Experiment 4: Determination of the Formula of a HydrateEstrada,

Jonas Emmanuel; Rodriguez, Cy

Chemistry 14.1, HAB 3, Ms. Jenica Marie Madridejos
January 22, 2014
ABSTRACT
A hydrate is a compound that is formed from the combination of a definite amount of water with a specific
quantity of salt. Salt, however, could combine with water in different amounts and thus could form different
hydrates. The experiment aims to determine the formula of a hydrate of copper (II) sulfate which could be
evaluated from the ratio of the number of moles of water to the number of moles of salt left after a simple
decomposition reaction. The experiment involved the heating of 1 g of copper (II) sulfate crystals until
decomposed into gray powder. The gray powder weighed0.66 g and the loss of weight was 0.36 g which
was also the weight of water. The formula weight of water is approximately18 g/mole and the formula
weight of copper (II) sulfate is approximately 160 g/mole. Based on this, the moles of copper (II) sulfate
was found to be approximately 0.004 moles and the moles of water was found to be approximately 0.02
moles and the simplest ratio of the number of moles of water to the number of moles of Copper(II) sulfate
is 5:1. Therefore, the formula of the hydrate was CuSO 4 (5H2O) which is also known as copper (II) sulfate
pentahydrate.
KEYWORDS: hydrate, anhydrous, waters of hydration, copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate, moles, formula
weight, percent of hydration
INTRODUCTION
A
hydrate salt is composed
of anions and
cations which are surrounded by and weakly
bonded water molecules, which are integral
parts of their crystalline structure. Each hydrate
salt has a fixed number of water molecules
associated with it, called waters of hydration or
waters
of
crystallization. When
a salt
holds waters of hydration, we call it a hydrated
salt or a hydrate (from hydor, the Greek word for
water). Salt which does not contain water is
called anhydrous. The anhydrous salt has
different colour and crystalline structure from the
hydrate.

The number of water molecules bound per metal

ion is often characteristic of that particular metal
ion. The bonds of the hydrate salt with water
molecules may easily by separated by means of
a decomposition reaction.

The water is present as individual water

molecules and usually no chemical bonds are
involved in holding the ions of the compound
and the water molecules together. The forces of
attraction are electrostatic forces resulting from
the charged nature of the anhydrous ionic
compound and the polar water molecules. The
bond is so weak that simply heating the
hydrated salt to liberate the water molecules as
vapor can normally break it.

CuSO45H2O
is
copper
(II)
sulfate
pentahydrate. One key point: the dot is not a
multiplication sign. When calculating the molar
mass you add the molar mass of water
(multiplied by the coefficient).

Particle size and space limitations dictate the

number of water molecules an ionic compound
will accommodate and well as the conditions
under which the hydrate is formed. Many ionic
compounds form multiple hydrates.

Formulas for hydrates are written using a dot

convention: a dot is used to separate the
formula of the salt from the formula of the water
of hydration. A numerical coefficient gives the
molar amount of water included in the hydrate.
Hydrates are named using prefixes for the word
hydrate (at right). For example

Hydrates are classified as hygroscopic,

deliquescent, and efflorescent. The type of
hydrate most suitable for a quantitative hydrate
formula determination is the hygroscopic
hydrate, which absorbs a definite number of
water molecules. The useful absorption qualities
associated with this class of hydrates makes it
extremely useful as a drying agent. The
compound is heated to drive off the water and
then used to keep other materials dry by

absorbing water before the other material. They

are sometimes packed with food, film, or shoes
to prevent moisture damage.
The deliquescent compounds, such as calcium
chloride and sodium hydroxide, absorb water
until it dissolves forming a concentrated solution.
The efflorescent hydrate, such as sodium sulfate
decahydrate
(Na2SO4

10 H2O),
spontaneously loses some or all of its water of
hydration when exposed to dry atmosphere.
Many hydrates can be transformed to the
anhydrous
compound when
heated strongly. The hydrate in focus of this
experiment is copper (II) sulfate (later known to
be copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate, which
contains 5 moles of water per 1 mole of
copper(II)sulfate written as CuSO4 5 H2O). It
is used as a catalytic precursor, fungicide, and
as
a
source
of
copper
in
chemical manufacturing processes. The
experiment aims to calculate the number of
moles of the components in the compound and
to determine the formula of the hydrate. The
reaction involved is:
CuSO4 5 H2O CuSO4 + 5 H2O
blue
gray
Or generally:
hydrated salt
vapor

anhydrous salt + water

Copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate can be

converted into anhydrous copper sulfate when
heated. This
change
can be
followed
visually. The blue crystalline copper sulfate
pentahydrate is converted when heated to a
white, powdery, anhydrous salt.

the blue pentahydrate is regenerated. The

property of reversibility can be used to
distinguish true hydrates from other compounds
that produce water when heated.
EXPERIMENTAL
A test tube with a cork stopper was placed in a1
00 mL beaker and weighed. Approximately 1 g
of Copper(II) sulfate crystals were placed in the
test tube and then stoppered again using a cork
stopper and was placed in the beaker and was
weighed again.
The copper(II) sulfate crystals were heated over
a blue flame from an alcohol lamp until the
crystals disintegrated into a gray powder until all
of the water is driven off. The process lasted
from five to ten minutes.
After heating, the upper portion of the test tube
was heated so as to completely evaporate the
moisture and was again stoppered using the
cork and cooled to room temperature. After
cooling, the test tube was again placed on the
100 mL beaker and was weighed again.
The loss of mass represents the mass of water
in the original sample.
To find the formula of the original hydrate, we
determined from the succeeding data the ratio of
the number moles of water to the number of
moles of copper(II) sulfate. Form this we
calculated the moles of anhydrous compound in
the original sample.
RESULT
Gray powder that is less in weight was obtained
after the heating and cooling process. The
image below shows the solid obtained.

