Abstract 1

The purpose of this lab is to analyze

water hardness by designing a
procedure to determine the amount of
calcium ions in an unknown solution of
calcium chloride by reacting the
solution with a known solution of
sodium carbonate. We used a filtering
apparatus and measured the precipitate
to determine the mass in grams of
calcium carbonate for 20ml of solution.

Investigation 3:
Water Hardness

Anthony- Procedure with Questions,

Abstract, and Diagram
Cindy – Post Lab Questions
Edward - Data Documentation,
Argumentation and Documentation
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Table of Contents

PRE-LAB ASSESSMENT 3

PROCEDURE / MATERIALS 6

PRACTICE WITH INSTRUMENTATION AND PROCEDURE QUESTIONS 7

DATA COLLECTION AND COMPUTATION 8

ARGUMENTATION AND DOCUMENTATION / CONCLUSION 9

POST-LAB ASSESSMENT 9
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Pre-Lab Guiding Questions and Answers

1. Questions a–g relate to the interactive simulation, a PhET simulation designed by the
University of Colorado. Go to http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/soluble-salts to open
the interactive simulation. Click Run Now. After obtaining access to the simulation,note the
three tabs at the top: Table Salt, Slightly Soluble Salts, and Design a Salt.
a. Under the Table Salt tab, shake the salt shaker. Describe what happens to the solid table
salt, NaCl.
A: NaCl is dissolved in the water into sodium ion and chloride ion.
b. Click Reset All. Shake the salt shaker until some of the particles are designated as
Bound. How many sodium ions are designated as Dissolved? How many sodium ions are
designated as Bound? Use the simulation to describe what bound means.
A: About 180 of sodium and chloride ions are dissolved in water. After all NaCl are
dissolved, leftover NaCl does not form ions and are bound.
c. Click the Slightly Soluble Salts tab. Using the pull-down menu, select Mercury(II)
Bromide. Slowly shake the salt shaker until some of the ions are designated as Bound.
How many shakes did it take? Compare how this mercury(II) bromide is different from table
salt.
A: 3 shakes. More NaCl was dissolved in water, so we can conclude that HgBr is not
as soluble as NaCl and that HgBr has stronger bonds than NaCl.
d. Shake a large amount of mercury(II) bromide into the container. How do the number of
dissolved ions change as more mercury(II) bromide is added to the container?
A: It stays around 15 dissolved Mercury ion and 20 dissolved Bromide ionn, but the
number of dissolved mercury ion slightly decreases and bromide slightly increases.
e. Slowly drain some of the mixture out of the container and stop. Where do the dissolved
ions go as the solution is drained? What else do you notice as the mixture is drained? If the
mixture left the container through a long pipe as it was drained, how might problems arise
inside the pipe?
A: The dissolved particles drain out of the beaker with the solution. When the
solution is being drained, the number of bound particles does not change any more. If the
solution is drained through a long pipe, the particles may stuck to the pipe wall and lead to
blockage.
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f. How might the simulation look different if the mercury(II) bromide was created from two
salts, such as mercury(II) nitrate and sodium bromide, rather than added directly?
A: There would be other ions in the water. Furthermore, the solution will dissolve
smaller amount of HgBr.
g. Predict an appropriate experimental method to collect the bound mercury(II) bromide.
A: Bounds can be collected through filtered the solution through a filter paper. Then
it will be precipitated on the filter paper.
2. Watch the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcZSNcaHHN8&feature=youtube_gdata_player
After watching the video, describe what you believe to be “hard water.”
A: It is a water that has a high mineral content (ex. Calcium, magnesium). The more
ions dissolved in the water, the harder the water becomes.
3. Watch the following animation (hit the ‘next’ button at the bottom of the page to get to the
animation):
http://bcs.whfreeman.com/chemcom5e/content/cat_010/Unit1_Media/CC_5e_U1_SecD.swf
After watching this animation, explain how soap scum forms. What ions contribute to the
formation of soap scum?
A: Soap scum forms as soap and water reacts with each other; basically, soap scum is
a mixture of soap and minerals from water. Common elements that cause soap scum
are calcium, magnesium, and sulfates.
4. Describe some ways that water can be softened. Some helpful sites include, but are not
limited to:
http://www.chem1.com/CQ/hardwater.html
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/h2oqual/watsys/ae1031w.htm
A: Boiling or using an ion exchange filter
5. A reaction occurs between solutions of strontium bromide and silver nitrate, as shown in
the equation below:
SrBr2 (aq) + AgNO3 (aq) → Sr(NO3)2 (aq) + AgBr (s)
a. If 3.491 grams of the precipitate is formed, how many moles of strontium bromide were
reacted?A: 0.01859 mole
b. If 45.61 mL of strontium bromide were reacted in Part a, what is the molarity of the
strontium bromide solution that was used? A: 0.4076 mole
c. In collecting the precipitate, why would it be inappropriate to heat the reacted mixture and
evaporate off the water?
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A: Since the product Sr(NO3)2 is in aqueous state (dissolved in water), it would also
remain after the water is evaporated.
6. Below is a table of solubility product constant (Ksp) values. Consider how the values in
this table may help in deciding how to remove one of these ions by selective precipitation.
You have been assigned one of the following cations: Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe2+.
How would you remove the ion from hard water? Include which anion you would use to
remove the cation and explain why you chose that anion.
Ans: These cations have the highest K sp(solubility product constant) when mixed
with the following anions.
A. Mg – CO3
B. Ca – OH
C. Fe – FeF2
8. Go to
http://www.ehso.com/msds.php
Identify the potential health risks and the appropriate measures for first aid for the following
chemicals:
a. calcium chloride
A. Causes irritation to skin and eyes. Harmful if enhaled.
B. Inhalation: Should remove source of contamination or move victim to fresh
air, give artificial respiration.
Skin contact: remove contaminated clothing. Flush skin with warm water.
b. sodium chloride
A. Causes irritation to skin and eyes. Harmful if absorbed through skin.
B. Eyes/Skin: immediately flush with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes
while removing contaminated cloth.
c. sodium carbonate, anhydrous
A. Causes irritation to skin and eyes. Harmful if inhaled.
B. Eyes/Skin: immediately flush with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes
while removing contaminated cloth.
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Procedure / Materials

