Magnesium Experiment Essay

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CHEMISTRY LAB EXPERIMENT #1
Aim: To find the empirical formula of the compound of Magnesium and Oxygen, formed by combustion of Magnesium in air.
Introduction
The empirical formula of a compound shows the simplest ratio in which atoms of constituent elements of the compound are present in 1 molecule of the compound.
In this experiment, we will measure the mass of a magnesium strip before burning it, and then the mass of the compound left after combustion. Presuming that all the mass added is entirely oxygen, we can find the amount of oxygen which all the magnesium has combined with by subtracting the mass of the original magnesium strip from the mass of the white powdery substance formed after combustion.
Equipment:
Reagents:
1. Magnesium strip(approximately …show more content…

Pipe clay triangle
5. Digital weighing scale
Method
1. Record the mass of a clean, dry crucible with its lid. (Handle the crucible with tongs, not your fingers, to avoid moisture and oil from your fingers being transferred.)
2. Use fine sand paper to scrape the oxide coating from the surface of a strip of magnesium ribbon approximately 6 cm length. Cut the ribbon into small pieces, place in the crucible, and weigh the crucible, its lid, and contents.
3. Heat the crucible in a hot flame for 10 minutes, ensuring that the magnesium is exposed to air but that no solid escapes. After this time the magnesium should have been converted to a white powder.
4. Allow the crucible to cool. Weigh the crucible, its lid, and the product of the reaction.
Precautions
1. The lengths of magnesium strip taken for all 3 readings must be same.
2. Before weighing the crucible, ensure that there is no zero error (when the digital weighing scale is empty, the value it shows should be 0.00g.
3. At all times, the crucible must be handled only with tongs, not with hands (since the oil and dust from the hands affects the weight, and hands may also get burned when the crucible is hot).
4. Scrape the magnesium with sand paper properly BEFORE

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