Identifying Unknown Subtances

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Identifying Unknown Substances

The goal of Project 11 is to identify an unknown substance that we were given. This project was split up into 2 weeks. The first week my group and I identified our substance by going through multiple tests like: a solubility test, conductivity tests, pH tests, anion test, and cation test. For the second week we had to confirm our unknown substance.

For the solubility test we were told to try and dissolve our unknown substance into water (H20), Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH), Hydrochloric Acid (HCl), Toluene, and Acetone. Our unknown substance was soluble in water, but not soluble in Toluene or Acetone.Our substance dissolved in water that means that it has to be some type of ionic compound. But, if our substance dissolved in Toluene, which is an organic solvent, then our substance would be non-polar. From these results we concluded that our substance was ionic because substances dissolve in other substances that are similar to it: “like dissolves like.” A substance will dissolve in something that it is similar to.

The next test we performed was the conductivity test. To carry out this test we had to take 1g of our unknown sample and mix it with 10 mL of water. Our TA told us that if the voltage meter gave us a positive number, then our substance would be considered conductive. Conductivity tells how well water can pass an electrical current. When inorganic substances are dissolved in the water it will greatly change the conductivity of water. Inorganic substances like sulfate, chloride, and nitrate will affect the water and create a high conductivity. The conductivity of distilled water is 0.5-3 Ohms. The reading the voltage meter gave us was a 84 Ohms, this is considered to be very conductiv...

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...Cooperative Chemistry Laboratory Manual. 5th. United States of America: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 59-61. Print.

Helmenstine, Anne. "Purple Fire & Potassium." About.com Chemistry . About.com , 14 Nov 2011. Web. 2 Mar 2014. .

Hemenstine, Anne. "What is Litmus Paper?." About.com Chemistry . About.com , 9 Jan 2009. Web. 17 Feb 2014. .

.ResearchGate. ResearchGate, 26 Mar 2013. Web. 2 Mar 2014. .

"Water: Monitoring & Assessment." EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency . N.p., 6 Mar 2012. Web. 2 Mar 2014. .

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