Chem HL TN For WWW

s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
S.T.A.R. 2007 This page may only be legally copied under the conditions of sale to the purchasing school.
Chemistry HL Investigations - TEACHING NOTES 94
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
CHEMISTRY INVESTIGATIONS
(For use with the I B Diploma programme)
THIRD EDITION
Volume 2 (relevant to the HL topics)
TEACHING NOTES
Author: Dr John Green
Series editor: David Greig
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
Information for teachers
The process of skill assessment can be onerous. To make your work as simple and easy as possible, we have
devised an Assessment Table which shows the relevant criteria with space for you to record the level achieved in
that Investigation. This is also included in the Student Portfolio together with some advice for students. In each
Investigation there is also provision for you to record the level awarded (completely, partially or not at all) for each
aspect of the criterion. This also alerts students to what is being assessed in that Investigation, though of course this is
advice only and in no way prescriptive. Teachers may wish to use the Investigations to assess other skills or may wish
to keep a record of progress in other ways.
We know that many schools have sensors (for measuring pH pressure, temperature etc.) that can be linked to data
logging software and if this technology is available then they are ideal for many of the Investigations, especially
those where a continuous record of data is record is required. Some graphic display calculators can also be linked to
sensors for data logging purposes (for example see http://education.ti.com/educationportal/sites/US/nonProductSingle/
chemistry.html). Data which is collected in this way can be downloaded into computers running spreadsheets such as
MS Excel. This software enables detailed analysis and display of data in graphical form which may also be imported
into word processing packages such as MS Word that many students will use to present their laboratory reports. We
encourage schools and student to use these tools to work in this way and would be pleased to pass on any advice you
have for others.
Teaching Notes
In the pages that follow there are a collection of notes for the information of Heads of Department, Teachers and/or
Laboratory Managers that will help in getting each practical to run smoothly. We realize that Health and Safety
regulations vary from country to country and we strongly suggest that local regulations be checked and observed at all
times. Although these Investigations and Teaching Notes have been prepared in good faith, absolutely no responsibility
whatsoever will be accepted by the writer, editor or publisher for the safe and legal conduct of these activities.
They have been prepared in such a way that a teacher can photocopy them and complete the top section as an easy way
to order materials as required.
Disclaimer
Please note that although every care has been taken in preparing and trialling these activities, absolutely no
responsibility whatsoever can be accepted for any damage or accident which may occur for whatever reason during
the conduct of any of these activities. Author and Editor
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
Foreword
This collection of Investigations is part of a series which has been written specically to support the teaching of the
practical component of current International Baccalaureate Science courses (IBO). These Investigations have been
written by experienced IB teachers with very close reference to syllabuses and assessment guidelines which are current
at the time of writing. It is vital that teachers consult syllabuses and assessment guidelines which are current at the
time they use this material because these documents are subject to continual review and modication. These Photocopy
Masters and accompanying Teaching Notes may be used by anyone in the purchasing school but may not be passed
on to another school. Additional collections of Investigations are currently being developed. The Investigations in
this volume will t comfortably into a Practical Scheme of Work as required (see below), but they are not intended to
be exclusive or exhaustive. A table is provided showing the relevant topics and suggested assessment focus for each
Investigation. Each practical activity includes an Assessment table which is provided to assist teachers to record the
level achieved with each Aspect using the scale of 0-2.
This collection of Investigations does not in any way form a proscribed Practical Scheme of Work, nor are all the
experiments in the format given necessarily suitable as IA sample material. They are meant primarily to give teachers
ideas of the sort of experimental work that is suitable for a PSOW and to assist teachers in designing their own PSOW.
In order to help teachers choose appropriate IA samples, the Teaching Notes accompanying a particular experiment
sometimes describe why this particular experiment could be considered suitable as an IA sample. Sample work
submitted for IA moderation should follow the spirit of the IB Internal Assessment guidelines. If Data Collection
and Processing is being assessed, then students must design and draw up their own data tables, decide the best way to
analyse the data of a particular experiment. Similarly if Conclusion & Evaluation is being assessed, students should
make their own unprompted evaluation of an experiment, as well as evaluating weaknesses in the method and ways in
which it could be improved. It is hoped that this set of Investigations will help students achieve this.
If, for example, a laboratory report is submitted in which the data table has been given to the student (including units
and uncertainties) then this cannot score any marks in respect of the I Aspect. Similarly, if the student has been told
what variables to plot on a graph and how to calculate the value of a quantity from the gradient, then this would be
inappropriate for assessment of the Data Processing Aspect. Again, if the student has been told on a worksheet to
consider and comment on particular steps in the method, then this would not be suitable to use for assessment of the
Evaluation Aspect.
It goes without saying that an experiment that is to be used to assess the Design criterion cannot be one that has been
gives the student specic instructions about what to investigate it and the way in which this should be carried out.
Perforce, Planning A and Planning B experiments must be open-ended in nature.
The author has trialled all of these activities and has suggested various safety precautions but will not accept any
responsibility whatsoever for any accident that may arise during the conduct of these Investigations. We will however
be pleased to receive any suggestions and comments from staff or students using this material.
Please refer to www.ibid.com.au for current information about other publications.
Dr John Green (Author) David Greig (Editor) Hong Kong 2008
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 1 - THE CHEMISTRY OF SOME TRANSITION METALS
Day/Date of lesson ________________ Period _______ Room ____
Teacher _____________________ No. of students/groups ________
Apparatus required
Per student:
6 x test tube
2 x boiling tube
small beaker (~100 cm
3
)
splints
Chemicals required
About 10 cm
3
per student of aqueous solutions of the following. Te concentration is not vital, from 1 mol
dm
-3
to 0.1 mol dm
-3
will do unless stated otherwise:
Chromium(III) sulfate
Potassium chromate (VI)
Hydrogen peroxide
Manganese(II) sulfate
Potassium manganate(VII) [0.01 mol dm
-3
]
Iron(II) ammonium sulfate
Iron(III) chloride
Potassium thiocyanate
Potassium iodide
Cobalt(II) chloride
Nickel(II) sulfate
Copper(II) sulfate
Sodium thiosulfate [0.2 mol dm
-3
]
Supplies of the following normal laboratory reagents (~50 cm
3
per student)
Aqueous sodium hydroxide [2 mol dm
-3
]
Aqueous ammonia [2 mol dm
-3
]
Dilute sulfuric acid [1 mol dm
-3
]
Concentrated hydrochloric acid
The following substances
Solid manganese(IV) oxide (~2 g per group)
Solid glucose (~2 g per group)

