The main purpose of this investigation is to test and analyse Mummion. By doing this we would hopefully be able to see what chemicals it contained.
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Introduction
Assignment 2.4 ? A preservative for mummies 2.4.1 Introduction What is mummification? Mummification is an ancient Greek method which is intended to dehydrate the body. This would preserve the body. They believed that the body needed to be intact to serve as host for the soul. If the body was left to rot, it would destroy their soul. The process of mummification would entail the removal of the brain and other internal organs, each of these then mummified and then stored in jars. This then led on to the drying out process. The body would then be left outside to dry. After the body was completely dry. It would lead onto the wrapping of the body. The body would be wrapped. A final shroud piece would be placed on the mummy to keep all of the wrappings together. Mummion was added to the shroud to ?give? it all together. What is Mummion and what is it used for? Natron (Mummion) is a colourless salt found in various locations in the earth. Mummion is a dehydrated sodium carbonate mineral. Natron is known commonly to be used for mummification. ...read more.
Middle
Add a few drops of nitric acid solution 3. Add a few drops of silver nitrate solution 4. Results: 1. White precipitate ? Chloride (Cl-) ions 2. Cream precipitate ? Bromide (Br-) ions 3. Yellow precipitate ? Iodide (I-) ions Test for Sulphate ions (SO42-) 1. Prepare a solution of your test sample using distilled water 2. Add drops of nitric acid solution until any fizzing stops 3. Add a few drops of barium nitrate solution 4. If a white precipitate forms, the sample contains sulphate (SO42-) ions Test for Carbonate ions (CO32-) 1. Add a few drops of dilute hydrochloric acid solution to your dry sample 2. If a gas is given off, test to see if it is carbon dioxide by bubbling it through lime water (see below) 3. If the lime water turns milky white, carbon dioxide is present and the sample must have contained carbonate ions Test for Copper ions (Cu2+) 1. Prepare a solution of your test sample using distilled water 2. Add a few drops of ammonia solution 3. If the sample contains copper(II) ions (Cu2+), a pale blue precipitate forms 4. ...read more.
Conclusion
In the inference, if the result was positive, it means the chemical was present in the Mummion. 2.4.7 Evaluation In this investigation the thing I feel was most successful was how i accurately purified the Mummion. By not only using one filter paper at a time, I used two. This allowed the solution to go through two stages of paper, allowing it to be filtered well. This allowed our Mummion crystals to become more pure. In this investigation I feel I could have improved on the amount of crystals we came out with. This was mainly because the evaporating dishes were split. This meant that we had to re-do the whole purification of the Mummion again. This wasted a lot of time, which could have been spending completing the qualitative tests. I think I did keep to the plan throughout this investigation. Although when purifying the Mummion, we did use more chemical to get a clearer result. For example, we added more distilled water to try a spate the chemicals more. By completing this experiment successfully, it allowed me to find out that Mummion contained sodium, chloride and carbonate ions. ...read more.
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