mass of water of moles of water
mass of water of moles of water
No. crystallisation (±0.002)/g of crystallisation
crystallisation of crystallisation
1 0.392 0.51 0.0218 0.51
2 0.391 0.51 0.0217 0.51
3 0.378 0.53 0.0210 0.53
4 0.427 0.47 0.0237 0.47
5 0.362 0.55 0.0201 0.55
6 0.467 0.43 0.0259 0.43
Table 2: Tabulated Data for Water of Crystallisation

Where:

 Mass of water = (mass of crucible + copper(II) sulfate before heating) – (mass of crucible
+ copper(II) sulfate after heating)

e.g. for Trial number 1: mass of water = 26.597 - 26.205 = 0.392 g


0.002
Percentage uncertainty = × 100%
� �

0.002
e.g. for Trial number 1: Percentage uncertainty = × 100% = 0.51%
0.392


� �
Moles of water of crystallisation = , where 18.02 g/mol is the molar mass of
18.02

water

0.392
e.g for Trial number 1: Moles of water of crystallisation = = 0.0218 moles
18.02

Percentage uncertainty of moles of water is the same as percentage of uncertainty for mass, as
there is no percentage uncertainty in the molar mass obtained from the periodic table.
 EXPERIMENT 4: DEGREE OF HYDRATION OF COPPER (II) SULFATE
by Hoang Quang Anh TG506, CHE506H
mass of anhydrous
Trial % uncertainty of mass moles of anhydrous % uncertainty of moles
copper(II) sulfate
No. of copper(II) sulfate copper(II) sulfate of copper(II) sulfate
(±0.002)/g
1 0.613 0.33 0.00384 0.33
2 0.691 0.29 0.00433 0.29
3 0.595 0.34 0.00373 0.34
4 0.641 0.31 0.00402 0.31
5 0.652 0.31 0.00408 0.31
6 0.595 0.34 0.00373 0.34
Table 3: Tabulated Data for Anhydrous Copper (II) Sulfate

Where:

 Mass of anhydrous copper(II) sulfate = (mass of crucible + copper(II) sulfate after

heating) – mass of crucible

e.g. for Trial number 1: mass of water = 26.205 - 25.592 = 0.613 g


0.002
Percentage uncertainty = × 100%
� � ℎ �� �

0.002
e.g. for Trial number 1: Percentage uncertainty = × 100% = 0.33%
0.613


� � ℎ �� �
Moles of anhydrous copper(II) sulfate = , where 159.62
159.62

g/mol is the molar mass of anhydrous copper(II) sulfate

0.613
e.g for Trial number 1: Moles of water of crystallisation = = 0.00384 moles
159.62

Percentage uncertainty of moles of anhydrous copper(II) sulfate is the same as percentage of

uncertainty for mass, as there is no percentage uncertainty in the molar mass obtained from the
periodic table.
 EXPERIMENT 4: DEGREE OF HYDRATION OF COPPER (II) SULFATE
by Hoang Quang Anh TG506, CHE506H
moles of water of % uncertainty absolute % error
Trial
crystallisation in one mole of uncertainty
No.
hydrated copper(II) sulfate
1 5.66 0.84 0.05 10

2 5.01 0.80 0.04 0.2

3 5.63 0.87 0.05 10

4 5.90 0.78 0.05 20

5 4.92 0.86 0.04 1.6

6 6.95 0.76 0.06 40

Table 4: Calculation of moles of water in one mole of hydrated copper(II) sulfate

Where:

 Moles of water of crystallisation in one mole of hydrated copper(II) sulfate

moles of water of crystallisation

=
moles of anhydrous copper (II) sulfate

e.g. for Trial number 1: Moles of water of crystallisation in one mole of hydrated copper(II)
sulfate

0.0218
= = 5.66 moles
0.00384

 Percentage uncertainty of moles of water of crystallisation in one mole of hydrated

copper(II) sulfate

= Percentage uncertainty of moles of water + Percentage uncertainty of moles of anhydrous

copper(II) sulfate

e.g. for Trial number 1: Percentage uncertainty of moles of water of crystallisation in one mole
of hydrated copper(II) sulfate

= 0.51 + 0.33 = 0.84%

 Absolute uncertainty =
Percentage uncertainty of moles of water of crystallisation in one mole of hydrated

copper II sulfate × Percentage uncertainty

e.g. for Trial number 1: Absolute uncertainty = 5.66× 0.84% = 0.05

 EXPERIMENT 4: DEGREE OF HYDRATION OF COPPER (II) SULFATE
by Hoang Quang Anh TG506, CHE506H
 Literature value of the moles of water of crystallisation in one mole of hydrated copper(II)
sulfate is 5.