s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
There are many parts to this Investigation and perhaps short comments on some of these
are appropriate:
1 (a) Owing to the acidic nature of the solution, quite a large volume of aqueous alkali may be required to
produce a permanent precipitate.
(b) Te bubbles that are usually also observed are of course due to the thermal decomposition of the peroxide
rather than being anything to do with the oxidation of the chromium.
2 (a) Te initial pale buf precipitate should darken as oxygen from the air oxidises Mn(II) to Mn(III) the basis
of Winklers method for determining the concentration of dissolved oxygen.
(b) Strictly speaking to prove that the role of MnO
2
is catalytic, it should be weighed before and afer the
reaction to show its mass remains constant.
(c) Te colour change should vary with the pH:
pH Equation Initially Finally
Acidic MnO
4
-
+ 8 H
+
+ 5 e
-
Mn
2+
+ 4 H
2
O Purple Colourless
Neutral MnO
4
-
+ 4 H
+
+ 3 e
-
MnO
2
+ 2 H
2
O Purple Brown ppt
Alkaline MnO
4
-
+ e
-
MnO
4
2-
Purple Green
3 (a) It should slowly turn brown as oxygen from the air oxidises Fe(II) to Fe(III) this is much faster in alkaline
solution than in acidic solution.
(c) Usually a faint reddish coloration appears owing to the presence of Fe(III) impurity in the Fe(II).
4. It actually takes quite a large excess of conc. HCl to get the solution to go a true blue colour.
5 (a) Te colour of NiCl
4
2-
is not that diferent to the hexaaqua ion a direct comparison of the two may be
required.
(b) Whether a pale green precipitate of the hydroxide is seen depends on the concentrations of the solutions.
6 (a) To obtain the true yellow colour quoted in the text books it may be necessary to resort to reverse addition,
i.e. adding a little of the aqueous copper salt to an excess of conc. HCl.
(b) Sometimes it is a bit tricky getting this to work well, I suspect owing to the low concentration of the alkali.
Putting a pellet of solid NaOH into the boiling tube before heating it can ofen rescue the situation.
(c) Probably worth mentioning the volumetric use of this reaction to determine the concentration of
copper(II) ions.
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 2 - TRANSITION METALS INVESTIGATION
As with any student designed practical, it is dif cult to produce a precise list of equipment and reagents, and with
the broad scope of this Investigation predicting these is even more dif cult.
Tis is a good design practical giving a very broad scope for students to plan an Investigation. With some
students this may be too broad and they may beneft from having the range narrowed a little, by for example
specifying a metal (such as Investigating a reaction involving iron) or a particular type of reaction (such as
Investigating the rate of a reaction involving a transition metal) without making it so prescriptive as to make
an assessment of Design invalid.
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 3 - PREDICTING ENTHALPY CHANGES
As with any student designed practical, it is dif cult to produce a precise list of requirements, but below is the
list of materials that the students are likely to request.
Apparatus required
Polystyrene cups with lids
Termometers
Weighing bottles
Beakers (various sizes)
Conical fasks (various sizes)
Measuring cylinders (various sizes)
Volumetric fasks (various sizes)
Pipettes (various sizes)
Test tubes
Boiling tubes
Balances
Chemicals required
Again it is difcult to predict, but experience shows that the following are likely to be requested:
Dilute sulfuric/hydrochloric/nitric/ethanoic acids
Aqueous ammonia
Aqueous sodium hydroxide
Aqueous potassium manganate(VII)
Aqueous hydrogen peroxide
Various metal carbonates and hydrogencarbonates
Zinc powder
Magnesium ribbon
Tis is a good design practical and the choice of reaction is always interesting to note. Students rarely realise
that the loss of a gas can be a major source of heat loss, but the shortage of enthalpy data for ionic species in
solution can ofen limit alternatives. It is perhaps worth having students calculate the loss in accuracy that
comes from using a pipette as opposed to a measuring cylinder and comparing this to the uncertainty in the
temperature rise (not to mention heat loss to the surroundings!).
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 4 - DETERMINING ENTROPY CHANGES
Apparatus required
Per group
Termometer (as accurate as possible, max temp. <50
o
C)
100 cm
3
measuring cylinder
100 cm
3
conical fask
20 cm
3
pipette and fller
50 cm
3
burette with flling funnel and white tile
Polystyrene cup (~250 cm
3
capacity)
Steam generator (fask with a delivery tube and preferably a safety tube to guard against pressure build up)
Generally available
Balance capable of weighing to at least 0.01 g
Chemicals required
Solid calcium hydroxide (~5 g per group)
Aqueous 0.1 M hydrochloric acid (~150 cm
3
per group)
Bromothymol blue indicator
Te determination based on the latent heat of steam gives surprisingly good results, slightly dependent on how
long and how well lagged the tube of the steam generator is.
Te second part looks at an endothermic solubility equilibrium. Strictly speaking the equation
G = -R.T.lnK
only applies for K
p
, but well gloss over that!
Te fnal part is quite complicated employing Hess Law to fnd an enthalpy change and then using it to calculate
a minimum value for S given the limitations on the value of G for a spontaneous reaction.
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 5 - DETERMINING THE RATE EXPRESSION FOR A REACTION
Apparatus required
Per group
2 x 100/150 cm
3
conical fask
2 x boiling tube
Stopwatch
Termometer