- Beakers
- Graduated cylinder
- Filtration apparatus, filter papers
- Drying oven
- Distilled water, unknown solutions
- The balance

Diagram 1-Apparatus for filtering precipitate from a suspension.

Our experiment had two main parts. In our first part, we made two equal solutions of sodium
carbonate and calcium chloride. We then reacted the two mixtures together and used our
filtering apparatus to filter out the precipitate from the suspension. We then put the filter
paper with the precipitate on it onto a watch glass and into an oven to dry. We measured the
weight of the precipitate every 10 minutes until the weight remained stable, and took the last
measurement as our result. In the second part of our experiment we had two solutions that
had an unknown concentration of calcium chloride. We made a known solution of calcium
chloride that we knew would not be the limiting reaction. We reacted it with the unknown
solutions, used our apparatus to filter out and measure the precipitate as milligrams of
calcium carbonate.
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Practice with Instrumentation and Procedure Questions

1. Use the masses of sodium carbonate and calcium chloride to predict the mass of
calcium carbonate that will form in you experiment.
A: The mass of the precipitate should be about 1.80 grams of calcium carbonate.
2. If one more gram of sodium carbonate were used, how would it affect the amount of
calcium carbonate that you calculated would form?* You may wish to test your
answer by running the procedure again
A: It would not affect the calcium carbonate formed because the calcium chloride is
the limiting reactant when the masses are equal.
3. Which mass of the precipitate, the first or the second, better represents the amount of
dry precipitate collected? What mass of precipitate did you collect?
A: They would represent the amount of dry precipitate about the same because they
both had the same limiting reactant. We collected 1.656 grams of calcium carbonate.
4. Is the mass you measured close to the expected mass you calculated based on
stoichiometry in Question 1? What may be the reason(s) for any differences?
A: It is somewhat close, with a percent error of 8%. A couple reasons that could have
lowered our yield are that some of the precipitate got stuck to the beaker and stirring
rod, as well as not all of the reactants reacted completely. A reason that could have
raised our measured yield could be that not all of the water evaporated in the time
that we had.
5. Would the mass of precipitate that you measured be larger or smaller if you did not
wash the precipitate before drying it?
A: The mass of the precipitate that we measured would be smaller if we did not wash
the precipitate because more of it would have been stuck to the beaker.
6. If the precipitate that you measured be larger or smaller if you did not wash the
precipitate before drying it? Explain.
A: No, because with the added mass of water our measured precipitate was well over
2 grams, when 1.8 grams was the maximum theoretical yield.
7. Do you feel that the second weighing of your precipitate was dry? What experimental
changes could be made to improve this portion of the procedure?
A: I do not feel that our second weighing was dry, but by the time we got to our
fourth weighing after 30 minutes, I felt that our precipitate was dry enough. That was
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an experimental change that we made to improve this portion of the procedure by

continuing to measure until the mass stayed fairly constant.

