Name: ___________________________________ Score: _______/40

Lab Practical Exam 2023

General Instructions:
When the exam begins, you will have 25 minutes at each station. A bell will sound after 20
minutes, warning you that there are just 5 minutes remaining. After 25 minutes, a second bell
will sound indicating you should move to the next station. Time at the next station begins
immediately, so move as quickly as you can between stations (being mindful of chemicals,
equipment, and other people!).

In each 20-minute session, you will do your best to complete the experiment and record any
observations or measurements as requested. After 20 minutes, begin to clean up your station,
taking note of waste procedures, so that it will be ready for the next person.

A faculty or staff member will be at each station to serve both as a friendly, familiar face, and an
evaluator. Please do not ask procedural questions, but certainly bring any items such as missing
equipment, etc. to our attention.

After the 6 sessions are complete, there will be an additional 15 minutes where you can
return to any station for follow-up, use that time for calculations, or double-check your
answers. You will also be able to complete calculations on your own after time has finished.

Station Assignments A(A-C = gen chem lab, D-F = orgo lab):

A B C D E F
Time
Synthesis UV-vis Buffers Titration IR/NMR Extraction
slot
Lovaasen Walhout L.Burden Lily Van Ye Melody Umesiri
Braydon Sarah and Connor and KJ and
1 Luke Hannah
and Cody Izzy John Michaela
Connor and Braydon Sarah and KJ and
2 Luke Michaela
John and Cody Izzy Hannah
Sarah and Connor and Braydon KJ and
3 Hannah Michaela
Izzy John and Cody Luke
KJ and Braydon and Sarah and Connor and
4 Luke Hannah
Michaela Cody Izzy John
KJ and Connor and Braydon Sarah and
5 Luke Michaela
Hannah John and Cody Izzy
KJ and Sarah and Connor and Braydon
6 Hannah Michaela
Luke Izzy John and Cody
Station Procedures:
Before arriving at the exam, you must write a procedure for the experiment at each station
except Station E. For section E, you may prepare any print resources you would like ahead
of time; they need not be submitted. (You will not, however, be permitted electronic access to
resources during the exam time.) The procedures will be collected on Schoology no later than
midnight the night before. This includes performing any necessary calculations to determine
quantities or useful estimates, or responding to any relevant items in the prompt. Please treat
this exam booklet like a lab notebook—write in pen (pencil is acceptable for spectral analysis
only) and cross out mistakes with a single line. Any modifications you make to your procedure
during the exam should be noted in the exam booklet. To receive full credit, the final written
procedure must accurately reflect the actual steps you took during the exam.

Grading:
You will be eligible to receive the following points
• Pre-work: 1 point/station except E (5 total) if completed on time and according to
instructions.
• Faculty rubrics: 5 points/station (these will be normalized in case individual rubrics have
different point values)
• 5 points total: Overall professionalism score including items such as safety, timeliness,
attitude, and neatness/completion/conventions in your lab “notebook”

The exam will be worth 40 points total.

Station A (General Chemistry Lab, Evaluator = Dr. Ben Lovaasen)

Prompt:

Starting with 2.0 g of CuSO4 • 5H2O, prepare and isolate [Cu(NH3)4]SO4 • H2O.

Hints:

-Use minimal water to dissolve the starting material (< 5 mL).

-Cu(OH)2 is an insoluble light blue solid. [Cu(NH3)4]SO4 is deep blue and water soluble.

Materials:

Analytical balance Hot plate

Spatula Buchner funnel, filter flask, filter paper
Weighing paper Access to a hood
Small graduated cylinder CuSO4 • 5H2O
125 mL Erlenmeyer 2 molarities aq. NH3 (1 M and 15 M)
Ethanol

Sample Submission and Waste Procedures:

-Please turn in your isolated final product in a vial labeled with your name and the mass of the
isolated product. The mass should also be somewhere in your “notebook.”
-Excess product and filter paper should be placed in a labeled jar in the designated fume hood.
-All liquid waste will also be collected in a labeled container.
-Please rinse flasks and funnels when finished.
______________________________________________________________________________
Station Procedure:
Observations, Data, Calculations, and/or Notes:

Results:

Briefly describe the [Cu(NH3)4]SO4 • H2O that you isolated.

Station B (General Chemistry Lab, Evaluator = Dr. Peter Walhout)

Prompt:

Using UV-vis spectroscopy, determine the concentration (in molarity) of two aqueous solutions
of KMnO4. You will use the standard curve provided below. You need to describe all work and
show any math/calculations used.

Standard Curve of KMnO4 in DI H2O

0.9
0.8
y = 2.5029x - 0.0139
Absorbance at 526 nm

0.7
0.6 R² = 0.9998
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0.000 0.050 0.100 0.150 0.200 0.250 0.300 0.350 0.400
[KMnO4] mM

Materials:

Cuvettes
UV-Vis spectrometer
Necessary glassware and equipment to prepare dilutions if necessary

Waste Procedures:

-Liquid waste may go down the drain. Please rinse all glassware and cuvettes.

______________________________________________________________________________
Station Procedure:
Observations, Data, Calculations, and/or Notes:

Results:

List the unknown IDs and provide the measured concentrations for your assigned samples.

Unknown ID 1: Concentration:

Unknown ID 2: Concentration:
Station C (General Chemistry Lab, Evaluator = Dr. Lisa Burden)

Prompt:

Prepare exactly 100 mL of a 100 mM phosphate buffer at pH 7.4.

