Identifying unknown substances and determining covalent and ionic bonding of each substance By: Marley Gabel Introduction:

All compounds are formed by bonding. On the atomic level, there are three different ways elements can bond together: metallic, ionic and covalent. Through this experiment, students examined 6 unknown substances and identified the substance and their type of bonding. For the purposes of this experiment, students focused strictly on ionic and covalent bonds. Ionic and covalent bonds maintain different physical properties and students observed the compounds conductivity, solubility and melting point, to class ify them by bond type. Atoms seek to reach the state where they are the most stable and when they have an orbital full of electrons. To reach this state, atoms will either gain or lose electrons and this is known as ionization. Electrons are negatively chargedas opposed to protons which are positively charge and so the subtraction or addition of electrons changes the charge of the ion. When metals form ions, they lose electrons to reach a stable state. They are then known as cations, or positively charged ions because they are losing and electron which is taking away negative charges. Nonmetals gain electrons, or gain more negativity, so they are known as negatively charged ions: anions. An ionic bond forms between metals and nonmetals because of the opposite charges. Metals want to give up electrons and nonmetals want to take electrons so they balance each other out to form a neutrally charged compound. When elements bond ionically, they form crystalline structured solids. They bond in a fixed ratio to each other and so their physical appearance is that of a repeating wallpaper. An example of ionic bond that has a crystalline structure would be any kind of salt. Any alkaline metal bonded to a halogen forms a type of salt that demonstrates the crystalline structure. By breaking a material that is ionically bonded, smaller crystals result from the break. In nature, atoms will always try to reach the most stable state. When they reach this state, they hold tightly onto their gained electrons, meaning that an ionic bond is incredibly difficult to break apart. In general, ionically bonded compounds have high melting points because of their strong bonds. With the tight bonds, ionically bonded compounds are not able to conduct electricity in their solid state. In water, the bonds are broken into individual ions and the space in between the molecules ions for electricity to be conducted. Movement of ions, carriers of charges, causes conductivity. Ceramics are known to have high melting points, which indicate that ceramics are ionically bonded. On the periodic table, nonmetals are known for taking electrons from other atoms. Metals on the periodic table want to give electrons away, and therefore cannot form covalent bonds. A covalent bond is formed exclusively between nonmetals where the two atoms are

fighting over the electrons. These atoms want to reach the most stable state, and that is when they are together where they have the lowest potential energy. Then, atoms form intramolecular bonds which are extremely strong bonds between atoms to form a molecule. Intermolecular attraction is when the molecules are attracted to each other and maintain a weak bond, forming covalently bonded compounds. Due to the weak intermolecular attraction, covalent compounds often have low melting points and can be gases at room temperature. Covalent bonds also are easier to break apart and when broken, maintain irregular crystal shapes that do not follow the same pattern like ionic bonds. Additionally, covalent bonds do not conduct electricity when dissolved in water like ionic compounds do. Conductivity is caused by movement of ions from place to place because ions carry charges. However, in a covalent bond, there is no ionization because the atoms share electrons without taking them. Covalent bonds often come in the form of polymers that have low melting points and are non-reactive, making them excellent insulators. Results: To measure conductivity, students used a conductivity probe. This tool is dipped into the aqueous solution of the compound and conductivity can be determined based on the red and green LED lights that light up when placed in the solution. The red light becomes illuminated first, followed by the green light to provide an accurate gauge of conductivity. Table 1: Conductivity probe key Scale 0 1 2 3 4 Red LED Off Dim Medium Bright Very Bright Green LED Off Off Off Dim Medium Conductivity None Low Medium High Very High

Table 2: Specific conductivity results for the 6 unknown solutions tested Unknown Letter A B C D E F Red LED Dim Bright Bright Off Off Bright Green LED None Dim Dim Off Off Dim Conductivity Low High High None None High

Table 3: Physical properties and description of unknowns Unknown A B Physical Characteristics Physical Properties Crystalline, white/clear, Soluble in water, low conductivity medium sized crystals Crystalline structure, Dissolves quickly in water, high white/clear, small cubic conductivity crystals Non-crystalline, flaky formation, white/clear, Dissolves in water, high conductivity extra small particles Crystalline, white/clear, Dissolves in water, nonconductive large rectangular crystals Clumpy and nonFloats on water, stays mostly dry when crystalline, yellow, fine mixed, does not dissolve, nonconductive powder Crystalline (?), white/clear, extremely Soluble in water, high conductivity small crystals too small to tell shape

C D E

Students also measured melting point to identify bonds of unknown substances. To measure melting point, students used time as a proxy for temperature and established a time limit for the substances. If continuous heat was applied to the unknown substance for 2 minutes and 30 seconds and the substance was still not melting, they determined it had an extremely high melting point that could not be reached with the tools available to them at the time. For substances that did melt, students timed the melting time until the substance was completely liquid. Unknown Letter Melts? Time in Seconds A Yes 49.3 s No 2.30.7 s Table 4: Six unknown substances and B C Yes 1.23 s their melting times D Yes 35.2 s E Yes 58.3 s F No 2.30.2 s Discussion: In this experiment, students tested 6 unknown substances physical properties to identify the type of bond of each substance. Ionic bonds and covalent bonds have different physical properties and so by examining the compounds reaction to specific situations, students identified the substances bonds. Students dissolved the compounds in water to test conductivity in an aqueous form as well as observing the melting point of each

