Copper Sulfate’s Water of Hydration Lab: Enrichment Activity

I. Purpose – To observe the effect of removing the “water of hydration” from hydrated copper(II) sulfate.

II. Introduction – Hydrated Ionic Compounds, commonly called, “hydrates”.

A. What is “water of hydration” and how does it affect me (you)?

1. Some ionic compounds, although they look dry, actually contain water molecules within their crystalline
structure. These compounds are referred to as being “hydrated” (meaning, to contain water) and are said to
have a “water of hydration”. These water molecules are scattered within the crystal structure rather loosely;
therefore heating over a low heat will drive off the water molecules. A compound in the dry form, after the
water molecules have been driven off, is said to be “anhydrous” as the prefix “a-” or an-” means, “without”.
Some anhydrous ionic compounds are different in color from the hydrated form of the ionic compound.
2. These compounds are actually used commercially! If you have ever come across a “do not eat” packet
inside a bottle of medicine, or inside a leather wallet or purse, for example, you have come across an
anhydrous ionic compound. What could it be doing there?
3. The anhydrous (dry) form of the ionic compound which is put inside a “do not eat packet” is being used
specifically as a “desiccant” (being used to “desiccate”), which means it is used to dry out the environment.
The anhydrous form of an ionic compound will absorb water vapor, a.k.a. humidity, from the atmosphere,
thereby removing water molecules before the water vapor has a chance to negatively affect the medication or
leather item. These items could support mold growth if the humidity were high.
4. Does the anhydrous ionic compound ever get “full” of water – so full that it won’t work any longer? Yes!
But, lucky for us, we can choose an ionic compound which changes color when it is “full”. So, if the “do not
eat” packet changes color – get a new one….Or, heat the wet one up to dry it out, and re-use it again till it
changes color.

B. Why is an ionic compound able to dissolve in water to begin with?

1. Water, being a polar molecule, has both partial positive and partial negative areas
+ +
surrounding, respectively, the hydrogen atoms and the oxygen atom.
–

2. Water’s partial negative area is attracted to positive particles; and, it’s partial positive areas
are attracted to negative particles. An ionic compound contains both positive and negative
particles; thus, water molecules are attracted to the ionic compound when it is anhydrous.

III. Purpose: To remove the water of hydration from copper (II) sulfate pentahydrate

IV. Gather supplies:

--dry crucible and lid --crucible tongs --Bunsen burner; striker
--ring stand setup with a clay triangle --metal spatula (scoop)
-- hydrated copper(II) sulfate --distilled water bottle – plastic weighing boat

1. Your teacher has given you a sample bottle with hydrated CuSO4; from that bottle you will be
asked to measure out a certain mass. It might be easiest to measure this mass by scooping it into a
plastic weighing “boat”, as it will be easier to hit the large boat than to hit the narrow opening of
the crucible. You can then transfer from the boat by folding it catty-corner, and then pouring or
scraping the weighed compound into the crucible.
 Name: ______________________________

2. Record the mass of the hydrated copper(II) sulfate compound: __________________________.

3. Describe the appearance (color) of hydrated copper(II) sulfate: ___________________________.

V. Drive off the water of hydration:

A. Place the crucible, hydrated copper sulfate, and lid on/in your clay triangle. Be sure that the flame will be close
enough to the triangle to engulf the entire crucible.
B. Heat for 5 minutes using a single-cone blue flame. Do NOT use a flame with a distinct inner blue cone, or you will
scorch the sample. You just want to drive off the loosely-stuck water, without causing a decomposition reaction to
occur. Take a peak now and then – if there is a black color around the edges of the compound, you have scorched it.
When you think the sample is dry, mix it up with your spatula. It should be a single color throughout, which is NOT
the same as the starting color.

C. Turn off the burner; then use crucible tongs to remove the lid. Then use crucible tongs to remove the
crucible from the triangle. Both the lid and crucible are extremely hot! They will cool down after awhile.

Describe the appearance (color) of anhydrous copper(II) sulfate: ______________________. When able

to, scrape the anhydrous compound into a weighing boat and record its mass: ______________________.

D. Think:
1. You initially caused the water to leave your hydrated compound, you caused the compound to become anhydrous,

and you caused its color to turn____________.

2. Soon, (not yet) you are going to do the opposite to your anhydrous compound: You are going to add water to it,

cause the compound to become hydrated, and its color will turn again. What color do you think it will turn to? ______.

3. Do you think that the anhydrous sample will give off heat (feel hot) as you add a few drops of water, or do you

think it will take in heat (feel cold) as you add a few drops of water? ________________________

4. Re-think your last answer: You already added heat and saw it turn from blue to white. Now, you expect it to turn

back to blue, so, should heat be going in again, or coming out, as it turns back to the first color?________________.

