Law of Constant Composition Formal Lab Report

Prasanth Vigneswararajah 453144 December 7th 2011 SCH3U0-B Mrs. Kwatra

1 Prasanth Vigneswararajah The law of Constant Composition Lab

Introduction
Magnesium is an element which was discovered in 1755 by a Scottish chemist named Joseph Black. This metal is a part of the Alkali Metal group, located in group two of the periodic table. This metal is a fairly strong, silvery-white, somewhat reactive, lightweight metal. During the 1800s, two French chemists named J.L Proust and C.M. Berthollet had an argument regarding percent composition. J.L Proust believed that a compound always has the same percent composition no matter how it is prepared. On the other hand, C.M. Berthollet alleged that a compound has an infinite number of compositions depending on the proportions of the components that were used in its preparations. The main purpose of this lab is to determine which of the chemists were right. We can figure this out by determining the percent magnesium by mass in magnesium oxide and to observe if the percentage composition is constant by comparing class results. A reasonable prediction for this lab is that the percent composition of magnesium combined with magnesium oxide will have a large value knowing that the average mass of magnesium is much higher than that of oxygen.

Materials
          Magnesium strip Crucible Crucible Cover Clay Triangle Iron Ring Retort Stand Tongs Balance Bunsen Burner Flint Striker

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Procedure:
1. Take a strip of magnesium approximately 10 cm in length and coil in into a tight roll. 2. The mass of the crucible, and the crucible cover was recorded to the nearest 0.01grams. 3. Add the magnesium coil and reweigh the mass again. 4. Set the retort stand on a stable position and adjust the iron ring onto the stand at a suitable height. 5. Place the clay triangle onto the iron ring, and then place the crucible with the magnesium in it, with the crucible cover. Note that cover should be ajar for the oxygen to flow inside. 6. Attach the Bunsen burner to the gas valve and place it under the crucible. 7. Turn the gas on and ignite the flame with the flint striker. 8. Continuously check the magnesium strip every minute by lifting the crucible cover with a pair of tongs. Check to see if the magnesium turned orange. 9. Once the magnesium ignites, turn off the Bunsen burner and allow the combustion to progress. 10. Once the reaction appears completed, reheat the crucible for five minutes, and then allow it to cool down for ten minutes 11. Now mass the crucible, crucible cover and the product which is magnesium oxide.
Figure 1.0

This is an example of the setup for the lab. This diagram should help you get a better understanding of how to conduct the experiment.

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Data:
Table 1: Recording of mass calculations before lab mass of empty covered crucible 22.48 g mass of magnesium inside covered crucible 22.58 mass of magnesium oxide in covered crucible 22.63

Table 2: Class Results Group Names Crucible + lid (empty) in grams Mass of crucible +lid +Magnesiu m strip (in grams) Mass of crucible +lid Percent by mass of Magnesium

+Magnesiu in m oxide Magnesium

(in grams) oxide (%) Dhillon,Jagpreet, Sukhman Aditi, Avneet, Pritpal Lovepreet, Afia, Akela Prasanth, Harman, Gagan Sonia, Harsharon Craig, Pritheeve, Zeeshan Akshay, Sahej, Harpreet Amrit, Anita, Marissa 21.65g 21.83g 21.92g 66.67% 22.41g 22.65g 22.72g 74.42% 22.70g 22.33g 22.82g 22.43g 22.86g 22.48g 75% 66.67% 22.48g 22.58g 22.63g 66.67% 22.51g 21.56g 22.62g 21.65g 22.68g 21.69g 64.71% 69.23% 22.26g 22.33g 22.43g 41.18%

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Calculations:
Mass of magnesium used: Mass of magnesium inside covered crucible mass of empty covered crucible =22.58g-22.48g =0.10g Therefore, the mass of magnesium used was 0.10grams. Mass of magnesium oxide: Mass of Crucible with cover and magnesium oxide-Mass of empty crucible & cover= Mass of magnesium oxide =22.63-22.48 =0.15g Therefore, the mass of the magnesium oxide was 0.15grams. Percentage by mass of magnesium in magnesium oxide: = Mass of Mg/ Mass of magnesium oxide x100 =0.10/0.15 x 100 =66.67% Therefore, the percentage by mass of magnesium in magnesium oxide is 66.67%

Discussion
What conclusion can be made about the composition of magnesium oxide based on your data? Based on my data, you can say that the composition of the magnesium in magnesium oxide is 66.67%. Since the percentage of magnesium is greater

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than half, you can also say that there is more of magnesium contained in the compound magnesium oxide. What conclusion can you make upon the class results? Based on the class results, you can say that the percent composition of magnesium in magnesium oxide can vary depending on the amount of reactants used in the reaction between magnesium and oxygen. Which French scientist would you tend to support? Explain. J.L. Proust is the scientist that I would support because the percent composition of any substance has to stay constant if the product is the same. If you change the percent composition of magnesium in magnesium oxide, you would be creating a whole new substance. The results in this lab vary because there could have been sources of errors during the procedure, which cause a variation with calculations. If we were to use pure elements then the results would have been very similar if not the same.

Sources of error:
There are many different components in this lab, which means that there is also a high chance for errors to occur. One reason as to why one group could have got a higher percentage of magnesium compared to the class is by the amount of oxygen being exposed to the magnesium. Another common source of error in this lab would be the fact that the magnesium ribbon when burned reacted with nitrogen in the atmosphere, which caused a secondary reaction to set off. This reaction not only changes the amount of magnesium oxide formed, but also alters the percent composition it holds in the new compound. Another factor that could have changed the overall results is how high the gas was turned on for the Bunsen burner. Every group had their flame ignited at different levels which can severely revise final results. Each group was required to coil their magnesium strip into a tight roll. Every group had a different type of coil, which can also change your results and make it different from the actual product. In addition, another error could have occurred when calculating the mass of magnesium. There are many other air particles in the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen, and these gases could have reacted with magnesium to increase the overall mass of the magnesium strip.
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Conclusion:
The overall intention of this experiment was to determine which chemist was right, J.L Proust or C.M Berthollet. In conclusion, after conducting the experiment and comparing it to the class results, and also taking into consideration the sources of error, I believe that J.L Proust was right.

References:
Law of Constant Composition Lab sheet. Rayner-Canham, Geoffrey. Chemistry 11. Toronto, Ont.: Addison-Wesley, 2001. Print.

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