Science | Stoichiometry| Laboratory

Stoichiometry
Laboratory
Objective
Determine stoichiometric relationships of chemical reactions.

Overview
An industrial chemist often needs to produce a certain amount of a product in a chemical reaction. For example, a
request may be, “Make 5 kg of sodium nitrite.” To figure out how to make that much of a substance, the chemist
must know what the reactants are and how much of them will be needed to do the job. Some mathematical
calculations using the principles of stoichiometry will help the chemist predict quantities needed to produce 5 kg of
sodium nitrate. Once the substance is produced, the amount of product will not be 100 percent of the predicted
amount because no procedure is 100 percent efficient.

Question
How do you predict the mass and moles of products of a chemical reaction?

Observe
When you cook according to a recipe, you use set amounts of ingredients, such as 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of butter,
and 1 cup of sugar. In the practice of chemistry, you do the same thing, but instead of grams or cups of a
substance, you use moles of a substance. Using moles enables you to do a 1:1 comparison of the numbers of
molecules of the substances involved. You do that because when thinking about a chemical reaction that will yield
a product, you have to combine the reactants in the correct amount. For example, to produce one mole of water
(H2O) you need two moles of hydrogen and one mole of oxygen. The mole is the unit by which to compare the
amount of one chemical to another.

Hypothesize
If I change mole amounts with each of the reactants then this will affect the color and precipitate no matter the
chemical.

Experiment
You will determine the amounts of reactants that are needed to produce chemical reactions. Phenolphthalein
turns pink in a solution that contains excess hydroxide ions (OH–). That color change and others will signal to you
the extent of the chemical reaction that has occurred. You will visually notice the combination that gives you the
greatest color change, and thus the best results.

Safety
Review the Laboratory Guidelines and Safety Data Sheets before conducting the lab.

Part 1: Reaction of Copper (II) Nitrate with Sodium Hydroxide

Materials
 Goggles, safety
 gloves
 apron, lab
 24-well microplates – 2
 toothpicks – 27

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 Science | Stoichiometry| Laboratory

 0.1 M sodium hydroxide

 0.1 M solution (with phenolphthalein added as an indicator) copper (II) nitrate (Cu(NO3)2)
Setup
1. Collect materials together in the place where you will perform the lab.

2. Create a data table with the following columns: Well number; Drops of copper (II) Nitrate; Drops of sodium
Hydroxide; Observation of color change (yes or no, and identify the color if yes); and Observation of
precipitate (yes or no, and identify the color if yes). Title the table “Reaction of Copper (II) Nitrate with Sodium
Hydroxide.” Leave enough room in the observation column to write up to two sentences about what you have
seen.

3. Place two microplates next to each other and identify nine wells, as shown in Image 1.

Note: The reaction in this experiment is copper (II) nitrate + sodium hydroxide → copper + hydroxide ions +
sodium nitrate. Write out this equation using chemical formulas.

Procedure
1. Using nine microplate wells that you identified by letter and number, place 5 drops of Cu(NO 3)2 in the first
well, then 10 drops in the second well, 15 in the third well, and continue the pattern until you have put 45
drops in the last well.

2. Place 5 drops of NaOH in the well that you put 45 drops of Cu(NO 3)2 into. Next place 10 drops of NaOH in the
well that you put 40 drops of Cu(NO3)2 into, and so forth, so that each well contains a total of 50 drops of
liquid.

3. Stir with a toothpick, using a clean toothpick for each well. Stir the mixtures thoroughly; otherwise, the
reaction will take place unevenly and in small areas.

Image 1. Two microplates with wells showing color change

1. Observe any color changes or precipitate formation and record them in the table “Reaction of Copper (II)
Nitrate with Sodium Hydroxide.” Precipitates are best viewed by looking at the plate from the side.

2. Write your observations in terms of the chemical equation for the reaction.

3. Refer to your Laboratory Guidelines and the Safety Data Sheets for disposal instructions. Clean the
microplate wells with plenty of water after the chemicals have been disposed of. Keep your gloves for the
remaining parts of this lab. Dispose of the used toothpicks.

Part 2: Reaction of Iron (II) Sulfate with Sodium Hydroxide

Materials
 Goggles, safety

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 Science | Stoichiometry| Laboratory

 gloves
 apron, lab
 24-well microplates – 2
 toothpicks – 27
 0.1 M sodium hydroxide
 0.1 M solution (with phenolphthalein added as an indicator) iron (II) sulfate (FeSO4)
Setup
1. Collect materials together in the place where the lab will be performed.

2. Create a data table with the following columns: Well (identified by number of drops of FeSO 4 in the well);
Drops of iron (II) Sulfate; Drops of sodium hydroxide; Observation of color change (yes or no, and identify the
color if yes); and Observation of precipitate (yes or no, and identify the color if yes).

