Lab 5B:Composition of a Copper Sulfate Hydrate Lab

Before heating

After heating

Calculations for Questions #1-#4

Possible explanations for percent error include the false reading of the scale while it was fluctuating or not waiting long enough for all the H2O to evaporate.

Question #5
Moles of water evaporated- 0.014 mol H2O
Moles of CuSO4- 0.0032 mol CuSO4
Ratio of moles of CuSO4 to H2O- 1:4
Empirical formula- 1CuSO4 is loosely bonded to (dot symbol) 4H2O
We predict our predicted coefficients are slightly low compared to the actual value, even though our percent error isn't high.  To have a percentage of water closer to 36%, more water needed to be lost and therefore the ratio of Copper Sulfate to water would increase.