Magnesium Ratios Lab Report

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The weight of the magnesium atom was unknown, and it is not possible to weigh the atoms directly due to their incredibly small size and weight.

Crucible, clay triangle, Bunsen burner, 10cm magnesium ribbon, scale, flask tongs, retort stand, ring clamp, weight scale.

The weight of the crucible after heating it for one minute over the Bunsem burner and allowing it to cool for five minutes was, as shown in Figure 1 above, 26.7 grams. The combined weight of the 10 centimetre magnesium ribbon along with the crucible was 26.84 grams, which means that the weight of the magnesium ribbon was 0.14 grams, also shown in Figure 1 above. While heating the crucible with the magnesium inside, an orange glow was apparent when the lid was slid off to allow oxygen inside the crucible, which appeared to be the oxidization of the magnesium. After ten minutes of heating, the magnesium had grey specks, which was evidence of oxidization. After it cooled for five minutes, the crucible and …show more content…

Since ratios typically involve whole numbers, you would present this ratio as:

The primary problem that would occur if magnesium were to be substituted by carbon is that carbon and oxygen form the compound CO2 when they react, which is in a gaseous state above -78.5 degrees Celsius, which is far below the temperature at which the experiment was performed. In this state, it is difficult to contain carbon dioxide gas without an airtight container. This experiment is not possible with an airtight container, since oxygen must enter to react with the carbon, and therefore some the carbon dioxide would inevitably escape, rendering the results invalid.

The crucible was heated initially for one minute to evaporate any moisture that may have collected on the crucible, which ensures more accurate weight

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