EXPERIMENT 4 :

THE PROPERTIES OF IONIC

AND COVALENT COMPOUNDS
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Objective :
To differentiate properties of ionic and covalent compounds based on the melting point,
volatility and solubility.

Introduction :
An ionic compound is a chemical compound in which ions are held together in a
lattice structure by ionic bonds. Usually, the positively charged portion consists of
metal cations and the negatively charged portion is an anion or polyatomic ion. Ions in
ionic compounds are held together by the electrostatic forces between oppositely charged
bodies. Ionic compounds have high melting and boiling points, and they are hard and very
brittle.
A covalent compound is a compound in which the atoms that are bonded share
electrons rather than transfer electrons from one to the other. While ionic compounds are
usually formed when metals bond to nonmetals, covalent compounds are formed when two
non-metals bond to each other.

Apparatus and materials :

1. Sodium chloride crystals
2. Sodium chloride solution (5M)
3. Benzene
4. Distilled water
5. Naphthalene powder
6. Naphthalene solution (5%)
7. Crucible
8. Spatula
9. Bunsen burner
10. Wire gauze
11. Test tubes ( 4 per group)
12. Tripod stand
13. Glass rod
14. Evaporating dish

Results :

Sodium chloride

Naphthalene

Melting point

Solubility

White solid turns brown

solid when heated gently.
The sodium chloride
produce pop sound and
the brown solid become
dark brown when heated
strongly

React with water the

sodium chloride
dissolve completely in
water.

Melts completely around

1minute when heated

Volatility

Does not evaporates

and it has low
volatility

React with benzene

insoluble
React with water
does not dissolve in
water and the
suspended
naphthalene floated

Evaporates quickly
and it has high
volatility.

React with benzene

dissolve completely

Discussion :
In this experiment, we asked to conduct an experiment to observe the melting
point, solubility and volatility of sodium chloride and naphthalene which is ionic and
covalent compounds.

In the experiment for melting point,a spatula of sodium chloride crystals are placed
in a crucible and heated strongly.The changes in physical state are recorded.The
experiment for testing solubility of sodium chloride is carried out by putting sodium
chloride crystals in two different test tubes which one containing 5 ml of benzene and the
other one containing 5 ml of water respectively.Then,both test tubes are stirred with a
glass rod and all observation are noted.The experiment part for solubility and melting
point are repeated for naphthalene.The experiment for obtaining the volatility of ionic and
covalent compound are conducted by placing 2 drops of sodium chloride on an evaporating

dish while 2 drops of naphthalene is placed on another evaporating dish.The resuls are
observed after 10 minutes.

The melting point of sodium chloride is higher than naphthalene is due to a stronger
electrostatic force acted on oppositely-charged chloride ion and sodium ion present in
sodium chloride.So,a lot of heat is required to overcome this force of attraction resulting
in high melting point.While,naphthalene has lower melting point because it only needs a
small amount of heat to break the weak van der waals force.

Sodium chloride is soluble in water instead of benzene because water is a polar

molecule.Hence,The positive sodium ions and negative chloride ions will move to negative
and positive region of water respectively.This will break apart the sodium and chloride ions
in their crystal lattice structure causing sodium chloride crystals to dissolve in water.While
naphthalene dissolves in benzene because it tends to dissolve in non-polar solvent.

Naphthalene has higher volatility than sodium chloride solution because it has high
volatile pressure.Thus,it will vapourise in a shorter time.While Sodium chloride solution
has low volatile pressure which indicates longer time to vapourise than naphthalene.

Precaution steps must be taken to obtain an accurate result and avoid accident and
injury.First,wear a lab coat before starting the experiment.Then,wipe the crucibles,test
tubes and evaporating dish dry.Moreover,ensure eyes are perpendicular to the scale of
measuring cylinder to avoid parallax error.In addition,do not inhale naphthalene directly
and deeply during the heating of naphthalene.

Conclusion :
In conclusion, the sodium chloride which is ionic compound has higher
intermolecular forces than covalent compound which is naphthalene that has lower
intermolecular forces. This factor affect the melting point, solubility and volatility of the
ionic and covalent compound.

Questions :
1. Give two examples of ionic compounds and covalent compounds other than
those used in this experiment.
The other two examples of ionic compouds are lead (II) bromide and zinc nitrate.
While the other examples of covalent compounds are methanol and ethanol.

2. Explain your results on melting point of ionic compound and covalent compound
as found in this experiment.
In this experiment, sodium chloride is one of example of ionic compound used in
this experiment. It has strong electrostatic forces between the ions. So, a lot of of
energy are needed to overcome the forces and this causes the melting point of the
sodium chloride which is ionic compound high. Besides, naphthalene is one of the
examples of the covalent compound. It has a weaker Van Der Waals forces between
the molecule. So less energy needed to overcome the forces and this causes the
melting point of the covalent compound is low.
3. Why does naphthalene dissolve in organic solvents such as alcohol and ether,
but does not dissolve in water?
Naphthalene is a non-polar substance and only soluble in non-polar solvent such as
alcohol and ether.

References :
1.

Laboratory manual

2.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionic_compound

3.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_covalent_compound_and_its_examples

4.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatility_(chemistry)

5.

www.chemtopic.com