Chemistry

P5 Notes
 Heating hydrated crystals to obtain anhydrous compound
A hot crucible is always allowed to cool down before weighing. This is because placing
the hot crucible on the balance might damage it. Furthermore, water vapour in the air
might condense on parts of its surface which are cool which might lead to inaccuracies
in measuring.
The apparatus used to heat the crucible (in any case) is a tripod stand and a clay-
pipe triangle.
A clay pipe triangle
L

The crucible is always heated gently at first. This is because there is water inside the
crystals. If we heat rapidly at first, it might cause a rapid expansion of water which
might cause the crystal to split. Split means they might break apart and ejected out
of the crucible
Note: many experiments that involve heating a solid will require this apparatus
too. The lid will be required or not based upon the conditions

Commenting on the validity of the experiment

Sometimes the question will ask you to comment on the validity of the experimental
result, given the theoretical and experimental value and the maximum percentage
error allowed. The formula is as follows,

If the percentage error is within the maximum percentage error allowed, the the
experiment is valid.
Using ice in some experiments

Ice is mainly used in rate experiments or when we need to do a titration.

In rate experiments, we use ice to stop the rate of reaction which help
then in calculating the concentration of a certain reactant through
titration. They can also be used to prevent the formation of unwanted
by products which typically occur at high temperatures.

How to ensure that any certain procedure is carried out at a particular temperature

Most questions like these expect you to write “thermostatically

controlled water bath” but if this is not possible with the setup in the
question, then you can just make sure that the surroundings are at the
specific temperature and wait for the substances to equilibrate with
the surrounding temperature.
 Heat under distillation apparatus

Crystals formation
Most questions always have “how crystals are obtained” at the end. This means you
not only have to explain how to make the crystals (conditions will always be given in
the question e.g a substance forms crystals at lower temperature as its less soluble at
lower temperatures). Crystals always have to be first filtered out (to collect them)
and then rinsed with cold water to remove any impurities from the original mixture in
which they were formed.
Cold water is not always used for rinsing, and the question itself will have enough
information for you to decide what to use for rinsing. For example, if a substance has
lower solubility at lower temperatures (which causes the crystals to form) then using
cold water is recommended as the crystals will not dissolve in cold water.
It can also depend on the solubility of the impurities in the water. If the impurities are
less soluble in warm water, then warm water will be used as it will be more efficient in
removing the impurities
A second solvent is then used to remove the water like dry propanone
 Collecting gases
Only one gas released (method 1) Only one gas released (method 2) (cannot
be used if it reacts or dissolves in water)

2 gases released in which

one gas can be absorbed

Electrolysis experiment in which 2 gases

are released

=
 Apparatus to cool something

>
polystyrene
& -

p
O
ice
 One reactant is kept in excess. Both are mixed and the
temperature change is recorded,
Temperature correction graphs
• For reactions which are not instantaneous there may be a delay before the
maximum temperature is reached
• During that delay the substances themselves may be losing heat to the
surroundings, so that the true maximum temperature is never actually reached
• To overcome this problem we can use graphical analysis to determine the
maximum enthalpy change

For endothermic
reactions the graph
will be the opposite. A
straight horizontal line
and then a line with a
positive gradient

I
 The steps to make a temperature correction graph are:

1. Take a temperature reading before adding the reactants for a few minutes to get a
steady value
2. Add the second reactant and continue recording the temperature and time
3. Plot the graph and extrapolate the cooling part of the graph until you intersect the time
at which the second reactant was added

Diluting solutions

This is a really common question that pops up. First we dissolve the solid in a beaker
then transfer the solution that we need to dilute to a volumetric flask and then rinse
the original container with distilled water. Then we add this to the volumetric flask. This
is done to avoid leaving behind some of the solution in the original container which might3
have remained in the original container. Then we fill up the volumetric flask up till 250cm
mark using more distilled water (This is really common question and appears in almost
every past paper)

A less common type 3of dilution was also asked in a 2018 paper in which they wanted us
to also use a 1000cm volumetric flask.
Here we found out the
volume of the old
solution that we would
need to dilute to get
the required solution.