E. Now: Do NOT hold the container – add 10 drops of distilled water (from a squirt bottle) to the
anhydrous sample in the weighing boat. Be careful while doing this! You may detect a temperature change,
without touching the compound, by touching underneath the plastic boat). Record color + temperature
observations by completing the sentence below:

5. When I added water, the sample’s color changed from ________________ to _________________,
and heat was (circle one):
given off by the sample (I saw steam) OR taken in by the sample (I saw it get icy)

VI. Clean up:

A. Add a lot of tap water to your sample. Use paper towels to push the sample into the waste
basket. And, I’m going to re-use the weighing boats if they aren’t damaged, so keep them.
B. Clean and towel dry the crucible and lid. Return supplies to drawer/cupboard. Leave station
looking as it was found! Ask if you have questions. Go back into the classroom. Work on Q.
My name and Names of Lab Partners Date For Lab Calculations: __________________________
Written Below (Circle self)
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Copper Sulfate’s Water of Hydration Lab Calculation Sheet
INCLUDE UNITS EVERY STEP AND keep dp when + or – AND keep sig fig when x or ./.
1. Mass of hydrated copper(II) sulfate copied from yesterday’s data sheet:___________________________

2. Mass of anhydrous copper(II) sulfate (copied from yesterday’s data sheet):________________________

3. Mass of water lost during heating (keep the decimal places as you subtract):_______________________

4. % of water (based on mass) in copper(II) sulfate sample: (answer 3 / answer 1) x 100:_____________

5. Use your answer (and its unit) from question #3 to calculate, using the factor label method, the moles of
water lost during heating. Pay attention to sig figs and round when you write your answer.

________________________

6. Use your answer (and its unit) from question #2 to calculate, using the factor label method, the moles of
anhydrous CuSO4 present in original sample. Pay attention to sig figs; round when you write your answer.

________________________

7. Your goal is to generate a whole number “mole ratio” by using your answers from questions # 6 and #5,
and then name the hydrated compound correctly. Follow the steps (a thru d) below:

a. rewrite answer #6 here: _____________moles CuSO4, and answer #5 here:______________ moles H2O
b. identify the smaller of the two previous answers: __________________________ moles
c. divide each “step a” answer, by the “step b” answer. Show the division setup, the calculator answer, and
finally pay attention to sig figs and round the calculator answer correctly.

Rounded answer: ____________moles CuSO4 Rounded answer: _______________ moles H2O

d. If we had been “analytical”(focused on obtaining complete dryness, complete recovery, precision, and
accuracy), your answer to the right above would be very close to a whole number. But, we weren’t focused
on being analytical... Even so, round your answer to a whole number anyway; then complete the statement:

e. For every 1 mole of CuSO4, my sample contained _______ moles of water of hydration.

f. The way we write this mole ratio is shown below, as you insert your whole number into the blank:

CuSO4 __ H2O
g. The way we name a hydrated ionic compound is by using the same prefixes as used for binary covalent
compounds. Name your compound by filling in the appropriate prefix:
“copper(II) sulfate ____________hydrate”
8. Your goal now is to calculate the % (by mass) of water in hydrated CuSO4, based on its correct
formula (which is CuSO4 5 H2O ) . This answer would be called the “theoretical % by mass”.
*A % based on a correct given formula is a “theoretical” or “known” or “expected” result.
*A % based on your actual laboratory measurements is an “actual” result.

To determine the theoretical % by mass, use your understanding of molar mass, as it pertains to the given
formula:
CuSO4 5 H2O Important note: the “dot” in this formula means “+”, not “x”

Step A: To do this, Step B: Second,

first calculate the mass of calculate the mass of
1 mole of CuSO4 5 moles of H2O.
Show your work Show your work

Step C: Third, calculate the mass of the combined sum: (1 mole CuSO4 + 5 mole H2O). Show work:

D. Fourth, calculate the percent of the mass in the hydrated compound that is from the 5 moles of H2O.
Show your work below:
[(mass 5 H2O / mass (1 CuSO4 + 5 H2O) ] x 100 = (answer step B / answer step C) x 100 = ________

NOTE: This question (#8) is similar to a final exam question.

9. Now however, for “bragging rights”, let’s use the theoretical percent H2O by mass in order to calculate
the mass of H2O that you should have lost. Then, compare this theoretical result to your actual result.
A. Theoretical % by mass H2O in hydrated copper(II) sulfate (answer 8D above): ____________________
B. Mass of H2O that I should have lost=
(my hydrated CuSO4 starting mass x theoretical % H2O) / 100 = (answer 1 x answer 9A ) / 100 =
Show work:
_____________________

C. Mass of H2O that I actually lost (answer 3): _____________________

The closer to each other, the better!

10. Review concept: Calculate your % error: “absolute value of the difference between my answer and
the correct answer” divided by “the correct answer”: Show work below.
youranswer  correc tan swer
percent error  x 100
= abs value [ (answers 9C – 9B) / 9B ] x 100
correct answer

The lower, the better!

11. A beginning “stoichiometry” concept: Percent yield

“Percent yield” is a comparison between an amount theoretically expected, and an amount actually
produced; and the comparison is expressed as a percent. Usually this type of problem involves a chemical
change. You didn’t cause a chemical change; but, we are going to calculate a percent yield anyway! This
will prepare you for a percent yield lab (time permitting) and percent yield questions, next chapter.

Percent yield = (actual amount / theoretical amount) x 100

In our case, % yield = (actual mass H2O / theoretical mass H2O) x 100 = (answer 3 / answer 9B) x 100
Show Work. The closer to a “100”, the better!