Cu Synthesis Lab

According to Figure 4 and 5, the moles of Cu initially obtained and at completion, differentiated. It was evident that the initial moles of Cu (0.0254), did not regenerate all the amount, as 0.0124 moles of Cu was attained. In regards to this, the no. moles that was eliminated was approximately, 0.013. Respectively, in Figure 3, a large deviation amongst the initial and final quantity of copper, this implies that the rest of the mass that had diminished, was greater than the final product. These findings correlate to Figure 2 calculations as, the % yield was reasonably insignificant of 49.12%. The initial mass of Copper was,1.598g; whereas, the final amount of copper was, 0.785g. This suggests that the 0.813 g of copper could have transitioned into Hydrogen gas, and therefore contradicting the hypothesis. This may be contributed by the underlying foundations of the Law of Conversation of Mass, whereby the mass of copper would remain neutral throughout the entire process; though, majority of the mass was deprived. Another cause was during the final step of the copper cycle (recovering copper), the product of copper sulphate and zinc disintegrated to produce zinc (II) sulphate and copper (as copper is below zinc in the activity series).
Zinc (II) Sulphate decayed into another chemical equation which encompassed of sulphuric acid was added to remove any zinc residue that forms zinc sulphate (since zinc is above hydrogen within the activity
series). It is crucial to denote that majority of the loss of copper was due to the conversion of the copper into hydrogen gas and errors.

The steps outlined in the practical Lab manual permitted the experimentation process to be efficient and expedited the experiment. Though, it is quite significant to take into account and address latent limitations surrounding the apparatus and methodology. This is solely due to the practical investigation inhibiting discrepancies that influence the mass of copper recovered. The low percentage yield accounts for potential errors. Imperatively, the anomalies entail of, the lack of time to precisely and thoroughly complete the experiment within a given timeframe. This was indicated in Step 3, the group members did not meticulously precipitate the liquid chemical residue and thence, excess liquid material that still inhabited the solution and was unreacted could have affected the results of the entire experimentation process (detailed figure is indicated in Appendix 3). Likewise, another vital concern was witnessed throughout step five, when copper was undergoing a vacuum filtration it had been palpable that minority of the mass of copper was positioned in the blue solution after filtration and within the Buchner filter (detailed figures are found in Appendix 1 and 2). This was demonstrated in Figure 1, this exhibits the outcome garnered from the final step of the copper cycle, there appears to be zinc within the filter paper; though, from Appendix 2, it could be implied that zinc could have caused impurities in the overall mass of copper. Thusly, the assimilation of this error inferred that, the liability of low % yield of copper, would succumb to an increased probability, and the extent to which copper is retained would be reduced. In comparison, if copper was not trapped within the crevices of the apparatus, the % yield would increase inquisitively. Conversely, the methodology of this experimental investigation is not quite accurate.