Dibya Jyoti Ghosh Period 4 Postlab: Molar Volume of a Gas In the lab Molar Volume of a Gas, our lab

group investigated the properties and the relationships between the number of moles, the pressure, the volume, and the temperature of a gas. There are several relationships between these centric properties of gases. Boyles Law correlates Pressure and Volume in an inverse relationship (p ), so as pressure increases, volume decreases, and vice versa. Charless Law correlates Temperature and Volume (v t), and as temperature increases, volume increases. Gay-Lussacs Law correlates Pressure and Temperature (p t), and as pressure increases, temperature increases, and vice versa. The combined gas law brings these three laws together, and sets up a proportion between a gas in a specific set of conditions and a different set of conditions ( ). This is used to calculate March 11, 2013

the volume of the gas being accumulated at standard temperature and pressure, which is at 273 K (0 C) and 1 Atm (101.325kPa). Also, there exists a lab procedure used to calculate the pressure of a gas formed called collecting a gas over water. During this procedure, a reaction takes place in a water solution or above water, and by the time the reaction ends, one can calculate the internal pressure of the system by calibrating with the external atmospheric pressure. When collecting a gas over water, you use Daltons Law of Partial Pressures. This law states that the total pressure exerted upon a system is the sum of the individual pressures (PTotal = P1+ P2+ ). During this procedure, you measure the temperature, and with this temperature, you can look up the partial pressure of water at the specific temperature, thus allowing to find the pressure of the vapor. The reaction with which we used to calculate the molar volume of a gas at STP was a Single Displacement reaction between Hydrochloric Acid and Magnesium. This reaction can be represented by Mg + 2HCl -> MgCl2 + H2 . Utilizing simple stoichiometry, we can calculate the number of moles of hydrogen produced from a supply of hydrochloric acid and magnesium.

In this laboratory experiment, our group used supplies such as a eudiometer to find the volume of the gas produced in the reaction, and a graduated cylinder that would allow us to calculate the pressure of the gas produced. After obtaining samples of hydrochloric acid and magnesium, we placed the hydrochloric acid into a aqueous solution, where the hydrochloric acid settled into the bottom. Understanding that the magnesium was the limiting reagent in this reaction, our group measured the mass of the magnesium to the nearest .00001g in order to achieve proper results for the stoichiometry. Following this, we ran the reaction between the magnesium and the hydrochloric acid in a eudiometer which was inverted inside a graduated cylinder filled with water. Following the reaction, we measured the temperature when the reaction took place, as well as the pressure of the room. Using these, we did stoichiometric calculations, and Combined Gas Law calculations to find our experimental value for the molar volume of a gas. In this experiment, we used .03780g of Magnesium, which results in approximately 1.555*10-3 moles of Magnesium. Utilizing stoichiometric calculations, we got that we made 1.555*10-3 moles of Hydrogen gas in the process of the reaction. Through the eudiometer, we measured that the amount of hydrogen gas produced was .03660L. Using the vapor pressure of water at 295K , the atmospheric pressure outside, as well as Daltons Law of Partial Pressures, the calculated value for the pressure of the hydrogen gas was 99.019kPa. Utilizing the Combined Gas Law, we found the volume of this hydrogen gas at STP(Standard Temperature and Pressure) as .03310L H2 . Using this volume of hydrogen gas at STP, the experimental value of the molar volume of a gas at STP was 21.29 (22.4 ), had a percent error of 4.973%. Our results were fairly accurate, clocking in lower than a 5% error rate, which meant that there were not very many sources of error for this experiment. There are two major locations where our experiment might have gone wrong: the reading of the eudiometer and the slight difference between the temperature of the room, and that of the water. As the water inside the eudiometer was colder than room temperature, this might have changed the temperature at which the reaction occurred, giving us a lower value for volume, and ultimately , which compared to the accepted value

the molar volume. Also, considering the graduated cylinder was partially obscure and opaque, the reading on the eudiometer, as aligned toward the water level on the graduated cylinder, might have been a little faulty. Due to the fact that we found the total pressure inside the system, we must use Daltons Law of Partial Pressures to subtract the pressure of the water vapor, which would give us the pressure of the hydrogen gas alone. Since we do not have a barometer to measure the internal pressure, we used a weather forecasting system to find the outside atmospheric pressure. When the level of water inside the eudiometer is the same as the water in the graduated cylinder surrounding it, the outside atmospheric pressure and the complete internal pressure is the same. So, to recap, we used adjusted the water level in the eudiometer to match that of the tube in order to find the internal pressure. As we performed the reaction, our lab group utilized a copper cage that would prevent the magnesium from sinking to the bottom of the eudiometer and starting the reaction prematurely. The reason we used a copper cage is because the hydrochloric acid does not react to the copper, and it just reacts to the magnesium in this single-displacement reaction. Overall, this was a very interesting and fun lab to complete, and I learned a lot about the properties of gases and the stoichiometry of gases.