Silver and Copper Lab

For the last three weeks in chemistry we had been doing a copper and sliver lab. Where we were seeing how copper wire reacts with silver nitrate to get silver.

Day 1

1. Obtain a 30 cm length of bare copper wire. Using a plastic sanding pad, clean off the copper wire. Coil the wire around a pencil, forming a loose coil or "spring" on on end. Stretch the coil to reach from the bottom to the top of the tube. The other end should reach to the top of your test tube and be uncoiled.
2. Weigh the coil(copper wire) as accurately as possible with the balance. place the copper wire in the test tube to make sure it fits. Then take it out and put it aside for later.
1. the weight of the copper wire we got was 3.408g
3. Measure out 1 gram of silver nitrate
1. Before that weigh the filter paper by its self and record the the amount of grams
2. Then measure the silver nitrate on the filter paper together record the measurement.
1. For the filter paper we got a measurement of  1420g   , and for the silver nitrate we measured    1.726g   .
4. After recording the measurements pour the silver nitrate in the test tube and pour distilled water until the water is about 2 inches from the top.
5. Cover put something on top of the tube and shake to dissolve the silver nitrate in the distilled water. Then place the copper wire inside the test tube and seal it with parafilm( parafilm is so fun to play)
6. Set aside until the following day.

Day 2

1. This time you will take the test tube that contains the copper wire and silver nitrate that you prepared the pervious day and take off the parafilm. 
2. Carefully use distilled water to wash off any silver that is stuck to the copper wire.
3. Once you are sure all the silver is in the test tube and not on the copper wire 
4. Lay aside the copper wire as you dont need it anymore and carefully pour the silver into the filter paper.
1. make sure that the filter paper is in a cone and the cone is over a flask so that the liquid drains into the flask and you are left with only the silver.
5. Allow the silver and copper wire to dry over night

Day 3

1. For the final part of the lab all you are doing is taking measurements.
2. First measure the copper wire now that it is dry to find out how much of it reacted
1. We got a measure of 3.193g we then take the measurements from before the copper reacted and subtract 3.193g from 3.408g. to get the amount of copper left 0.215g
3. Next gently take out the filter paper and silver and measure to find the mass.
1. For this step we got a measurement of 1.726g Then we took the mass of both the silver and filter paper 1.726g and subtracted the mass of the filter paper 1.420g.
2. We then got the measurement of silver that was produced 0.396g.
4. Once you have all the data you then answer the analysis questions

Silver and Copper Lab Analysis Questions

1. Find the number of moles of silver produced
1. .0028molAg
2. Find the number of moles of copper consumed during the reaction
1. .0033molCu
3. Find the mole ratio of copper to silver in this reaction (round o the nearest whole number)
1. 1:1
4. Write a balanced equation for the reaction using the mole ratio derived above as the coefficients
1. 14:10:108
5. During the middle ages, a group of people called alchemists searched unsuccessfully for a way to "transmute" or change one element to another, e.g. lead to gold. Was copper "transmuted" into silver in this experiment
6. The correct equation for this chemical reaction is 
1. 2AgNO3 + Cu -----> Cu(NO3)2 + 2Ag
7. Using your starting amount of silver nitrate, how much Ag should be formed in grams
1. .65gAg
8. Using your starting amount of silver nitrate how much Cu became Cu(NO3)2 in the reaction in grams
1. .77gCu