CHEM 5013
APPLIED CHEMICAL PRINCIPLES LAB
Pre-Lab Questions – Reactions in Aqueous Solution: ID of an Unknown
Answer the following questions using a pen in your laboratory notebooks prior to coming to your regularly
scheduled lab section. These pre-lab questions are due when you arrive at lab on the week of October 13.
Failure to complete the pre-lab assignment will result in your dismissal from that lab session and you will
receive a grade of zero on this lab.
1. What is a metathesis reaction? What is the general formula for a metathesis reaction?
2. Why do chemists often write out a chemical reaction of this type by writing only the net ionic
equation?
3. What does it mean in a metathesis reaction to have “No reaction”? What does the net ionic equation
look like in the case of “no reaction”?
4. Define what is meant by each of the following terms: Aqueous solution, solvent, solute, concentration,
soluble, insoluble, spectator ions.
5. Define what is meant by each of the following terms and provide an example of each: electrolyte,
strong electrolyte, weak electrolyte, nonelectrolyte.
6. Using the solubility table found in your lab manual (pg. 154 of pink version), predict the solubility of
each of the following compounds in water at room temperature:
a. Sodium Carbonate
b. Copper (II) Sulfate
c. Nickel Sulfide
d. Barium Bromide
ADDITIONAL PRE-LAB ASSIGNMENT:
This can be a time consuming lab if you come unprepared so to help expedite the lab session, you should
complete the following BEFORE coming to the lab:
1. Write out the chemical formula for all of the aqueous solutions you will be using in the lab experiment.
(The names of these chemicals are found in the 12 reactions on page 153 of the lab manual)
2. For each of the 12 reactions on page 153, you will write out three equations (molecular, total ionic, and
net ionic) before the notebook is submitted. It will save you a lot of time in the lab if you make an
attempt to write out the MOLECULAR EQUATIONS for each of the 12 reactions be starting your
data/observations section of the lab. Leave empty lines for the total ionic and net ionic equations and
for observations. These spaces will be filled in during the lab session. It should look something like
this:
Reaction #1 Copper (II) sulfate + Sodium carbonate
ME: CuSO4 (aq) + Na2CO3 (aq)  CuCO3 (aq) + Na2SO4 (aq)
TIE:
NIE:
Observations:
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO COMPLETE THE PREDICTION (pre-lab Assignment)
instructions on page 152 of the lab manual.