preview

Pigment Lab

Decent Essays

Introduction Pigments have a rich and complex history that connects both chemistry and art into one science. In this experiment there were four different pigments being created: barium white, chrome yellow, synthetic malachite, and Prussian blue. Barium white, also known as Barite, is an excellent pigment to paint with because “barium sulfate is particularly inert to UV light and so does not darken over time” (Emsley, 2014). Therefore, the pigment can survive for long periods of time without fading. Chrome yellow was discovered in 1816 by Nicolas Louis Vauquelin (Douma, 2008). Vauquelin also “found that he could make bright yellow and rich orange versions of lead chromate, both of which he proposed as potential pigments” (Douma, 2008). The …show more content…

One milliliter of sodium chromate was pipetted into a small test tube, then one milliliter of zinc sulfate was added to the tube and mixed. The students then conducted a pH test by using a glass stirring rod and placing a single drop of the solution onto the pH paper provided. Afterwards, up to five drops of sodium hydroxide were added to the test tube to neutralize the solution. The pigment was then filtered. Filtering was performed by placing a round piece of filter paper in the funnel. The vacuum was then turned on and water was added to the filter paper in order to prevent pigment leakage. The pigment was then added to the funnel and water was used to clean off the crystals. The chrome yellow pigment was then placed on another sheet of filter paper for …show more content…

The chemical reaction produced was Na2SO4(aq) + BaCl2(aq)  BaSO4(s) +2NaCl(aq) with barium sulfate being the precipitate. Similarly, when scraping off the chrome yellow, ZnSO4(aq) + Na2CrO4(aq)  ZnCrO4(s) + Na2SO4(aq), there was less pigment than was expected. However, the copper carbonate made an exceptional amount of pigment, both the first week and the second. The reaction to make copper carbonate is written, CuSO4(aq) + 2NaHCO3(aq)  CuCO3(s) + Na2SO4(aq) + H2O(l) + CO2(g). Lastly, the final amount of Prussian blue, 4FeCl3(aq) + 3K4Fe(CN)6(aq)  Fe4(Fe(CN)6)3(s) + 12KCl(aq), was very little; however, the amount was enough to incorporate shadows into the painting. By using all but the chrome yellow, a snowy landscape was painted as seen in Figure

Get Access