ABSTRACT

This paper dealt with the different laboratory techniques in measurements and laboratory operations.
Laboratory operations composed of separation of mixtures of different substances thru precipitation,
filtration, decantation, and evaporation whilst laboratory techniques in measurements involved mass,
volume, density, and temperature. A Bunsen burner was utilized in order to determine the hottest and
coldest part of the flame. It was revealed that the hottest area (non-luminous blue flame) was located
above the Bunsen burners barrel and the coldest part (luminous yellow flame) was located at the outer
region of the flame. During the precipitation process, an insoluble white substance was formed called
Barrium Sulfate. In the filtration process, the filtrate passed thru the filter media while filtering out the
precipitate. Additionally, in decantation process, the precipitate was allowed to settle at the bottom of a
container; the precipitate did not completely settle as it needed longer time to do so. Furthermore,
during the evaporation phase, it was observed that after heating the filtrate for 30-45 minutes, salt
crystals were formed.

INTRODUCTION

Chemistry is a way of life. The simplest forms of chemistry can be found in our surroundings: the
earth where life is possible, the air we breathe in, the food we eat, the water we drink, and the plants
and animals that make our surroundings more interesting. Our role as human beings is to study and
understand each and every components and aspects of our daily lives and in the long run, formulate
different ideas and techniques in order to turn these into concrete actions.

In chemistry, there are two types of change in matter: physical change and chemical change.
Physical change is a change that occurs when an objects appearance or form changes but its substance
remains the same, while chemical change is a change that occurs when particles make up two or more
substances that are reorganized in order to form a new substance. An application of physical change can
be seen when an ice cube melts and subjected to a high temperature which later on will become water.
From solid form, it changes to liquid form. After some time, this water will boil and forms vapour in the
air. This process is called evaporation wherein a substance in liquid state changes into gaseous state.
Additionally, an application of chemical change is when baking a cake. When several ingredients like
flour, sugar, milk and eggs are combined, a cake batter is formed. The batter is placed in an oven for a
certain amount of time and it changed into a cake. As observed, it absorbed heat released from the
oven; its color changes from yellow to golden brown, and it smells incredible. Often, compared to
physical change, a chemical change cant be undone. This can be observed when the finished product
cake cant be turned back into flour, water, milk, and egg individually. Whilst in water, it can be placed in
a freezer to form ice cube.

The objectives of this experiment are to familiarize with the different laboratory operations
namely precipitation, filtration, decantation, and evaporation and to study the different laboratory
techniques in the measurement of mass, volume, density, and temperature using different apparatus.

This experiment is divided into seven parts namely: liquid density measurement, solid density
measurement (by geometric measurement and water displacement), heating thru the use of Bunsen
burner, physical separation of mixtures which includes precipitation, filtration, decantation, and
evaporation. In the first and second part, simple measurements were made using a triple beam balance
and ruler. Also, computations were made. In the third part, a Bunsen burner was used. A Bunsen burner
has two types of flame: luminous and non-luminous flame. A luminous flame occurs when the air hole of
the burner is closed, thus, limited oxygen is sucked by the hole in order to form a cooler yellow flame,
soot if formed and partial combustion is observed. While non-luminous flame is when the air hole of the
burner is open, allowing as much oxygen in order to produce hotter blue flame. Additionally, a blue
flame is very hot since nearly all energy is transformed into heat energy, thus, no soot is formed.
Moreover, a non-luminous flame has two zones: oxidizing and reducing zone. Oxidizing zone can be
observed in the outer portion of the flame adjacent to the coldest region, while the reducing zone can
be observed adjacent to the hottest region, above the barrel of the Bunsen burner. The different
techniques for separating a mixture are precipitation where a soluble substance is separated from its
solutions as a solid, filtration which involves the separation of a liquid from solid particles through the
use of a porous material such as filter paper, decantation which allows the settlement of solid particles
then carefully pouring off the liquid called the supernatant liquid, and evaporation which involves a
mixture to be subjected to a heat in order to separate volatile liquid to form vapour while allowing the
residual components remain dry.

References:

1. What is Meant by Oxidizing Flame? by Simple Sparky. www.youtube.com

2. Chemical Changes: Crash Course Kids # 19.2 by Crash Course Kids. www.youtube.com
3. Examples of Chemistry in Daily Life. https://www.thoughtco.com/examples-of-chemistry-in-
daily-life-606816