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Final Results Table Ionic and Covalent Compound Conduction Experiment

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niya.sokolova2006
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54 views3 pages

Final Results Table Ionic and Covalent Compound Conduction Experiment

Uploaded by

niya.sokolova2006
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Practical Assessment

Name: ___Niya Sokolova_ Date Due: ___________

Properties of Ionic and Covalent compounds


Aims
To investigate the conduction of electricity by several compounds in aqueous solution
(dissolved in water). Some of these compounds are ionic and some are covalent.

Method
1. Connect the battery, bulb and wires to the two carbon electrodes. Check that
everything works before carrying on.

2. Put two spatulas of potassium iodide in the beaker, and add about 15cm3 of de-
ionised water. Stir carefully to dissolve the potassium iodide.

3. Lower the carbon electrodes into the potassium iodide solution. Observe whether
the bulb lights. Also check for the production (evolution) of gas (make a note of
which electrode), or any colour change. Carefully note down your observations in
a
suitable table (suggested headings below).

4. Carefully rinse out the beaker and electrodes. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with each of the
remaining substances (the ethanol and sugar are already in aqueous solution, and
can be used without diluting). Try de-ionised water or tap water on their own.

Questions
1. Why is it important to carefully rinse out the beaker and electrodes in step 2?
Briefly explain your answer.
A: It is important to carefully stir in step two because if you don’t, the substance
will not dissolve in the solution, therefor it will not perform any conductivity. When
stirred the compound’s ions are free to move from place to place. Ionic
compounds cannot conduct electricity when solid, as their ions are held in fixed
positions and cannot move. Although solid ionic compounds do not conduct
electricity because there are no free mobile ions or electrons, ionic compounds
dissolved in water make an electrically conductive solution. Therefore, they have
higher melting and boiling points compared to covalent compounds.
[2]
Results
Record your results in the table below.

On the second document


[6]
Analysis and Evaluation
1. What do your results show? (Explain in detail giving reasons for your results using
what you know about the bonding in covalent and ionic compounds)
The results show that ionic compounds conduct electricity, and that covalent
compound don’t. We can see that all ionic compounds that we tested for conductivity
of electricity are conductors, however not all of them are good ones. For example,
sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium carbonate all conducted electricity very
well, since they made the light bulb shine brightest. Potassium carbonate and copper
sulphate pentahydrate also made the light bulb shine but extremely lightly, almost no
shine. That makes potassium carbonate and copper sulphate pentahydrate conductors
of electricity but not good ones. Copper sulphate pentahydrate and potassium
carbonate (both of which ionic) caused a reaction once mixed with water (gas was
evolved by tiny bubbles) but the bulb did not light up. We then connected the set up to
an ammeter and showed a current of 0.11 amps for copper sulphate pentahydrate and
a current of 0.13 amps for potassium carbonate. Sodium carbonate, potassium
carbonate and copper sulphate pentahydrate were a bit harder to dissolve than sodium
chloride, potassium chloride. The ionic compounds that were easier to dissolve
conducted electricity better. Ionic compounds are usually soluble in water. The water
molecules are able to separate the ions from each other. The ions then move apart,
surrounded by water molecules. Ionic compounds conduct electricity, when melted or
dissolved in water. A solid ionic compound will not conduct electricity. But when it
melts, or dissolves in water, the ions become free to move. Since they are charged,
they can then conduct electricity. Covalent compounds tend to be insoluble in water.
Covalent compounds do not conduct electricity. There are no charged particles, so
they cannot conduct.
[6]
2. Why is gas evolved by some solutions (showing that they conduct electricity) but
the bulb does not light?
They do conduct electricity but not enough to light up the bulb. This can be tested
with an ammeter. If there is even a small current, the compound conducts electricity
even e little bit. When doing the experiment this happened with copper sulphate
pentahydrate and potassium carbonate (both of which ionic). They caused a reaction
once mixed with water (gas was evolved by tiny bubbles) but the bulb did not light
up. We then connected the set up to an ammeter and showed a current of 0.11 amps
for copper sulphate pentahydrate and a current of 0.13 amps for potassium carbonate.
[3]
Conclusion:
Write a brief summary of your results and outline whether the aim of this experiment
was successfully achieved, give reasons to justify your answers.

The aim of this experiment was successfully achieved because we found out whether
ionic and covalent compounds conduct electricity (which was the aim). The answer to
that is that while the ionic compounds that we put to the test are all conductors, they
are not all good at conducting because they all turned on the bulb, but compounds like
potassium chloride, sodium chloride and sodium carbonate made the bulb shine
brighter, therefor are better conductors. We have learnt that covalent compounds are
insoluble in water, and that all ionic compounds we tested are soluble, whether some
of them (like Copper sulphate pentahydrate and Potassium carbonate and Sodium
carbonate) are just partly soluble and not that easy to dissolve in water. Covalent
compounds do not conduct electricity because they do not have a charge. This theory
was proven to be right with our experiment. We saw that all ionic compounds that we
tested for conductivity of electricity are conductors, just like the original theory we
were testing. With this experiment we found out what we were looking for: Which
one of the two types of compounds ionic and covalent conducts electricity. The
answer is ionic. [4]
Grade for experimental procedure followed correctly, safely and experiment
clear up to an acceptable standard = ___________ [7]

Grade experiment = ____/ 23


Experimental Procedure = ____/7

Total = ____/ 30 Grade level ___/ 7

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