Materials
1 Hoop Clamp Stand
1 Clay piped triangle
1 Crucible (without lid)
Some Magnesium
1 Bunsen Burner
1 set of very accurate scales ( up to five significant figures in grams)
Methods
A crucible was taken and the mass recorded. Then some magnesium was put in the crucible, and the mass was recorded again. The crucible was then placed in the clay piped triangle, which was then itself placed on the hoop clamp stand. A source of heat (Bunsen Burner) was then applied to the suspended crucible(see Fig.1), and the magnesium was brought to the temperature where it starts reacting with oxygen present in the air. Once the magnesium appeared to have completed its reaction (see Fig. 2) the crucible was removed from the clay piped triangle and its mass was recorded again.
Data
Mass of Crucible=12.603 grams
Mass of Crucible containing Mg= 13.642
Mass of Crucible containing Magnesium Oxide= 14.106
Analysis
Mass of Crucible – Mass of Crucible containing Mg= mass of Mg
Mass of Mg= 1.039 grams
1.039 grams of Mg/moles= 0.0427 moles of Mg
Mass of Crucible – Mass of Crucible containing Magnesium oxide= mass of Magnesium oxide
Mass of magnesium oxide= 1.503 grams
.0427 moles of oxygen=0.683 grams
Increase in Mg to magnesium oxide reaction= .464 grams
Theoretical yield= 1.722 grams of Magnesium oxide
Percentage yield=1.503 grams, or 87.28%
Conclusions
The Magnesium almost certainly reacted to form the compound MgO. The yield was 87.28% of the theoretical yield for MgO, so it is very unlikely that any MgO2 was formed or the yield(in grams) would have been higher. This accepted the classes' hypothesis that Magnesium and oxygen would react in this way due to their electron shell configuration.
I don't know if this is right, but its what I understood from class