� � � �� −� ��
Percentage error = × 100%
� ��

5.66−5
e.g. for Trial number 1:
5
× 100% = 10%

Calculation Answer
average moles of 5.66 + 5.01 + 5.63 + 5.90 + 4.92 + 6.95 5.68
=
6
water
average absolute 0.05+0.04+0.05+0.05+0.04+0.06 0.05
=
6
uncertainty
range = 6.95 – 4.92 2.03
absolute � 2.03 0.4
= =
. �� 6
uncertainty due to
range
final answer 5.7 (±0.4)
percentage error 5.7−5
× 100% = 14%
5

Table 5: Analysis of Data

 EXPERIMENT 4: DEGREE OF HYDRATION OF COPPER (II) SULFATE
by Hoang Quang Anh TG506, CHE506H

Value of x
8
7
6
Calculated x-value

5
4
3 Value of x
2
1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Group Number

Evaluation and Conclusion

Sources of error

It can be clearly seen that the result severely deviates from the accurate literature value of
5. This makes the results inaccurate, with the calculated mean 14% greater than the accurate
value. The data set has a range of 2.03, which is vastly higher than the average absolute
uncertainty of 0.005. The uncertainty is this low due to the high precision of the mass balance
(±0.001 g). The wide range also suggests that the data set was not consistent, hence the
calculation of the final absolute uncertainty due to range as 0.4.

The results were obtained from six different groups conducting the experiment, which
makes the data susceptible to many errors. Numerous factors must be taken into consideration
and maintained constant for the results to be consistent:

1. The duration of heating and the heating temperature would affect the decomposition of
hydrated copper(II) sulfate into green copper(II) carbonate as high temperature may
cause a reaction of white anhydrous copper(II) sulfate with carbon dioxide in the air. The
copper (II) sulfate can also undergo thermal decomposition to form black copper (II)
oxide. This may explain the green and black specks observed in the crucible after the
experiment. This factor is extremely hard to eliminate even if only one person does it.
Without special equipments, it is impossible to maintain a consistent temperature inside
the crucible to prevent the unnecessary reactions from happening. Overheating the
 EXPERIMENT 4: DEGREE OF HYDRATION OF COPPER (II) SULFATE
by Hoang Quang Anh TG506, CHE506H
crucible contributes to the increased reading detected by the mass balance, as the mass of
the decomposed carbon dioxide/sulfur dioxide lost to the air is assumed to be the mass of
water lost, hence increasing the experimental value above the true value. Insufficient
heating of the crucible can also contribute to a mass reading lower than the true value.
One group observed a lower reading and this could possibly be due to the fact that the
water in the hydrated copper(II) sulfate has not completely evaporated and still remained
within the crystal structure of copper(II) sulfate.
2. The duration of cooling the crucible is also crucial in affecting the measurement of the
mass of the crucible after the heating process. The heat from the crucible can generate
convection currents in the air, which alters the readings of the very precise mass balance
used. Furthermore, a hot crucible can damage the mass balance and its internal
components.

These “constant” variables are further complicated by the different teams conducting the
experiment. Judgemental error/human error by the teams can create vastly different results.
There is little room for random errors in this experiment as the mass balance used has an
extremely high precision.

Improvements

There are ways to reduce the errors in this experiment. Firstly, repetition of trials can actually
reduce random errors even more, even though the experimental error, being significantly higher
than the percentage uncertainty points to the fact that the experiment had primarily systematic
errors, in terms of experimental design as well as human errors. Precision can’t be increased as
the mass balance used was very accurate. A possibility to reduce human errors could be using a
heat plate and thermometer, which provide some assistance in maintaining the relatively
constant temperature needed to prevent unnecessary reactions from happening. Literature review
must be done to find the correct temperature for the experiment to be carried out. If time
constraint and resource limitations were not imposed on the experiment, one person doing the
experiment would reduce the human errors involved.