Formation of Alum
The Formation of Alum
Experiment 4
Introduction
In an increasing population the need for land fields are as well increasing daily. Better yet, rather than dumping off trash is to instead recycle aluminum cans for a more efficient society. In this lab we will show how aluminum cans react to form alum.
Materials and Methods
The first step of the lab is to measure the mass of 250 mL beaker, once you have done this add .9 to 1.2 grams of aluminum can pieces to the beaker. Take the mass once again and find the difference between the two to find the mass of aluminum. Add 50 mL of a 1.4M KOH solution to the beaker. Make sure and a use a fume hood to vent the gases that are produced during the experiment. Maintain a volume of 25mL; if the volume gets low add distilled water. Next set up an aspirator to filter the reaction once it is finished. Wet the filter paper and then pour the reactant in to the filter. Rinse out the beaker with distilled water to get all the reactant out. The flask should be a clear solution. Transfer the solution to a 250 mL beaker. If the filtrate is still hot us an ice bath to cool it down. Measure out 20 mL of 6.0 M of sulfuric acid and begin to add the acid to the reaction mix. Make sure and add the acid slow or it will begin to turn into a solid, continuously stir. Once you have completely mixed in the acid filter out the solution.
Make another ice bath like previously and add the reaction beaker to the ice bath. This will cause the alum crystals to precipitate. If the crystals do not form scratch the sides of the beaker with a stirring rod until the crystals begin to form. Filter the precipitated solutions on the filter aspirator. Once you have filtered as much crystals as possible rinse the beaker with 10 mL of 50% ethanol solution. Pour the rinse onto the paper to get all of the crystals. Get a 250 mL beaker and find the mass, then add the crystals to find the mass of the two. Subtract them to find your final
Experiment 4
Introduction
In an increasing population the need for land fields are as well increasing daily. Better yet, rather than dumping off trash is to instead recycle aluminum cans for a more efficient society. In this lab we will show how aluminum cans react to form alum.
Materials and Methods
The first step of the lab is to measure the mass of 250 mL beaker, once you have done this add .9 to 1.2 grams of aluminum can pieces to the beaker. Take the mass once again and find the difference between the two to find the mass of aluminum. Add 50 mL of a 1.4M KOH solution to the beaker. Make sure and a use a fume hood to vent the gases that are produced during the experiment. Maintain a volume of 25mL; if the volume gets low add distilled water. Next set up an aspirator to filter the reaction once it is finished. Wet the filter paper and then pour the reactant in to the filter. Rinse out the beaker with distilled water to get all the reactant out. The flask should be a clear solution. Transfer the solution to a 250 mL beaker. If the filtrate is still hot us an ice bath to cool it down. Measure out 20 mL of 6.0 M of sulfuric acid and begin to add the acid to the reaction mix. Make sure and add the acid slow or it will begin to turn into a solid, continuously stir. Once you have completely mixed in the acid filter out the solution.
Make another ice bath like previously and add the reaction beaker to the ice bath. This will cause the alum crystals to precipitate. If the crystals do not form scratch the sides of the beaker with a stirring rod until the crystals begin to form. Filter the precipitated solutions on the filter aspirator. Once you have filtered as much crystals as possible rinse the beaker with 10 mL of 50% ethanol solution. Pour the rinse onto the paper to get all of the crystals. Get a 250 mL beaker and find the mass, then add the crystals to find the mass of the two. Subtract them to find your final