Cyanide PD

Hypothesis
The concentration of cyanide will be higher upstream of the river near the gold mine
operation than down downstream near the hinterland community.
Aim
To determine if the concentration of cyanide is higher upstream near the gold mine
operation than downstream near the hinterland community
Theory

cyanide is any chemiccal compound that contains the the cyano group which is a carbon atom
triple bonded to a nitrogen atom, most cyanide compounds are posionous and can result to many
illnnesses when ingested. there are many test that can indicate the presence of cyanide in a
solution, one of which that will be sued is the purssian test. this test involves the the addition of
NaOH, iron(2) sulphate and iron(3) chloride that will give a prussian blue to positively indicate
the presence of cyanide in a suspected solution.

To determine the concentration of cyanide in solutions the UV spectroscopy method

is used this involves

Materials

Water 50 cm3 of water sample from upstream and downstream

20 cm3 0.01 mol NaOH solution

20 cm3 iron (2) sulphate

5 cm3 iron (3) chloride

20 cm3 hydrochloric acid

2 250 ml conical flask

50 ml volumetric flask

Bunsen burner

Tripod stand

Varibles