Data Collection and Computation

Practice Experiment
Time (minutes) Weight of Hardness: mg / L
precipitate after x 1656 mg/0.02 L = 82800 mg/L.
minutes (g)
0 min(initial 3.946
weight)
10 min 2.617

20 min 1.805

30 min 1.656

Investigation
Time (minutes) Weight of precipitate Weight of precipitate
of Solution #3 of Solution #4
0 min (initial weight) 2.185 0.872

5 min 1.703 0.419

10 min 1.316 0.146

15 min 0.956 0.074

Hardness (Calcium Carbonate) of Solution #3 = 956 / 0.02 = 47800.

Hardness (Calcium Carbonate) of Solution #4 = 0.074 / 0.02 = 3700.
1. How many grams of each precipitate were collected?
A: Solution #3: 0.956 g. Solution #4: 0.074 g
2. What is the hardness, in mg/L as CaCO3, of each water sample?
A: Solution #3: 47800 mg/L. Solution #4: 3700 mg/L.
3. The water softener discussed here relies on precipitation softening, also known as ion
exchange.
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Based on the reactants used (Na2CO3 and CaCl2), what ions would remain in the softened
water that would be consumed by the homeowners? What could be some negative aspects of
consuming these ions?
A: It is a double displacement reaction, and calcium carbonate would remain as a
precipitate after the reaction in the softened water. Sodium carbonate may irritate the
respiratory system in our body, and repeated inhalation of sodium carbonate may
cause severe health problems such as pulmonary edema.
4. What other type of water softeners are available, besides the precipitation softening
discussed here? Are there any advantages or disadvantages to using one of these, rather than
an ion-exchange softener?
A: The salt free water softener. Salt free systems use a variety of different methods to
deal with hard water. These systems are smaller and easier to install than ion-
exchange softener. Although they are cheaper compared to other softeners, they do
not work as effectively as an ion-exchange softener.

Argumentation and Documentation / Conclusion

Dear Mr. Client,
We heard that you are hoping to find a location where a water softener will not be needed, so
we’ve calculated the water hardness in two different locations to help you make better
decision considering your health. From each location, we brought few milliliters of water
from the lake near the house and mixed it with sodium chloride to observe how much
calcium carbonate precipitate the solution forms. In our experiment, water hardness of 47800
mg/L was observed in location #3 and 3700 mg/L was observed in location #4. Based on
these data, we concluded that location #4 would be your best choice since there is the lake
near that house which has the lowest amount of calcium carbonate in the water. We hope our
information would be helpful for you.

Post-Lab Assessment
1. Excess Na2So4 (aq) is added to a 42.53ml sample of Ba(NO3)2 (aq)
a. What is the formula of the precipitate?
 Na2So4 (aq)+ Ba(NO3)2 →BaSO4(s) + 2NaNO3(aq)
➢ BaSO4(s)
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b. If 3.046g of precipitate was formed, what was the molarity of the Ba(NO3)2 (aq)?
1 𝑚𝑜𝑙 BaSO4 1 𝑚𝑜𝑙 Ba(NO3)2
 3.046g BaSO4 × 233.394𝑔 BaSO4 × = 0.0131 𝑚𝑜𝑙 Ba(NO3)2
1 𝑚𝑜𝑙 BaSO4

0.0131 𝑚𝑜𝑙 0.3080 𝑚𝑜𝑙

 =
0.04253 𝐿 𝐿
0.3080 𝑚𝑜𝑙
➢ or 0.3080 M
𝐿

2. A 5.000gram mixture contains strontium nitrate and potassium bromide. Excess lead(II)
nitrate solution, Pb(NO3)2 (aq), is added to precipitate out 0.7822 grams of PbBr2 (s)
a. What is the percent by mass of potassium bromide in the mixture?
 2 KBr(aq) + Pb(NO3)2 (aq)→ PbBr2(s) + 2 KNO3(aq)
1 𝑚𝑜𝑙 PbBr2 2 𝑚𝑜𝑙 KBr 119 𝑔 𝐾𝐵𝑟
 0.7822g PbBr2 × 266.228𝑔 PbBr2 × 1𝑚𝑜𝑙 PbBr2 × 1 𝑚𝑜𝑙 𝐾𝐵𝑟 = 0.70 g KBr

➢ 0.7/5 = 0.14, 14 %
b. What is the percent by mass of strontium nitrate in the mixture?
 100% - 14.0%= 86.00% Sr(NO3)2