BUDAPEST UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMICS

FACULTY OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Dr. Tibor Pasinszki

Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory Practice

Department of Inorganic Chemistry

2002
 Contents

1. Introduction to the laboratory page 2

2. The Group Ia Elements (Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs) page 7

3. The Group IIa Elements (Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) page 12

4. The Group IIIa Elements (Boron and Aluminium) page 19

5. The Group IVa Elements (C, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb) page 24

6. The Group Va Elements (N, P, As, Sb, Bi) page 36

7. The Group VIa Elements (O, S, Se, Te) page 53

8. The Group VIIa Elements (F, Cl, Br, I) page 63

9. Pseudohalogens and Pseudohalides page 73

10. The Group Ib Elements (Cu, Ag, Au) page 78

11. The Group IIb Elements (Zn, Cd, Hg) page 87

12. The Group IVb Elements (Titanium) page 100

13. The Group Vb Elements (Vanadium) page 102

14. The Group VIb Elements (Chromium) page 105

15. The Group VIIb Elements (Manganese) page 111

16. The Group VIIIb Elements (Fe, Co, Ni) page 117

17. Classification of the Cations and Anions page 129

18. Testing for a Single Cation in Solution page 133

19. Testing for a Single Anion in Solution page 136

20. Separating and Identifying the Cations page 138

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 Introduction to the laboratory

SAFETY PROCEDURES

1. Chemical laboratory is a very dangerous workshop.

Never work in the laboratory alone.
2. Do not eat, drink, or smoke in the laboratory. Most chemicals are poisonous.

3. Safety goggles will be worn in the laboratory any time there is laboratory
work in progress by any student.
Remember that your neighbour could have any accident even though you,
yourself, are not doing lab work.

4. If chemicals are spilled on the skin, immediately flush the skin with running
water and call for the laboratory instructor. If chemicals are spilled on the
clothes, remove them and flush the skin with water.

5. Never smell a reaction mixture directly. Minimise your exposure to chemical

vapours.

6. In order to avoid cuts and lacerations, protect your hands with a towel when
inserting either glass tubing or thermometers into stoppers or thermometer
adapters. Fire-polish all glass tubing and stirring rods so that there are no
sharp edges. Report any cuts to the lab instructor so that the injury may
receive proper attention.

7. Restrict long hair in such a manner that it does not interfere with your work,
become caught in the equipment, or catch fire.

8. Work with noxious chemicals in the hood. When in doubt, work in the hood,
including rinsing equipment used in measuring such materials.
Absorb escaping noxious gases in water or the suitable medium, or conduct
the experiment in the hood.

9. Never heat an enclosed system.

Never close completely an assembly from which a gas is being evolved.
Have any equipment assembly checked by a lab instructor if this is the
first time you have used the assembly.

10. Ordinary rubber stoppers are never used on flasks containing organic solvents.
Organic solvents attack rubber and cause contamination of your product.

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11. Avoid fire.
Most organic solvents are flammable. Play it safe and treat all organic
materials as though they are flammable.
NEVER heat an organic solvent over a Bunsen burner.
Know the location of fire extinguishers, bucket of sand, safety showers, and
fire blankets.
Never attempt to extinguish an electrical fire with water. Use only
extinguishers designated for this purpose.
Report any fire regardless of how minor to the lab instructor.
Report any burns to the lab instructor so that proper treatment may be
administered .

12. Avoid explosions.

Never pour water into concentrated sulphuric acid. Always add concentrated
sulphuric acid slowly to water.
Never mix a strong oxidising agent with a strong reducing agent.
Never mix nitric acid with alcohol.
Never heat a flask to dryness when distilling or evaporating solvents. Small
amounts of impurities that can be explosive will be concentrated to dangerous
levels.

Always know what your neighbours are doing, be prepared for any accident.

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REAGENTS IN THE LABORATORY

Pure chemical reagents or solutions of chemical reagents are stored in labelled

bottles or dropping bottles in a convenient location in the laboratory. It is very important
to keep these reagents uncontaminated. Please obey the following rules in using these
reagents.

1. Read the labels carefully. Not only will the experiment be unsuccessful, but a
serious accident may result if the wrong chemical is used.

2. Reagent bottles must be protected from contamination. You must therefore

never put spatulas, stirring rods, pipettes, or anything else into a reagent bottle.
Try to avoid taking a large excess of the reagent. However, if you should err
and take more than you need, do not return the excess to the bottle.
In other words, you only remove material from the reagent bottle, you
never put anything into it.

3. Never take the reagent bottles to the sink or to your desk. Put the bottles
back to the reagent shelf after using them.

4. Do not lay stoppers on the desk or shelf in such a way that they will become
contaminated. Depending on the shape of the stopper, either hold it while
the material is being removed or lay it on its flat top.

5. Glass stoppers that are stuck can generally be loosened by gently tapping
the stopper on the edge of the shelf.

6. The reagent area must be kept clean. Be sure that you clean up any chemicals
you spill.

7. If you empty a container, take it to be refilled, as directed by your instructor.

Do not return it to the reagent shelf empty.

8. Dispose the solid wastes in designated containers.

Many kinds of liquid wastes must be collected and handled separately.
Ordinarily acids, bases, and most inorganic liquid wastes can be flushed
down the sink with copious amounts of cold water. Check the directions
for disposal of liquid wastes before using the sinks.

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MOST COMMON LABORATORY EQUIPMENTS

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