Making soluble salts using an acid and an insoluble base

Step 1

Place dilute acid (e.g. HCl) in a beaker + gently heat it with a bunsen burner

Step 2

Keep adding insoluble base (e.g. CuO) a little bit at a time → at first it will keep disappearing as it reactions to form copper chloride + water → at some point some of the base will no longer be disappearing + base must be in excess + we'll have neutralised all of the acid

Step 3

Filter out all excess CuO with filter paper + filter funnel → what's left is the dissolved form of our soluble salt

Step 4

Gently heat up filtered solution(60°C) + evaporate off some of the water using a water bath

Step 5

Once a bit of the water has been evaporated + crystals are starting to form → we can stop heating it + leave it to cool which will cause even more crystals to form

Step 6

Filter crystals out using filter paper and funnel

Step 7

Dry crystals either by: dabbing them with filter paper or leaving them somewhere warm