Generally available:
6 x burettes for reagents
Chemicals required
About 50 cm
3
per group of:
1 mol dm
-3
hydrogen peroxide
0.1 mol dm
-3
sulfuric acid
0.01 mol dm
-3
aqueous potassium iodide
0.01 mol dm
-3
aqueous sodium thiosulfate
Fresh starch solution (~1%)
Tis is a fairly standard clock reaction adapted to allow students to elucidate a rate expression. Te reaction
gives fairly good frst order kinetics in iodide and peroxide. In the case of the hydrogen ion it is slightly more
complex. Tere appears to be a dependence on [H
+
], but not a simple frst order dependency. Probably there
are two pathways, one acid catalysed the other not. At least it provides something more interesting for the
students to discuss.
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 6 - MEASURING THE ACTIVATION ENERGY FOR A REACTION
Apparatus required
Termometers
Beakers (various sizes)
Test tubes
Boiling tubes
Water baths at various temperatures (you may wish to fx these for all the groups)
Refrigerator
Stop watches
Chemicals required
Te students decide on suitable concentrations for the reagents, so quite large stocks of rather concentrated
solutions is all that is required:
Dilute hydrochloric acid (2 M)
Aqueous sodium thiosulfate (~1 M)
I fnd it is best to allow students a short laboratory session to decide on suitable concentrations and then to hold
the main laboratory session afer giving them time to convert these preliminary fndings into a viable method.
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 7 - SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF VAPOUR PRESSURE
Apparatus required
Per group
Data logger with pressure sensor linked to ft on to fasks
5 small Buchner fasks (or multi-neck Quickft fasks)
1 large Buchner fask(or multi-neck Quickft fasks)
2 x 5 cm
3
syringe with long tube attached
Water bath at ~40
o
C
Chemicals required
Propanone (~10 cm
3
)
Propan-2-ol (~10 cm
3
)
Tis introduces students to the concept of vapour pressure and some of the factors that do, and perhaps more
importantly do not, afect it. It is quite a fne balance choosing the correct temperature so as to get a reasonable
vapour pressure that builds up at a fast enough rate. It is useful to discuss both the rate at which the vapour
pressure increases as well as the fnal saturated vapour pressure. Te fnal section gives students an opportunity
to plan a more detailed quantitative Investigation.
INVESTIGATION 8 - A FURTHER INVESTIGATION INTO VAPOUR PRESSURE
Apparatus required
Tis provides an extension of Investigation 7. Students may choose to vary some variable such as temperature
or the chain length of the alcohol but, maybe more interestingly, they will look at the vapour pressures of
mixtures, so encountering Raoults Law and maybe deviations from it.
Students will order their own reagents and equipment, but the latter is likely to be similar to that required for
Investigation 7.
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 9 - MEASURING THE FORMATION CONSTANT OF A COMPLEX ION
Apparatus required
Per group
5 test tubes
Colorimeter/spectrophotometer
Supply of cuvettes
To be shared
3 x burette (for the solutions below)