3. Title the table “Reaction of Iron (II) Sulfate with Sodium Hydroxide.” Leave enough room in the observation
column to write up to two sentences about what you have seen.

Note: The reaction in this experiment is iron (II) sulfate + sodium hydroxide → iron + hydroxide ions + sodium
sulfate.

1. Write out this equation using chemical formulas.

Procedure
1. Using nine wells that you identified by letter and number, place 5 drops of FeSO 4 in the first well, then 10
drops in the second well, 15 in the third well, and continue the pattern until you have put 45 drops in the last
well.

2. Place 5 drops of NaOH in the well that you put 45 drops of FeSO4 into. Next place 10 drops of NaOH in the
well that you put 40 drops of FeSO4 into, and so forth, so that each well contains a total of 50 drops of liquid.
Stir with a toothpick, using a clean toothpick for each well.

3. Observe any color changes or precipitate formation and record them in the table “Reaction of Iron (II) Sulfate
with Sodium Hydroxide.” Precipitates are best viewed by looking at the plate from the side.

4. Write your observations in terms of the chemical equation for the reaction.

5. Refer to your Laboratory Guidelines and the Safety Data Sheets for disposal instructions. Clean the
microplate wells with plenty of water after the chemicals have been disposed of. Keep your gloves for the
remaining parts of this lab. Dispose of the used toothpicks.

Part 3: Reaction of Iron (III) Nitrate with Sodium Hydroxide

Materials
 Goggles, safety
 gloves
 apron, lab
 24-well microplates – 2
 toothpicks – 27
 0.1 M sodium hydroxide
 0.1 M solution (with phenolphthalein added as an indicator) iron (III) nitrate (Fe(NO 3)3)
Setup
1. Collect materials together in the place where the lab will be performed.

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 Science | Stoichiometry| Laboratory

2. Create a data table with the following columns: Well (identified by number of drops of Fe(NO 3)3 in the well);
Drops of iron (III) nitrate; Drops of sodium hydroxide; Observation of color change (yes or no, and identify the
color if yes); and Observation of precipitate (yes or no, and identify the color if yes).

3. Title the table “Reaction of Iron (III) Nitrate with Sodium Hydroxide.” Leave enough room in the observation
column to write up to two sentences about what you have seen.

Note: The reaction in this experiment is iron (III) nitrate + sodium hydroxide → iron + hydroxide ions +
sodium nitrate. Write out this equation using chemical formulas.

Procedure
1. Using nine wells that you identified by letter and number, place 5 drops of Fe(NO 3)3 in the first well, then 10
drops in the second well, 15 in the third well, and continue the pattern until you have put 45 drops in the last
well.

2. Place 5 drops of NaOH in the well that you put 45 drops of Fe(NO 3)3 into. Next place 10 drops of NaOH in the
well that you put 40 drops of Fe(NO3)3 into, and so forth, so that each well contains 50 drops of liquid. Stir with
a toothpick, using a clean toothpick for each well.

3. Observe any color changes or precipitate formation and record them in the table “Reaction of Iron (III) Nitrate
with Sodium Hydroxide.” Precipitates are best viewed by looking at the plate from the side.

4. Refer to your Laboratory Guidelines and the Safety Data Sheets for disposal instructions. Clean the
microplate wells with plenty of water after the chemicals have been disposed of. Dispose of the used
toothpicks. Dispose of your gloves when you have finished cleaning the lab area, according to the instructions
in the Laboratory Guidelines.

Analyze
Respond to the prompts thoroughly.
1. Write balanced chemical equations for each of the three reactions that you performed and observed.

Answer:

CuSO4 + 2 NaOH → Cu ( OH ) 2 ↓ + Na2 SO4

Fe3 + 3OH →3 OH ( s ) ↓

Fe2 ((SO4)3) + 6NaOH →2Fe((OH)3) + 3Na2SO4

2. Phenolphthalein turns pink in a solution that contains excess hydroxide ions. How does this information help
you determine which of the reactants is in excess in the reactions?

Answer: This can help you find the reactant with excess hydroxide ions because if one just mixes all the
possible reactants, separately, then one can know which is the one with excess hydroxide ions because it
turns pink.
3. How do these experiments show that the molar amounts of the reactants produce different yields of the
products?

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 Science | Stoichiometry| Laboratory

Answer: This expirement shows that the molar amounts of the reactant can change the products because,

I used different

4. Was your hypothesis incorrect, partially correct, or totally correct? If not totally correct, then rewrite your
hypothesis now as a more definite if-then statement.

Answer:

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