Empirical Formula Lab Report

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Albert Lei 11/1/09 E.C. Period 1 Wiesbrook The Empirical Formula of Magnesium Chloride Lab Report Introduction: What is the Empirical Formula of Magnesium Chloride? There are no controls or experimental variables in this lab. Procedure: 1. Determine the mass of a Florence flask. 2. Obtain a small piece of magnesium from the instructor and place it in the flask. Determine the mass of this entire assembly. 3. Add 6M HCl until no further reaction occurs. (Be careful not to add too much. The more you add, the more you must remove in the next step!) 4. Working in the fume hood, place the flask on a hot plate and evaporate all of the water. (The magnesium chloride that was formed in the reaction will be left on the sides of the flask.) 5. Allow the flask to cool. 6. Find the mass of the flask with the product inside. Data Presentation: Mass of flask (g) = 36.37g Mass of flask & Mg (g) = 36.41g Mass of flask & product (g) = 36.50g Data Manipulation: Mass of Mg (g) = mass of flask & Mg – mass of flask = 36.41g – 36.37g = 0.04g Mass of product (g) = mass of flask & product – mass of flask = 36.50g – 36.37g = 0.13g Mass of Cl that reacted with Mg (g) = mass of product – mass of Mg = 0.13g – 0.04g = 0.09g Moles of Mg = mass of mg (g) / molar mass of Mg (g/mole) = 0.04g / 24.3g/mole = 0.002moles Moles of Cl = mass of Cl (g) / molar mass of Cl (g/mole) = 0.13g / 35.5g/mole = 0.004moles The Empirical Formula = moles of each element / smallest # of the mole 0.002moles of Mg / 0.002 = 1 0.004moles of Cl / 0.002 = 2 This is a 1 to 2 ratio. The Empirical Formula is MgCl2. Conclusion: The purpose of this lab was to determine what the empirical formula of magnesium chloride. Through the calculations I have made, I have determined that the empirical formula of magnesium chloride is one magnesium atom and 2

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