Single Displacement Reaction Lab

The purpose of this lab is to determine the empirical formula of copper oxide (CuxOy) through a single-displacement reaction that extracts the copper (Cu) from the original compound. In order to do this, hydrochloric acid (HCl) was mixed in with solid CuxOy; the mixture was stirred until the CuxOy was totally dissolved in the solvent. Zinc (Zn) was then added to the solution as a way to enact a single displacement reaction in which Cu begin to form on the Zn; the Cu gets knocked off the Zn through gentle stirring. To isolate the Cu, the supernatant liquid was decanted and the Cu was then washed with first water then second, isopropyl alcohol. Once done, the hydrated Cu is transferred onto an evaporating dish where it was heated multiple times

One of these concepts had to do with solutions – a mixture composed of minor ingredients and a major ingredient, respectively, the solute and the solvent. In the experiment, CuxOy was mixed with HCl to create a copper oxide solution; the result of the mixture was copper chloride and water. By putting both compounds together, a double displacement reaction occurred. This sort of reaction happens when two ionic compounds switch anions and cations to form new ionic compounds. However, not only is this a displacement reaction, but it is also a neutralization reaction – a reaction with an acid and a base that forms salt and water. By reacting CuxOy with HCl, respectively a base and an acid, CuCl (a salt) and H2O was formed. In addition, a single displacement reaction occurred right after Zn was introduced to the solution. Rather than two ionic compounds reacting, the single displacement reaction happens when an element reacts with an ionic compound. The element forms a new compound with one of the components of the other compound, leaving a new compound and a new lone element; in the case of this experiment, CuCl reacted with Zn to create zinc chloride and elemental copper. This was done as a way to isolate the copper so that it can be weighed later. Nonetheless, once at the weighing stage, Cu was laced with water and isopropyl alcohol. To fully isolate the Cu, both the water and

Although the majority of the copper remained within the beaker, some of the copper went along with the supernatant liquid that was removed. Since some copper molecules were inadvertently removed from the beaker, the overall weight of the copper later measured less than what it should have been. Another laboratory error was how zinc was not fully extracted from the solution. While taking out the zinc that was used to separate the copper ion from the chlorine ion, some residue could have been left behind. As a direct result of stirring around the solid zinc to knock off the copper, some zinc from the original piece broke off. Not knowing how much zinc was left behind likely caused the weight of the later measured copper to be greater than what it should have been. Overall, the weight variation of the copper sample, after the procedure, was not 100% accurate since it gain weight from zinc and loss some weight due to