specific unknown. Additionally, unknowns were observed under a microscope to identify the structure of the unknown. Starting with substance A, the bonding type can be proposed. In Table 3, substance A has low conductivity and a crystalline structure. Based on these two data points, compound A should be classified as an ionic bond. However, looking at Table 4, compound A has a low melting point which would suggest a covalently bonded compound. Using this data as key markers, I would identify compound A as ionically bonded. In our experiment, there was more room for error with the measure of melting point than with the conductivity, making the conductivity a more reliable source of information. The melting point was more influenced by human error because we were relying on a human to start and stop the timer based on when the other partner started the heat and recognized the solution as completely liquid. We could have made errors in multiple areas when we started the time and when we thought the whole compound was liquid and then again when the timer was stopped. Substance B is easily identified as an ionic bond through the tests performed. Compound B dissolved quickly in water according to Table 3. Also, substance B reached the 2 minutes and 30 seconds under constant heat without melting shown in Table 4 which leads us to believe the melting point of the substance could not be reached with the tools available in the lab. Through both of these factors, the substance can be identified as an ionic bond that has a high melting point and conducts in an aqueous form. For compound C, the conductivity and melting point provide solid data points to evaluate the type of bonding in the compound. In Table 3, compound C resulted in high conductivity. By using Table 2, the red LED light was brightly lit and the red LED light was dimly illuminated when the conductivity probe was used to test compound C. In Table 4, the melting point of substance C was high, in relation to the other substances tested which would lead uncertainty in the identification of the substance. However, in this situation, the substance was highly conductive when dissolved completely in water which leads to the conclusion that substance C is an ionic bond. As previously determined, there was more room for error with the melting point so we will default to the conductivity as the most solid piece of data. By using the conductivity, compound C is an ionic bond. Through the conductivity data and the melting point data, compound D can be clearly classified as a covalently bonded substance. In Table 3, compound D does not conduct and then in Table 4, compound D melts in under a minute. Covalently bonded compounds will not conduct because of the way the molecules are bonded together. Due to this weak bond, covalent bonds will also generally have a low melting point, or melt in a short period of time. Both of the large data points tested led us to qualify compound D as a covalent bond. For substance E, the conductivity can be used as the main data point. As seen in Table 3, the substance did not even dissolve in the water, and therefore was nonconductive. Ionically

bonded compounds are soluble in water which allows me to make the conclusion that compound E is a covalent bond. Using the data in Table 4, compound E is also qualified as a covalent bond due to the time it took for the compound to melt. This compound melted within the established time frame and was extremely nonconductive; meaning that compound E is a covalent bond. During the testing of compound E, the timer was stopped significantly after the substance was completely melted, which could cause conflict in analysis of the data. Additionally, the glass vial that the substance was melted in was heated above room temperature before the compound was tested, which might have affected the resulting time. Lastly, we determined the bonding type for compound F. In Table 3, we see that compound F has high conductivity. This indicates an ionic bond. Then, in Table 4 we see that the same substance also reached the high melting point that was established as an ionic bond. Through both of these qualifications, we can safely conclude that compound F is an ionically bonded substance because ionic bonds have extremely high melting points and will conduct when in an aqueous solution. Through this experiment, one error I can see would have been in human error in the timing. By using sight and human reaction time, the time for the melting point of each substance was only an estimate. If our melting point time was just a couple seconds off, this will not change the conclusion of the bonding classification, but it is one area in the experiment where human error was present. Also, these conclusions are reached by looking solely at the conductivity and melting point of these substances. If I took into consideration the shape and physical appearances of the substances, I may have more conflict in my conclusions which would lead to discrepancy in determining the bond types. Also, the pH of these substances could have been tested as another data point. By testing the pH, we could develop new personal knowledge. We would be able to determine if the pH differs depending on the bond. If we found that the pH changed depending on the compound, we could see if that related to the bonding of that particular compound. This test might not directly help us categorize the compounds, but we could use that test to gain knowledge. Another way to improve upon this experiment, I would have used an infrared thermometer to determine the temperature that the substance melted at. This would give us exact melting points which would be more accurate than relying on a person to time the melting process. For future testing these other physical properties will allow us to have more data points to base our conclusions off of. In a similar vein of interest, it would be fun to test the bonds of polymers and ceramics and see if we can identify the bonds when the object tested is a plastic, for example.

Honors Extension: A conductivity probe measures the charge of a liquid. Essentially, the probe is measuring the amount of ions within an aqueous solution. Ions carry a charge and therefore, dissolved in water they cause electricity between the ions. The more ions are in the solution, the more conductive the solution will be. A conductivity probe is used to measure this and helps determine the presence of ions within a solution as well as measuring salinity in a solution. There are two main parts of the probe, the anode and the cathode. The anode is the positive part of the device and the cathode, is negative. The tip of the probe that is placed in the solution is the cathode end which is generally made out of graphite. To charge the ions, the probe is charged and this causes the ions to one end of the probe or the other. Electrons that carry ions will move towards the positive side where as electrons with no ions will move towards the negative side of the probe. When the same voltage is run through the solution, but each solution has a different level of conductivity, we know that they have different concentrations of ions. http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5010026_conductivity-probe-work.html