Materials:

Na2HPO4 • 12 H2O (pKa = 12.3) 100 mL volumetric flask

KH2PO4 (pKa = 7.2) 100 mL graduated cylinder
Two strengths of HCl and NaOH aq. solutions 10 mL graduated cylinder
(1 M and 0.1 M) 250 mL beakers
Stir plate Pipettes
Magnetic spin bar Analytical balance and weighing paper
pH meter w/ pH 4, 7, and 10 standards

Sample Submission and Waste Procedures:

-Turn in your buffer in a 250 mL beaker labeled with your name

-Please rinse and return the spin bar for the next user. Rinse glassware.
-All neutralized solutions may go down the drain.
-Excess NaOH or HCl should be collected in the labeled waste container (“acid/base waste”).
______________________________________________________________________________
Station Procedure:
Observations, Data, Calculations, and/or Notes:

Results:

What is the final pH of your buffer (use two decimal places)?

Station D (Organic Lab, Evaluator = Dr. Allison Dick)

Prompt:

Titrate an unknown carboxylic acid in triplicate to determine its molecular weight. All will be
monoprotic. Add one drop of phenolphthalein indicator and titrate to a light pink endpoint.
Report and show the calculation of uncertainty in the final mean value using sample standard
deviation.

Hint: All molecular weights will be between 100 and 175 g/mol. Please include a calculation in
your prework for the minimum and maximum approximate volumes of NaOH required.

Materials:

Pre-prepared samples of unknown carboxylic acid, ~0.2 g each dissolved in ~50 mL ethanol or
ethanol/water (enough for 3 trials) (Note: the exact mass used is listed on the label)
Standardized ~0.1 M NaOH (exact molarity will be provided)
Phenolphthalein indicator
25 mL buret clamped to lattice or ring stand
Stir plate and spin bar

Waste Procedures:

-Please rinse the spin bar when you are finished and leave it at the station for the next student
-All neutralized solutions may go down the drain
-Excess NaOH in the buret can be left for the next user; any other excess should be collected in
an appropriate waste container.
______________________________________________________________________________
Station Procedure:
Observations, Data, Calculations, and/or Notes:
Observations, Data, Calculations, and/or Notes, continued:

Results:

Unknown ID:

What is the average molecular weight of your carboxylic acid?

What is the overall experimental uncertainty in your answer?

This page left blank so different stations aren’t on the same page
Station E (Organic Lab, Evaluator = Melody David)

Prompt:

Given previously taken NMR and IR spectra, as well as the molecular formula, determine the
structure of an unknown organic molecule. (It’s possible more than one answer could be
considered correct and receive full credit.) Organize data and observations and spectral analysis
in the following guide. Additional interpretation can be written on the spectra themselves.
At the end of the time limit for this station, draw a structure in the box provided to be initialed.
Later, you may take time to refine your guess.

Materials and Other Instructions:

-All necessary spectra will be provided.

-If you get stuck, you may request a list of molecules to choose from for a deduction of 2 points.
-For maximum credit, you must correctly identify your unknown substance within the time limit
of the lab practical WITHOUT aid of any external resources that you have not already included
in your prework.
-Any additional print or electronic resources, but not other people, may be consulted after the
provided time period for partial credit.
-Hint: Long-range coupling may be observed in some cases, particularly in molecules with
aromatic rings.

Unknown #: Molecular Formula:

Data Tables:

Infrared Spectroscopy
Peaks and major functional groups present Peaks and major functional groups absent
Shift (cm-1) Functional group Shift (cm-1) Functional group
 13C NMR Analysis
Chemical Shift Substructure

1H NMR Analysis
Chemical Shift Integration Multiplicity Substructure

Structural Determination

Structure determined during Lab Practical Optional: Final structure determined.

Evaluator’s initials: _________________

Station F (Organic Lab, Evaluator = Dr. Umesiri)

Prompt:

You will be provided with a mixture of the two substances shown below in ether. Using any
combination of acid/base chemistry and basic solubility properties, separate these two
substances. Note that azobenzene is highly colored and benzoic acid is colorless. For this task to
be successful, you must be able to isolate benzoic acid as a white solid.

Hint: You may wish to look up pKa values ahead of time.

Materials:

A separatory funnel
Additional ether
Two strengths of HCl and NaOH aqueous solutions (1 M and 4M (NaOH) or 6 M (HCl))
Graduated cylinders for measuring acid/base (pay attention to labels)
pH paper
Stirring rods, pipettes, Erlenmeyer flasks
Buchner funnel, filter flask, and filter paper

Sample Submission and Waste Procedures:

-Please submit your isolated benzoic acid in a vial labeled with your name (you do not need to
weigh it; it will be wet!)
-Azobenzene waste (orange colored) should be collected in the labeled waste bottle in the
dispensing hood.
-Colorless filtrate in the filter flask should be collected in a separate labeled container.
-Please rinse all shared glassware (separatory funnel, Buchner funnel, filter flask) with DI water
or acetone, as appropriate (acetone should not go down the drain)
-Used Erlenmeyer flasks, stirring rods, and pipettes may be collected in the bins near the hoods

______________________________________________________________________________
Station Procedure:

Decision Flow Chart (required as part of prework):

Observations, Data, Calculations, and/or Notes:

Results

Describe your final product.