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Key Concepts
Gravimetric analysis is the quantitative isolation of a substance by precipitation and
weighing of the precipitate.1
General Procedure:
1. Weigh the sample to be analysed
7. Cool the precipitate in a dessicator to prevent the precipitate absorbing moisture from the
air
8. Weigh the cooled precipitate
9. Repeat the drying and weighing process until a constant mass for the precipitate is
achieved
3. Calculate moles of analyte from the balanced chemical equation using the mole ratio of
analyte : precipitate
(also known as the stoichiometric ratio of analyte to precipitate)
5. Calculate percent by mass of analyte in sample: (mass analyte mass sample) 100
Sources of Error:
Incomplete precipitation results in a value for the percentage of analyte in the sample that
is too low.
Incomplete drying of the sample results in a value for the percentage of analyte in the
sample that is too high
Other ions in the sample may also be precipitated resulting in a value for the percentage
of analyte in the sample that is too high
Worked Example
Question:
A 2.00 g sample of limestone was dissolved in hydrochloric acid and all the calcium present in
the sample was converted to Ca2+(aq).
Excess ammonium oxalate solution, (NH4)2C2O4(aq), was added to the solution to precipitate the
calcium ions as calcium oxalate, CaC2O4(s).
The precipitate was filtered, dried and weighed to a constant mass of 2.43 g.
Determine the percentage by mass of calcium in the limestone sample.
Answer:
From the balanced chemical equation, the mole ratio of Ca2+ : CaC2O4(s) is 1 : 1
A particular water soluble fertiliser contains phosphorus in the form of phosphate ions, PO43-.
A student used the following procedure to determine the percentage of phosphorus in a sample
of soluble fertiliser.
1. 5.17 g of fertiliser was added to a 250.0 mL volumetric flask and water was added to
make it up to the mark.
3. A slight excess of precipitating agent was added to precipitate the phosphate ions as
MgNH4PO4.
4. The precipitate was filtered, washed with water and then converted by heating into
Mg2P2O7
%(PO43-) = ? %
(1) What information (data) have you been given in the question?
(2) What is the relationship between what you know and what you need to find
out?