Chemicals required
0.001 M iron(III) nitrate (~50 cm
3
per group)
0.1 M potassium thiocyanate (~50 cm
3
per group)
0.01 M potassium thiocyanate (~30 cm
3
per group)
(NB these need to be very clearly labelled)
Tis introduces students to the spectrophotometer/colorimeter as well as the idea of a calibration graph.
Unfortunately the Investigation does not yield good results, even with good students. Tis is because other complex
ions, such as [Fe(SCN)
2
(H
2
O)
4
]
+
, are formed see how many students come up with this explanation.
Maybe following up on this, could be an Extended Essay opportunity?
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 10 - INVESTIGATING THE EQUILIBRIUM CONSTANT FOR ESTER
FORMATION
As with any student designed practical it is dif cult to be precise about the exact requirements, but the following
are probable.
Apparatus required
Per group
Boiling tube with rubber bung (5)
Pipette fller
Burette
Chemicals required:
About 200 cm3 per student of
Ethanol (clear methylated spirits)
Ethanoic acid (glacial acetic acid)
Ethyl ethanoate (ethyl acetate)
1 mol dm
-3
aqueous sodium hydroxide
About 10 cm3 per student of
Concentrated hydrochloric acid
Phenolphthalein indicator
About 500 cm
3
per student of
Propanone (acetone)
Tis generally works well and if the students choose to try and evaluate the equilibrium constant under diferent
conditions it gives quite good results. Alternatively it gives plenty of scope to investigate Le Chateliers principle.
Te main problem is the time it takes and the fact that it can consume quite large quantities of expensive organic
chemicals. To work well the mixtures of reagents really need to be lef for 2-3 days for equilibrium to establish
before doing the titration. Some students may require a little assistance in how to use their titration results to
calculate a value for K
c
.
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 11 - PH CHANGES DURING TITRATIONS
Apparatus required
Per group
Burette, stand & clamp
20 cm
3
pipette & fller
Small funnel
250 cm
3
conical fask
White tile
pH meter
Chemicals required
Per group
~250 cm
3
of 0.1 mol dm
-3
solutions of:
Sodium hydroxide (freshly made)
Ammonia
Ethanoic acid
Hydrochloric acid
Methyl orange indicator
In this quite standard practical, rather than just getting students to plot pH against titre I have them plot all of
the curves relative to the respective equivalence points. Tis avoids the problem of solutions (especially NH
3
)
not being quite the correct concentration, as well as allowing students to display judgement in determining the
equivalence point. Te question about pH at the equivalence point is perhaps best answered by considering
the nature of the salt formed. Tough less familiar than the half-neutralisation point, a moments thought will
show that in the ammonia titrations the double neutralisation point should give K
a
for the ammonium ion.
Te requirement for fresh NaOH is that the presence of signifcant amounts of carbonate/hydrogencarbonate
leads to observable bufering around the pH 8 region, spoiling the classic shapes of the curves.
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 12 - SOME MEASUREMENTS ON WEAK ACIDS AND BASES
Apparatus required
Per group
Test tubes with rubber bungs (x6) Boiling tubes with rubber bung (x5)
Pipette (20 cm
3
) Burette
Conical fask (250 cm
3
) Pipette fller
Generally available
As many pH meters as possible
Wide and narrow range pH papers
Chemicals required
About 20 cm
3
per group of
Aqueous ammonium sulfate (~1 mol dm
-3
)
Aqueous sodium ethanoate (~1 mol dm
-3
)
0.05 mol dm
-3
aqueous ammonia
0.002 mol dm
-3
ethanoic acid
2 mol dm
-3
hydrochloric acid
2 mol dm
-3
About 50 cm
3
per group of
Methanoic acid (about 0.1 mol dm
-3
, but do not give concentration)
0.025 mol/dm
-3
sodium dihydrogenphosphate
About 100 cm
3
per group of
0.25 mol dm
-3
sodium dihydrogenphosphate (also label For Part 4)
About 150 cm
3
per group of
0.25 mol dm
-3
disodium hydrogenphosphate
0.1 mol dm
-3
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 12 (CONT.)
In part 4) I hope that students will decide to fnd K
a
by plotting [H
+
] against the ratio of salt concentrations as
I feel this gives a far better feel for the reliability of the various results compared to just averaging the fve K
a

