Name(s) ___________________________
___________________________
Experiment 4-B—Moles of Iron and Copper
Purpose
To determine the number of moles of copper produced and the number of moles consumed
in the reaction of iron and copper (II) chloride.
To carry out the following reaction:
Fe + CuCl2  Cu + FeCl2
And to compare the moles of copper produced to the moles of iron consumed.
Procedure
1. Find the mass of a clean, empty dry 250 mL beaker. Record the
mass to the nearest 0.01 g and record it in the table below.
2. Add approximately 8 grams of copper (II) chloride crystals to
the beaker. Find the mass and record it in the table below.
3. Add 50 mL of distilled water to the beaker and swirl to dissolve.
4. Obtain two clean, dry nails. If the nails are not clean, use a piece
of sandpaper to make the surface shiny. Find the mass of the nails and record it in the
table below.
5. Place the nails in the copper (II) chloride solution and leave them undisturbed for 20
minutes. During that time, you should see the formation of copper in the beaker, at the
same time some of the iron will be used up.
6. Use tongs to carefully pick up the nails one at a time and using distilled water, rinse off
any remaining copper from the nails before
removing
them
from
the
beaker.
If
necessary use a stirring rod to scrape any
excess copper from the nails. Set the nails
aside to dry on paper towel, which should be labeled with your name.
7. You will weigh the mass of the nails the next day.
8. Decant, or pour off only the liquid from
a container that is holding both liquid
and solid (see figure), carefully decant
the liquid from the solid. Pour the
liquid into another beaker so that in
case you over pour, you can still
recover the solid.
9. After decanting, rinse the solid again with about 25 mL of distilled water. Decant again,
and repeat until the solid looks clean.
10. With teacher approval wash the solid with about 25 mL of 1 M hydrochloric acid.
Decant, and wash with distilled water once again.
11. Allow the copper to dry in a drying oven overnight, and then measure the mass of
copper produced in the beaker.
12. Clean up all materials, and place any copper (II) chloride solution in the indicated waste
container. Before leaving the laboratory, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and
water.
Data Table
Mass of empty beaker (labeled with your name)
Mass of the 2 nails before the reaction
Mass of the 2 nails after the reaction
Mass of beaker + dry copper (day after)
Calculations
1. a) Calculate the mass of Fe used:
Mass of nails before – mass of nails after
______________ - ____________ = ______________
b) Calculate the moles of Fe used:
2. a) Calculate the mass of Cu produced:
Beaker + copper (day after) – Empty Beaker
________________ - _______________ = _______________
b) Calculate the moles of Cu produced:
3. Calculate the ratio of moles of Fe used to moles of Cu produced:
Moles of Cu produced
Moles of Fe used
=
=
4. Suggest two reasons why your actual ratio is different than 1.0?
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