Experiment #3 / Unit 5
An Investigation of the Reaction Between Iron and Copper
Part 1: The Reactants - Iron and Copper (II) Sulfate
1. What is the electron configuration of an iron atom? What is the electron
configuration of the ferrous ion? What color is a dissolved ferrous ion? (3 pts)
2. What is the electron configuration of a copper atom? What is the electron
configuration of a copper ion? What color is a dissolved copper ion? (3 pts)
3. What kind of bond would hold together a copper sulfate crystal? (1 pt)
4. Draw a Lewis structure for the sulfate ion. What color is a dissolved sulfate
ion? (2 pts)
5. Which atom is larger by mass, copper or iron. By how many times? (1 pt)
6. Find the radius of each atom. Which atom is a larger size? By how many times?
(2 pts)
Part 2: Making a Solution of Copper (II) Sulfate
7. What is the formula given for copper (II) sulfate on the side of the chemical
manufacturer's bottle? What special kind of compound is this? (1 pt)
8. What is the percentage by mass of water in the crystals? (1 pt)
9. How much does this chemical cost for 500 g? Include a link to your source. (1 pt)
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Mass out 24.0 g of copper (II) sulfate.
Obtain a 250 mL beaker. Add 100.0 mL of deionized water.
Dissolve the crystals to make a solution. Warming the solution on a hot plate
will make this process easier.
10. Write an equation to describe what happened to the crystals. (1 pt)
11. Describe in words what was happening at the bottom of the beaker at the
molecular level. Don't be stingy with the details! Explain how water molecules
are able to dissociate a salt. (3 pts)
12. How much did your crystals cost? (1 pt)
13. How many formula units did you dissolve? (Remember: these are watercontaining crystals) (2 pts)
Part 3: The Reaction!
14. Write total molecular and net ionic equations to describe the reaction. (2 pts)
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Mass out 4.5 g of iron powder and add it to your copper (II) sulfate solution.
Record observations.
15. Describe in words what is happening in the beaker at the molecular level for
each reactant. (3 pts)
16. Explain the color of your solution after the reaction. (1 pt)
17. Predict how many grams of copper atoms can be produced during this
chemical change. Include a balanced equation and a have/need table. (2 pts)
18. Which reactant determined when the reaction would stop? (1 pt)
19. Which reactant is left over? How many grams of the reactant are left over? (3
pts)
Cary Academy
Chemistry I
W.G. Rushin
1
20. List all the chemicals now present in the beaker and determine how many
grams of each are present. Ions must be treated as individual masses. Don’t
forget the most abundant substance in the beaker. (3 pts)
Part 4: Recovering the Copper Atoms
 Use filtration and the drying oven to recover your copper atoms and accurately
mass them.
21. What was your percent yield for the copper atoms? (1 pt)
22. What was your percent error for the experiment? (1 pt)
23. How many atoms of copper did you recover? (2 pts)
Lab Report #5.3:
 Title Page (1 pt)
 Procedure Sheet (1 pt)
 Data (4 pts)
 Calculations and Questions (41 pts)
Cary Academy
Chemistry I
W.G. Rushin
2