values obtained. In the overall evaluation I think it is important that students realise that all of the methods
share the inherent weakness that they rely on pH measurements, which being logarithmic produces a large
uncertainty, especially as most school pH meters cannot be relied on to more than one decimal place. Another
thing they should consider is to what extent an uncertainty in making up the solution is likely to lead to a
signifcant change in the pH, in other words are readings being taken in a bufering region.
INVESTIGATION 13 - INVESTIGATING BUFFER SOLUTIONS
are probable.
Apparatus required
Per group
Burettes
Pipettes
Measuring cylinders
Volumetric fasks
Conical fasks
Beakers
Weighing bottles
Generally available
pH meters
Balances
Chemicals required:
1 mol dm
-3
aqueous solutions of both strong and weak common acids & bases (students can then dilute these
down to give the concentrations they require)
Solid salts of both weak acids (sodium ethanoate) and weak bases (ammonium chloride)
Solutions of common indicators
Students have a lot of scope in this Investigation. Determining bufering capacity is ofen something they
wish to test, but it is important for them to have a clear idea of what they mean by this.
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 14 - DETERMINING THE PK
A
OF AN INDICATOR BY COLORIMETRY
Apparatus required
Per group
~15 test tubes
5 cm
3
measuring cylinder
Colorimeter/spectrophotometer
Supply of cuvettes
To be shared
2 x burette (for the buffer solutions below)