As
the water
is lost
there is
a color
change, which is characteristic of the particular
anhydrous compound. Since heat must be
added to the hydrate to drive off the water this is
an endothermic change.
It is also possible to reverse the above process
(though not shown in our experiment), as shown
in the equation below:
CuSO4 + 5 H2O CuSO45 H2O
gray
blue
If water is added to the white anhydrous copper
sulfate, a blue color is obtained indicating that

Figure 1: CuSO4 before heating and after

cooling

Table 1: Experimental data collected

Simplest ratio of moles of H 2O to moles of

CuSO4
= 0.019980 : 0.004135
= 4.831 : 1
~5:1
The calculated formula of the hydrate is:
CuSO45 H2O
The formula of this hydrate shows the molar
amount of water incorporated into the crystal
matrix.
DISCUSSION

Calculations

W residue =W after heatingW beaker +test tube+stopper

= 67.39 g - 66.73 g
= 0.66 g (CuSO4)

W lost uponheating=W beforeheatingW after heating

= 67.75 g - 67.39 g
= 0.36 g (H2O)

Moles of CuSO 4=

Mass
Formula Mass

0.66 g
159.6067 g/mole

0.004135 moles

Moles of H 2 O=

Mass
Formula Mass

0.36 g
18.1052 g/mole

0. 019980 moles

The moles of water in a hydrate can be

determined quantitatively by heating a known
mass of the hydrate for a sufficient length of time
to establish constant mass, and then determining
the mass of the anhydrous material or residue.
The difference between the mass before and
after heating the hydrate is the mass of water
driven off. This mass of water divided by the
molar mass of water gives the number of moles
of water initially present. The number of moles of
anhydrous compound can be determined by
using the mass of the anhydrous compound
(residue) and dividing it by the molar mass of the
anhydrous compound. The number of moles of
water divided by the number of moles of
anhydrous compound gives you the coefficient X
(which
is
also
the
waters
of
hydration/crystallization) of in the accepted form
for the chemical formula of a hydrate:
anhydrous compound X H2O
The Greek prefixes are used to specify the
number of moles of water present in the name of
the hydrate.(mono, di, tri, tetra, penta, etc.)Now
that we know the numerical value of X, we can
now calculate the theoretical mass percent of
water in the hydrate. Since X will be the moles of
water released upon dehydration of one mole of
hydrate, X multiplied by the molar mass of water
gives you the mass of water present in the
hydrate. Dividing the mass of water by the molar
mass of the anhydrous compound and multiplying
by 100 gives the percent water.

Theoretical H 2 O

(x )(Molar Mass H 2 O)
x 100
Molar Massof AnhydrousCompound

The theoretical percent water of hydration of

copper (II) sulfate pentahydrate is 36.06%
The experimental percent water in the hydrate
can be calculated from the mass data generated
in the experiment with the formula:

Experimental H 2 O=

REFERENCES:

( x)(Mass H 2 O)
x 100
Massof Hydrate

Given the data we collected in our experiment,

our experimental percent of hydration is 35.29%.
The percent error in the percent water may be
calculated using the relationship:

Error=

The values obtained are not very precise. This

could be due to the samples not being heated
long enough so that all the water of hydration was
not driven off. This could be checked by repeating
the experiment and heating the samples for a
longer time.

Chang, R., & Overby, J. (2011). General

Chemistry Eleventh Edition. New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Copper (II) Sulfate. (n.d.). Retrieved from
Wikipedia: TheFree
Encyclopedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
/Copper(II)_sulfate

Experim ental ValueTheoretical Value

x 100
Theoretical Value

Therefore, our percent error is -2.19%.

All pure sample of this hydrate should show the
same percentage of water by analysis. Thus, this
hydrated compound obeys the law of constant
composition.
For most hydrates, the amount of water included
in the formula is only important when trying to
measure molar amounts of the salt. You need to
know the true formula weight (molar mass) in
order to measure out the mass needed to give a
certain number of moles. The chemical
importance of the water of hydration is minimal
since it can be driven off by heat or simply
dissolve away if the salt is dissolved in water.

Experiment 10: Hydrates. (n.d.). Retrieved

fromhttp://spot.pcc.edu/~gbackes/CH22
2/Labs222.W05/Exp.10.Hydrates.htm
Experiment 18: Formula of Hydrates. (n.d.). 1-9.

Hydrate Analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved from

ChemistryOnline Resource
Essentials:http://www.dlt.ncssm.edu/cor
e/c5.htm
Hydrates: Experiment 1. (n.d.). 1-13.
Lumsden, C. (n.d.). Calculations from
Empirical Data.25.
Water of Hydration: Experiment 7. (n.d.). 57-64.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

We have determined that copper (II) sulfate
pentahydrate, with one mole of copper(II) sulfate
and 5 moles of water, is the hydrate of copper
sulphate given to us.
We have also determined the theoretical percent
of hydration of copper (II) sulfate pentahydrate,
which is36.08% with the data that we have
gathered. We were then able to use the
theoretical percent of hydration to determine the
percent error, which is -2.19%, of our
experimental percent of hydration of 35.29%.

I hereby certify that I have given substantial

contribution to this report.
___________________________
Jonas Emmanuel Estrada
__________________________
Cy Rodriguez