Ionic Compounds Lab

Ok! So here is my write up for the ionic compounds lab we did last week.

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1. Materials:

• Magnesium Ribbon
• Crucible
• Ring Stand and Ring
• Clay Triangle
• Laboratory Burner
• Crucible Tongs
• Balance
• Beaker
• Distilled Water
• Conductivity Tester

2. Procedure 

• Arrange the ring on the stand so that it is just above the beginning of the blue part of the flame.
• Measure the mass of the clean crucible.
• Take 25 cm of Mg ribbon and form it into a loose ball. Place the ball in the crucible.
• Measure the mass of the Mg and the crucible together.
• Place the crucible on the clay ring, and turn on the burner. Heat the crucible until the Mg ignites.
• After the Mg and crucible have cooled for a while, measure their weight. 
• Place the Mg product in a beaker, then add a small amount of distilled water. 
• Finally, check the conductivity of the mixture.

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Yep that's what we did. I have our results recorded here on this wonderfully made graph:

Before I go into analyzing all of this, I need to say that we found that the Mg product had a conductivity rating of about medium on our conductivity testing scale. As you can see, during our experiment the combined weight of the crucible and Mg increased after it was heated, and the actual product of Mg decreased .10 grams. This of course was not supposed to happen. The Mg product was supposed to gain mass, not lose it. We concluded that our error came from not allowing the crucible enough time to cool down. The heat from the experiment caused the weight to fluctuate. My group is not completely sure, but we believe that if we allowed the crucible more time to cool off, then our mass would have increased like it should have. 

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