Chemicals required
0.1 M hydrochloric acid (~5 cm
3
per group)
0.1 M aqueous sodium hydroxide (~5 cm
3
per group)
0.04% aqueous bromocresol purple indicator (~5 cm
3
per group)
pH 7 bufer (~25 cm
3
per group, placed in a shared burette)
pH 4 bufer (~25 cm
3
per group, placed in a shared burette)
(NB these buffers need to be of the same concentration)
Apart from the fact that the colours are gorgeous, it is also a great Investigation! Te colorimeter gives good
results with an indigo flter (
max
430 nm) and a yellow flter (
max
580 nm), similarly with a spectrophotometer
at similar wavelengths. Mixing the bufers gives a range of pH values, but not enough in the pH 5-6 region,
which gives the students an issue they ought to refer to in their evaluation.
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 15 - DETERMINING THE MOLAR MASS OF AN IRON(II) SALT
Apparatus required
Per group
Burette
Small funnel
25 cm
3
pipette
Pipette fller
100 cm
3
volumetric fask
Weighing bottle
250 cm
3
conical fask
100 cm
3
conical fask
Generally available
Top pan balance reading to 0.01 g
Chemicals required:
Standardised 0.1 mol dm
-3
aqueous sodium thiosulfate (~200 cm
3
per group)
Approximately 0.02 mol dm
-3
aqueous potassium manganate(VII) (~300 cm
3
per group)
1 mol dm
-3
sulfuric acid (~200 cm
3
per group)
Solid potassium iodide (~5 g per group)
Solid iron(II) ammonium sulfate (~5 g per group), labelled Iron(II) salt
Freshly prepared starch indicator (~10 cm
3
per group)
Tough redox titrations are perhaps not overtly in the syllabus, including this in the AHL redox part of the
syllabus afords an excellent opportunity to revise both half equations and students titration technique. Te
results should be good and hence aford an excellent opportunity to assess Manipulative Skills.
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 16 - UNDERSTANDING ELECTRODE POTENTIALS
Apparatus required
Per group
8 x 50 cm
3
beakers
4 x test tubes
25 cm
3
measuring cylinder
50 cm
3
measuring cylinder
Carbon electrode
Filter paper
Filter paper strips for salt bridges
High resistance voltmeter/multimeter
Generally available
Filter paper Crocodile clips Wire Scissors Sandpaper
Chemicals required
Metal strips - magnesium, zinc, copper, lead (~1 cm x 3 cm)
~50 cm
3
per group of each of the following:
Aqueous magnesium sulfate (~0.1 mol dm
-3
)
Aqueous zinc sulfate (~0.1 mol dm
-3
)
Aqueous copper sulfate (~0.1 mol dm
-3
)
Aqueous lead nitrate (~0.1 mol dm
-3
)
Aqueous sodium bromide (~0.1 mol dm
-3
)
Saturated aqueous potassium nitrate
Saturated aqueous lead chloride
Aqueous 0.1 mol dm
-3
iron(II) ammonium sulfate (freshly made)
Aqueous 0.1 mol dm
-3
iron(III) chloride
Dilute sulfuric acid
0.1 mol dm
-3
iodine in aqueous potassium iodide
Aqueous 0.1 mol dm
-3
potassium iodide
Hydrogen peroxide (~10 volume)
Te set up in part A is not the traditional one with separate beakers and salt bridges, (which can be substituted
if preferred), but I fnd this is a rapid way to measure a number of cell potentials quite quickly. (continued next
page)
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
Te solutions are not the 1 mol dm
-3
ones that should be used for standard conditions, but (especially as all
the ions are of the same charge) I do not believe that this can explain the tremendous discrepancies with
literature values, particularly for magnesium, that the results usually show. (If anybody has any suggestions
(oxide layers?) I would like to hear from them.) In Part C the wording of the analysis is deliberately vague, in
the hope that students will discover for themselves that they really need to plot log[concentration] to produce a
useful calibration graph for the range of concentrations used. In Part D students should come to the conclusion
that H
2
O
2
(in the presence of acid) should oxidise I
-
to I
2
and then fnd a way of testing it.
INVESTIGATION 17 - INVESTIGATING ELECTRODE POTENTIALS
Apparatus required
are probable.
Per group
Beakers
Filter paper strips for salt bridges
Carbon electrodes
High resistance voltmeter/multimeter
Sandpaper
Chemicals required
Metal strip electrodes (magnesium, zinc, copper, lead, iron etc.)
Aqueous solutions of salts of these metals (~0.1 mol dm
-3
)
Saturated aqueous potassium nitrate
Tis Investigation gives the students a great deal of scope to investigate how changing a particular variable afects
electrode potentials. Tey can either looks at a series of voltaic cells and then try to correlate the potentials
obtained with other parameters (ionisation energy, ionic radius, hydration enthalpy, charge on ion etc.) or they
can investigate the efect of a variable (temperature, concentration, solvent etc.) on one particular voltaic cell.
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 18 A QUANTITATIVE INVESTIGATION INTO ELECTROLYSIS
