51 minute lab

Purpose:
The purpose of this lab is to demonstrate to students the proper way to plan and manage time
during the lab.
Hypothesis:
In this lab, we will see a change in mass due to the magnesium-oxygen reaction. We will also be
able to come up with the formula of the compound produced in the reaction.
Materials:
Clay Triangle,
Stirring Rob,
Bunsen Burner,
Wire Gauze Screen,
Magnesium Ribbon,
Crucible,
Crucible lid

Procedure:
8:00: Set up the lab and get out all materials.
8:02: Wash the crucible and dry using the Bunsen burner on a clay triangle. Make sure to set it to
the correct height.
8:03: Turn of the Bunsen burner and let it cool off on the wire gauze screen.
8:07: Mass the crucible with the lid, then obtain a magnesium ribbon. Rub the magnesium ribbon
with a paper towel and then coil the magnesium ribbon. Mass the crucible, lib, and magnesium
together.
8:09: Heat the magnesium in the crucible without the ribbon.
8:15: Cover the magnesium when it ignites. Repeat the above step and this step until the
magnesium doesnt ignite again.
8:20: Turn of the Bunsen burner and remove the crucible and let it cool on the wire gaze screen.

8:30: Move the crucible onto the tabletop, and stir with a stirring rod to grind the contents. Rinse
of the particles with some distilled water.
8:32: Heat the crucible leaving a small gap open for the water vapor.
8:35: Turn of Bunsen burner and let the crucible cool on the wire gauze screen.
8:45: Mass the crucible, lid, and the contents of the crucible.
8:47-8:53: Clean up the materials and the lab station.

Data:
Before Heating:
Crucible + Lid: 27.213 g
Crucible + Lid + Mg: 27.325 g
After Heating
Crucible + Lid + MgO: 27.372 g
MgO: 0.159 g

Results:
1) The mass of the magnesium produced was 0.112 grams.
2) The mass of the oxygen consumed was 0.047 grams.
3) 3. 0.112 g Mg * (1 mol/24.31 g Mg) = 0.00461 mol Mg
0.047 g O * (1 mol/16.00 g O) = 0.0029 mol O
4) 0.0461 mol Mg : 0.0029 mol O = 3 : 2
5) MgO is the simplest form of magnesium oxide.
6) 60.23% of magnesium determined from the simplest formula
70.44% of magnesium determined from the experimental data
14.49% error
7) Magnesium nitride is formed first, then it mixes with water to form nitrogen hydride and
magnesium oxide.
The simplest formula of magnesium nitride is MgN. And later, after combining with
water, NH3 and MgOH, which will later become MgO and H2O.
Mg3N2+H2O=NH3+Mg(OH)

Conclusion:
During this lab, we made created a timeline to observe how magnesium and oxygen react
together. Why did this to try to determine how to calculate the equations of simple compounds.
Our results match our expected results. The experiment took place as it did due to several factors.
One was the fact that our magnesium ribbon did not burn no matter how hot the flame. Even at
the tip of the flame which is the hottest part, the ribbon did not ignite. So we had to the ribbon
out and then ignite it. This probably lost some mass in the reaction resulting in skewed results.
Our experiment wasnt very good due to several reasons. The first is that we were short on time
from the beginning because we had to wait in lines to measure. Also, since the magnesium
ribbon did not ignite, we spent 20 extra minutes doing that. Finally, we had errors positioning the
stand on which the clay triangle rests. By the time we realized this, the stand was too hot to
touch, so we had to adjust our flame to make it smaller. In the future, I would like to try this
experiment with polyatomic ions to see if it is possible to come up with results. Also, I would
like to redo this experiment with a hot plate instead of a Bunsen burner.