Making salts

   Method

1. Students collect the necessary laboratory equipment and set up their Bunsen burner on a heatproof mat with tripod and gauze.
2. Students should dispense 40mls of Sulfuric Acid into the 100ml beaker. This should be heated carefully using the Bunsen burner until it is almost boiling. Then the Bunsen burner should be turned off.
3. They should then carefully remove the beaker from the tripod using bowed tongs and carefully place it onto the heatproof mat. A small amount of Copper (ii) Oxide powder is added to the acid and the solution should be stirred with a glass rod.  The powder will disappear, and the solution will change to be blue in colour.
4. Another small amount of Copper (ii) Oxide powder is added to the beaker and the solution is stirred again with the glass rod.
5. This is repeated until some of the Copper (ii) Oxide powder is still present in the beaker after stirring.
6. Students should now allow the beaker to cool completely.
7. In the meantime, they should set up a filter funnel with filter paper and insert the funnel into a 250ml conical flask.
8. Once the solution has cooled, it is then filtered by pouring the solution carefully from the beaker into the funnel.
9. The filtered solution should then be dispensed into an evaporating basin.
10. A water bath using a 250ml beaker of water is now heated over the Bunsen burner.
11. The evaporating basin containing the blue solution should be rested on the top of the 250ml beaker water bath. The solution will begin to evaporate.
12. When the students see crystals beginning to form in their evaporating basin, the Bunsen burner should be turned off.
13. Once cool enough to move safely, the crystallising dish should be placed on the side of the laboratory in a location where it will not be disturbed for at least 24 hours.
14. After 24 hours, any crystals formed are removed from the remaining solution using a spatula and students should gently pat them dry using a paper towel or filter paper.
15. Students are then required to write a word and symbol equation for the chemical reaction.

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