H ACP Chemistry I

Lab Determination of the Thickness of Zinc Coating: An

Application of Density
Indiana State Standards: 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.7
Background:
Metals are frequently coated with a layer of zinc to prevent corrosion. This
process is called galvanization. Zinc reacts with hydrochloric acid to from
hydrogen gas and chloride ions. The gas can be detected by the bubbles of
hydrogen formed in the acid. The underlying metal is less active than the coating.
In this lab the difference in reactivity can be used to determine when the zinc
coating is removed from a piece of galvanized metal. The thickness of the zinc
coating can be determined from (1) the mass of the metal before and after acid
treatment and (2) the density of zinc. Several measurements will be taken during
this lab. As a result a consideration of significant figures, rounding, and units will
need to be made. Also the accuracy of your lab technique will be measured by
determining a percentage error.
Objective:
To measure the thickness of zinc coating on a piece of galvanized iron utilizing
significant figures and dimensional analysis.

Procedure:
1. Put on lab apron, safety goggles, and gloves.
2. Obtain a piece of galvanized metal from the supply counter.
3. Determine the mass of the metal to the nearest .01 g and record it in the data
table.
4. Determine the width and length of the metal piece to the nearest .01 cm.
Record the width and length in the data table.
5. Clean and dry a 250 ml beaker and put a label on it.
6. Place the metal piece in the beaker.
7. In the fume hood, use a graduated cylinder to pour 10 ml of 6M HCl into the
beaker containing the metal. Add additional HCl if metal is not completely covered.
8. Observe the gas bubbles. Return to your lab station. After about 10 minutes,
add enough distilled water to fill the beaker about 2/3 full of liquid. Remove the
metal with your crucible tongs and carefully pour the diluted acid down the drain.
Rinse the metal over the sink with a stream of additional distilled water.
9. Using paper towels, dry the metal piece and remass the metal to the nearest
.01 g. Record additional observations of the metal piece in your data table. Place
the used metal into the designated waste container. Clean out the beaker and put
away in the lab drawer.
Prelab Questions:
1. Review the material in your text concerning significant figures (p.46-50),
accuracy and precision (p.44-46), SI Base Units (p.34-35), and conversion factors
(p.40-41).
*Key Background Information:
Accuracy is the closeness of a measurement taken in the lab to its true value. For
example if a 500 g mass is placed on a balance and its mass is read as 499 g, the
error would be 1 g. In another measurement activity, a 2 g mass is placed on a
balance and its mass is read as 1 g. The error here is also 1 g. Clearly being off by
1 g in the second measurement situation is much worse than being off by 1 g in the
first measurement situation. In order to quantify the accuracy in an experiment,
one can calculate a percent error:
%Error = (observed value accepted value / accepted value) X 100 %
For the first situation the percent error would be as follows:
% Error = (499 g 500 g / 500 g) X 100% = -.2%
The negative sign indicates that the observed measurement was less than
accepted value. For the second situation the percent error would be as follows:
%Error = (1 g 2 g / 2 g) X 100% = -50%

Precision is the amount of agreement is a set of measurements taken in the same
manner. For example if would place the 500 g mass on the balance five different
times, you might expect the following data:
Massing #1 500.00 g
Massing #2 500.01 g
Massing #3 500.01 g
Massing #4 500.00 g
Massing #5 500.01 g
Here the values are very close together so one would say that the measurements
are very precise.

All measurements contain error. Even a length expressed to the billionth of a cm
round be a rounded off quantity. In order to correctly express the confidence in
a measurement, one must examine the number of significant figures in the
measurement. Significant figures include all the digits in a measurement known
with certainty plus the last digit that is estimated. For example in the
measurement 102.5 g, the 102 are known with certainty and the 5 is estimated
from rounding. This measurement therefore contains four significant figures or
sig figs. The confusion with sig figs often comes with zeros. For example the
measurement 100 g is equivalent in magnitude to the measurement 100.0 g. But the
second measurement is known to more significant figures. Review the rules for
determining significant figures in the chart on p.47 of the text. You will also want
to review the example problems and solutions found on p.47. Attention must be
given to the number of significant figures that an answer should be reported to.
Review p.48-49 of the text for information on rounding

