Aluminum – Copper (II) Chloride Reaction
Purpose: Producing solid copper from aluminum metal and copper II chloride.
Materials / Equipment:
test tube
thermometer
copper (II) chloride crystals
credit-card sized piece of aluminum foil
Procedure:
1. Put 20 mL of water into the test tube.
2. Record the temperature of the water.
3. Add a small amount of copper (II) chloride (about the size of a marble) to the water and stir.
4. Take the temperature of the water / copper (II) chloride solution and write down any qualitative observations
that you can.
5. Place a credit-card sized piece of loosely-rolled aluminum foil into the solution and let the mixture sit for about
three minutes. You may stir gently once or twice.
6.Take the temperature of the mixture and, again, write down any qualitative observations that you can.
7. Set up for a filtration to remove the copper. Set the filter paper to dry overnight.
Data:
Initial Temp of water + copper II chloride: ________________________
Max temp of solution:
________________________
Mass of dry filter paper:
________________________
Filter paper + Cu:
________________________
Mass of copper:
________________________
Questions:
1) What type of reaction is this?
2) What are the products of this reaction?
3) Which signs of a chemical reaction were present in this lab?
4) Is this reaction exothermic or endothermic?
5) Which metal in this lab is higher on the activity series?
6) What would happen if you reacted aluminum chloride with copper metal?
7) It looks like the aluminum is “rusting” here. What is really happening instead?