Apparatus required
Power packs
Wires & crocodile clips
Electrode holders
Multimeters
Water baths
Gas syringes
Balances
Sandpaper
Chemicals required
Carbon electrodes
Dilute sulfuric/hydrochloric/nitric/ethanoic acids
Copper electrodes
Aqueous copper sulfate/chloride/nitrate
Zinc electrodes
Aqueous zinc sulfate/chloride/nitrate
Lead electrodes
Aqueous lead nitrate
Magnesium ribbon
Aqueous magnesium sulfate/chloride/nitrate
Iron nails
Aqueous iron(II) sulfate and iron(III) chloride
Aqueous ammonia
Aqueous sodium/potassium/calcium hydroxides
Students have met the basic ideas of electrolysis fairly early in the course (for example in Investigation 23 of
the Core Portfolio), being a concept that students generally fnd straightforward. I tend however, to leave this
Investigation until very near the end, when they have had some practice at meeting the Design criterion. Tis
then is one of my main investigations for fnal assessment purposes. It probably makes for a far more interesting
and varied Investigation if you veto time and current as independent variables.
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 19 CARBOXYLIC ACIDS, AMINES AND RELATED COMPOUNDS
Apparatus required
Per group
6 x test tubes
2 x boiling tubes
Boiling tube ftted with a delivery tube to collect gas over water
250 cm
3
beaker
Termometer (0 - 110
o
C)
Quickft apparatus for refux and distillation
Generally available
Glass wool (plus plastic gloves to handle it with)
Universal indicator and colour chart
Narrow range indicator paper (pH 4 - 6)
Chemicals required:
Ethanol
Ethanoic acid (glacial)
Ethyl ethanoate (ethyl acetate)
Ethylamine (aqueous solution)
Ethanamide (acetamide)
Marble chips
1 mol dm
-3
ethanoic acid
1 mol dm
-3
hydrochloric acid
Magnesium ribbon
Concentrated sulfuric acid
Solid sodium hydrogen carbonate
Methanol
2-hydroxybenzoic acid (salicylic acid)
Ethanoyl chloride (acetyl chloride)
Solution of decanedioyl chloride (sebacoyl chloride) in 1.1.1-trichloroethane (1.5 cm
3
in 50 cm
3
)
Aqueous 1.6-diaminohexane (hexamethylene diamine) (2.2 g in 50 cm
3
)
Tis is a collection of reactions that the students should be aware of and, working on the principle that you are
more likely to remember something that you have done rather than just read about, I have put them all together
into one practical session. When making ethyl ethanoate I add the hydrogencarbonate to neutralise any excess
acid, so removing its smell and also the efervescence enhances the ester smell. My only defence of also making
methyl salicylate is I like the smell!
Acyl chlorides are very reactive chemicals so I strongly recommend doing parts 6) and 7) as teacher
demonstrations. Indeed in many parts of the world purchasing ethanoyl chloride and ethanoic anhydride is
very dif cult because of the importance of acetylation reactions in the manufacture of illegal drugs.
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 20 - SOME FACTORS AFFECTING THE REACTIONS OF
HALOGENOALKANES
Apparatus required
Per group
6 x test tube
2 x boiling tube
Bung with delivery tube to ft boiling tubes
Chemicals required
Ethanol
1-chlorobutane
2-chlorobutane (iso-butyl chloride)
2-chloro-2-methylpropane (tert-butyl chloride)
1-bromobutane
1-iodobutane
Aqueous sodium hydroxide (~1 mol dm
-3
)
Aqueous silver nitrate (~0.01 mol dm
-3
)
Dilute nitric acid
Bromine water
Potassium hydroxide pellets
Tis works well, illustrating the anticipated efects of halogen and hydrocarbon chain structure on the relative
rate of hydrolysis. In the case of the elimination reaction (CARE hot concentrated alkali is very corrosive) I
suspect it may be ethanol distilling over (and being oxidised by the bromine), rather than the formation of an
alkene that leads to the decolourising of the bromine water!
s
a
m
p
l
e

c
o
p
y

o
n
l
y
I
B

C
h
e
m
i
s
t
r
y

I
n
v
e
s
t
i
g
a
t
i
o
n
s

V
o
l
u
m
e

2

H
L
INVESTIGATION 21 AN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY INVESTIGATION
Apparatus required
As with any student designed practical, it is dif cult to produce a precise list of requirements and this is
particularly true with regard to an Investigation as broad as this, which I would leave until very near the end
of my Internal Assessment programme. It may be that you feel your students require a little more guidance,
without being so prescriptive as to invalidate the exercise from a Design perspective. Tis could involve a focus
like Factors afecting the yield from esterifcation reactions, or A study of the kinetics of the hydrolysis of
halogenoalkanes, or maybe Investigations on the optical activity of chiral compounds.

Chem HL TN For WWW

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chem HL TN For WWW

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

s

You might also like