This lab will require you to convert units in order to determine the number of
atoms thick the zinc coating is. Conversion factors are utilized to change on unit
into another. For example if one wanted to change 25 cm to m the set up would be
as follows:
25 cm X 1 m/100 cm = .25 m
The 1 m = 100 cm is the conversion factor. The 100 cm portion is put in the bottom
so that the cm cancels. Sometimes more than one conversion factor is needed to
solve a problem. For example lets convert 5.00 g of mercury to liters given that
the density of mercury is 13.6 g/ml. The setup would be as follows:
5.00 g X 1 ml/13.6 g X 1 L/1000 ml = .000367647 L
When performing a dimensional analysis problem, the answer is rounded so that it
has as many significant figures as the original given measurement. In this
situation, there are 3 sig figs in 5.00 g so the final answer would be reported as
.000368 g.

2. Determine how many significant figures are in the following measurements:
.4004 ml _________
6000 g ________
1.00030 km ________
400. mm _______
3. A handbook gives the density of calcium as 1.54 g/ml. Based on lab
measurements, what is the percentage error of a density calculation of 1.25 g/ml.
Show your work.

4. Calculate the sum of 6.078 g and .3329 g and round to the correct sig figs.

5. What is the product of .8102 and 3.44 and round to the correct sig figs.

6. Express the mass 5006 g in kg. Show work.



Data
*record your observations concerning the reaction occurring in the hood:

Mass and Dimensions of Metal
Item Value
Mass Before Treatment with HCl

Mass After Treatment with HCl

Length of Metal Piece


Width of Metal Piece



Calculations
1. Determine the area of the metal piece using data from the Data Table. Record
your result in the Calculation Table.
2. Determine the mass of the zinc coating by subtracting the mass of the metal
after treatment from the mass before treatment.
3. Zinc has a density of 7.13 g/cm
3
. Determine the volume of the zinc coatingusing
the mass of the zinc. Record the volume in the Calculation Table (hint: density =
mass/volume).
4. Determine the thickness of the zinc coating on one side of the metal from the
information you have obtained (hint: volume = area X thickness; remember the
metal piece is coated on both sides). Record this in the Calculation Table.
5. Assuming the radius of a zinc atom is 133 pm (see the metric prefix chart on
p.34-35 of the text if you are unfamiliar with picometers), determine how many
atoms thick the zinc coating is and record your result in the Calculation Table.


Calculations Table
Item Problem Set-Up Answer
Area of Metal Piece



Mass of Zinc Coating



Volume of Zinc Coating



Thickness of Coating on
One Side of the Metal


Number of Atoms Thick



*Be sure to show all work and round answers to the correct sig figs and provide
proper units
Post Lab Questions
1. Assuming the accepted thickness of zinc atoms on one side of the piece of metal
is .0013 cm, determine the percent error. Show work.

2. Determine the number of sig figs in the following measurements:
.00200 cm ________
1.0900 cm ________
3.007800 cm _______
3. If the diameter of a zinc atom is measured to be 2.7 X 10
-8
cm, divide the
thickness of the zinc coating per side of the galvanized metal (from your data
table) by the diameter of a single zinc atom to calculate the number of layers of
atoms in the zinc coating. Show work and round to the correct number of sig figs.

4. If all of the zinc were not removed from the metal during the procedure what
effect would that have on the mass of zinc coating? In addition, what effect
would there be on the calculated value for the volume of the zinc coating? You may
use sample calculations to support your justification.


5. If time permitted, we could have performed several trials to determine the
mass of the zinc coating on the metal. Suppose four trials were performed and the
data is as follows:
Trial # Mass of Zinc Coating
1 .20 g
2 .21 g
3 .21 g
4 .19 g

If the accepted value for the zinc coating was .23 g, discuss the quality of the
accuracy and precision of this set of data. Use your text to justify your answer.
Be sure to cite information used from the text.