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Lab Report Discussion

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Discussion and Scientific Explanations In this experiment, we were given three main goals to accomplish. We were to identify the compound through a series of organized experiments and analyze as many physical chemical properties as possible. During this experiment, we carefully examined the unknown compound and followed specific tests and steps to determine the identity of the compound. Our first week of testing, we began our experiment by observing the unknown compounds physical properties, which included state and color. The compound was clear/white with a granulated texture and crystallized state. There was no scent, as seen in Table 1. The second test we performed was the solubility test. Our group followed the directions of …show more content…

The fourth test we performed was the chloride anion test. To perform this test, we followed the directions in the lab manual to determine if our unknown compound would form a precipitate in a chloride substance. As seen in Table 5, it was found that our unknown compound did in fact form a precipitate when placed in the presence of chloride. This occurred because we placed our unknown compound in 1 mL of water, added 1 mL of HNO3 and 1 mL of AgNO3. This mixture formed a precipitate of AgCl (silver chloride) because the ions the two compounds are both ionic, therefore creating an ionic bond between the Ag and Cl. Due to the opposite bonds, the mixture creates a precipitate of AgCl, confirming our compound to consist of chloride. The fifth test we performed was the flame test, which is another way to identify cations in a substance. We used the nichrome wire to gather our sample and placed it over the Bunsen burner. We saw that the fire was a bright orange/yellowish color. We then tested the first substance on our list: Sodium and its burning color matched our unknown substance – bright orange/yellow. We then held up a blue cobalt glass to see if there was a change in color. When the unknown compound and NaCl both had blue flames and the yellowish orange was removed, we could determine that they were the same compound. We consulted our lab assistant to determine if our

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