Solubilities Within a Family Lab Report

Purpose/Objective

The purpose of this experiment is to identify the periodic trends in the solubility of the alkaline earth metals and compare the results to that of lead

Materials

1. Pencil
2. Lab notebook
3. 5 small test tubes
4. Droppers
Chemicals

1. 0.2 M Mg(NO3)2
2. 0.2 M Ca(NO3)2
3. 0.2 M Sr(NO3)2
4. 0.2 M Ba(NO3)2
5. 0.2 M Pb(NO3)2
6. 1 M NaOH
7. 0.2 M NaBr
8. 0.2 M NaI
9. 0.2 M Na2SO4
10. 0.1 M Na2CO3
11. 0.2 M Na2C2O4
12. 1 M NaCl
Data and Results

Mg(NO3)2 Ca(NO3)2 Sr(NO3)2 Ba(NO3)2 Pb(NO3)2
NaOH Cloudy Milky Cloudy Cloudy Milky
NaCl No reaction No reaction No reaction No reaction Powder
NaBr No reaction No reaction No reaction No reaction Cloudy
NaI No reaction No reaction No reaction Cloudy Bright Yellow
Na2SO4 No reaction No reaction White, yogurt-like Milky Milky
Na2CO3 Milky Milky Powder White, cotton-like Powder
Na2C2O4 No reaction Milky Milky Powder Powder

Sample Calculations

None Discussion and Comments

This experiment tested the theory that the elements in the periodic table are arranged in a manner in which the elements of a group share similar chemical properties. The elements we used were the ones from the alkaline earth metal group. These elements tend to form 2+ cations and are very reactive. We also compared these elements to that of lead because lead also forms a 2+ cation. We used the chemical property of solubility to observe the periodic trends of the alkaline earth metals. As a general rule, reactivity increases as you move down a group in the periodic table. This means in regards to solubility that the more you farther you move down the group the more insoluble the element is when combined with hydroxides, chlorides, bromides, iodides, sulfates, carbonates, and oxalates. My results were consistent with this theory in that the mixtures went from no reaction to forming a precipitate or from forming a light precipitate to a heavy one as the elements moved down the periodic