Stoichiometry Lab
In this lab, we used stoichiometry to calculate the amount of Sodium Acetate would be produced when we mixed some ingredients together. These ingredients include Baking soda, water, and vinegar. Some supplies that we used were a 250.0 mL flask where we mixed all of the reactants together, a graduated cylinder that we used to measure all of the reactants, and a hot plate where we would boil the mixture to get the final product. Basically, what we did in this lab was use stoichiometry to calculate how much baking soda and liquids we needed to measure out and mix together to get a certain amount of Sodium Acetate. After mixing all of the reactants, we took note of all of the chemical changes that occurred and kept track of them in our packets. The purpose of this lab was to learn how to correctly use stoichiometry to calculate the amount of reactants would be needed to make a certain amount of products, and, in my group’s case, to familiarize ourselves with some of the consequences of miscalculating an equation. In this specific lab, we used stoichiometry to calculate the amount of baking soda, in grams, that we needed to include in the mixture to get Sodium Acetate as a product. First, we found the molar mass of baking soda (NaHCO3) by adding together all of the atomic masses of all of the elements that make up baking soda. After we added all of that up, we got 84.01 grams. Then we converted 0.05 moles of baking soda to grams by multiplying the molar mass by 0.05 o get 4.2 grams.
In this lab, it was one of the first times that I had ever had to mix multiple ingredients like that all together to form a different solution, and I feel that it has really helped me get a hang of what future experiments will be like. My group went through a log process of trial and error during this project, and I think that really helped me see the importance of being specific and accurate when doing these kinds of experiments. In the end, our lab came out the way it was supposed to because a precipitate formed in the flask where we mixed everything, and we were all really pleased to see that our hard work payed off.