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p5 Tips
p5 Tips
2. Always while measuring volume of solutions, use burette or pipette because they have low
PERCENTAGE error. The question of percentage errors are usually asked in P5. The percentage error
becomes very unacceptable if we are measuring SMALL volumes of solution or small masses. So, a 3dp
balance is much better for measuring masses than a 2dp balance as it would have much less % error
when small masses are being measured
3. While heating crystals strongly, do not use a simple test tube or any apparatus with sharp edges as
they are liable to crack at the sharp edges. For very strong heating to a constant mass, a crucible placed
on a pipe clay triangle is appropriate. And of course to measure the mass of the crucible + solid, you
would have to place it on a balance. But we wouldn’t want to fry our poor balance by placing a very hot
crucible on top of it. So, allow the crucible to cool for a few minutes by placing it on a heat mat.
When using a magnesium ribbon or any dirty surface, clean it with SANDPAPER
How to prepare crystals (which is also linked with solubility)
Many methods are mentioned in MS but I found this to be the simplest:
CIE usually demands us to prepare crystal after preparing a saturated solution of the crystal.
So, we have to prepare a saturated solution first:
1. Take a fixed volume of water in a beaker of appropriate volume
2. Add the crystal to the water and stir continuously. You have to allow some time for the crystal to
dissolve as it is an equilibrium process
3. After 5 min of stirring , if no solid crystals appear, add further mass of crystal
4. And repeat the process until solid appears in the beaker
5. Filter the solution using a filter paper and funnel so that the saturated solution is collected in a
beaker(whose mass has been measured previously) beneath the funnel
Now we have a saturated solution in a beaker.
How to get the crystals:
1. We have to place the beaker in a warm water bath. We could use a burner as well but there is a risk of
overheating the solution which could decompose the crystal. If the heat is appropriate, the water of the
solution should evaporate and we should have dry crystals ready.
How to measure solubility:
6. Measure the mass of beaker + solution from step 5
7. Subtract the mass of beaker from the mass in 6 to get the mass of saturated solution
8. And evaporate as shown above to get the mass of crystals.
8. Measure the mass of crystal + beaker
9. Subtract mass of beaker from mass in 8 to get the mass of crystals
10. Subtract the mass of crystals from the mass of saturated solution to get the mass of water in the
solution
11. I have assumed that all the masses are in grams. So, to get the solubility: Mass of crystal x 100/Mass
of waterq
Use of Divided Flasks : The below flask is used to keep the reagents apart. Put the bung on with the
delivery tube collecting gas in the syringe or over water. And shake so that the reagents come into
contact with each other and thus no gas escapes.
A reaction in a flask releases Gas A and steam. You have to collect the steam as
water. And measure the amount of Gas A released .
The whole system should be sealed. Attach a liebig condenser to the flask to condense the steam and
use a delivery tube that collects the condensed steam as water in an airtight test tube. After this has
occurred there should be another delivery tube (that should be placed after the liebig condenser) which
is connected to a gas syringe to measure the volume of Gas A. Note the system should be sealed. So that
no gas escapes.
Diagrams of Apparatus:
Separating Funnel
A Water Bath ( Used to keep a required temperature of the vessel. Does not reach very high
temperatures.)
For tables:
Each column heading needs three things, a description (e.g. concentration of acid in water),
a unit
(e.g. /mol dm-3) and an expression to calculate the data (e.g. B x 0.1/20) as required in the
text
below the table.
Also below the table is stated a requirement for a specific number of significant figures or
decimal
places. There is a general misunderstanding of the difference between significant figures,
decimal
places and trailing zeros. In this case the requirement was for three significant figures.
There was
a frequent misunderstanding of this requirement. For example, 0.0105 (3sig figs.) was given
as
0.011 (3dp), even to the extent of seeing 0.0105 written but crossed out and replaced by
0.011
where, presumably, the candidate believes three decimal places is the same as three
significant
figures. Also a calculated value of 0.05 needs to reported as 0.0500 if three significant
figures are
required. Care needs to be taken with the reporting of data.
The two required columns involved a great deal of calculation. Each column required the
calculation of moles of sodium hydroxide, converting this into moles of succinic acid then a
concentration of acid. Only the more able candidates had any success here. Many managed
two
parts of these calculations but usually not the 2:1 relationship between succinic acid and
sodium
hydroxide. This may have been due to unfamiliarity with succinic acid or its formula. Quite
a
significant minority labelled the columns “moles of sodium hydroxide” rather than
concentration in
each solvent even though this was stated below the table.
A requirement for determining a slope is the use of construction lines on the plot to produce
co-ordinates for the slope calculation. Many candidates did not draw construction lines.
…..
NOTE : The following points/information regarding p5 have been collected from various
sources/websites and examiner reports. We hope the notes might have improved your
Chemistry Paper 5 Skills.