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LAB #4 Properties of Ionic and Covalent Compounds
LAB #4 Properties of Ionic and Covalent Compounds
LAB #4 Properties of Ionic and Covalent Compounds
Grade: 10/49
Date: 26/01/21
Lab #: 4
Aim: To determine whether the unknown substance A & B are ionic or covalent
Observations:
Discussion: Ionic substances tend to have higher melting and boiling points than covalent substances.
They also tend to be hard and brittle while covalent substances tend to be softer and more flexible.
Most crystals are ionic substances. Covalent substances can exist as crystals, though. Examples include
sugar crystals and diamond. After doing certain tests on solids A & B, a few observations were drawn.
Solid A was found to be hard and have a crystal like appearance whereas solid B was more of a yellow
powdery substance. With this we can assume that solid A is Sodium Chloride and solid B is Sulfur.
Then the solids we separately added into distilled water. Water is a polar solvent. This is because it can
be attracted to either the positive or negative electrical charge on a solute. It can dissolve ions and other
polar compounds. The Sodium Chloride dissolved in the distilled water while the Sulfur didn’t. The two
solids were then heated, with the Sodium Chloride not showing any signs of melting and the Sulfur
melting almost immediately. In the last test, the Sodium Chloride was added to alcohol and the Sulfur to
carbon disulfide. Alcohol is a non-polar solvent, because it is much less polar than water. The Sodium
Chloride, after being mixed in the alcohol had no reactions, it didn’t dissolve. The Sulfur however, did
dissolve in the carbon disulfide after being mixed in the solvent.
Conclusion: In conclusion, solid A which is Sodium Chloride, is an ionic substance while solid B which is
Sulfur, is a covalent substance.