The formula of magnesium oxide is MgO. This is predicted from knowledge of the Periodic Table and understanding of bonding.

Authors Avatar

Nana Agyeman. 11V                  Chemistry Investigation                        Ms. Yates

Finding the formula of Magnesium Oxide

Prediction

The formula of magnesium oxide is MgO. This is predicted from knowledge of the Periodic Table and understanding of bonding.

Method

  1. A strip of magnesium ribbon is cleaned using emery paper.
  2. A crucible and its lid are weighed.
  3. The magnesium is placed in the crucible and the crucible, its lid and contents re-weighed.
  4. The crucible is placed on a pipe-clay triangle on a tripod and heated strongly. The lid is raised slightly from time to time to allow air to enter the crucible.
  5. When reaction is finished, heating is stopped and the crucible is allowed to cool.
  6. The crucible and its contents are re-weighed.
  7. Stages 4 – 6 are repeated until the mass is constant.
  8. The whole experiment is repeated but for different masses of magnesium oxide.

The Results

Analysis

To be able to find out the ratio of magnesium to oxygen, I have to calculate the amount of magnesium that was used and the amount of oxygen, and so as a result finding out the amount of magnesium oxide that was produced.

Join now!

From the above results I can then go on to find out the number of moles of each substance and plot them on a graph. I know that the relative atomic mass (Ar) of magnesium is 24 and the Ar of oxygen is 16.

 

With the above results I can use them to analyse the results in two different ways. The first way is to look at the highlighted results and they show that a certain number of moles of magnesium will react with the same number of moles of oxygen. For example, 0.002 moles of magnesium ...

This is a preview of the whole essay