Required Practical 1: Making Soluble Salts

How to make a soluble salt using an acid

Example salt:

CuSO₄

Made of a positive ion: Cu²⁺

Can also come from:

• Metal oxides

• Metal hydroxides

• Metal carbonates

Made of a negative ion from an acid: SO₄^2-

Making a salt:

• Start with a fixed volume of dilute sulfuric acid. This is the limiting reactant.

• Then gently heat the acid until it is almost boiling

• Then add copper oxide in excess to the acid using a spatula and then stir the solution using a glass stirring rod.

• The copper oxide will react and form a copper sulfate solution.

• Remove the unreacted copper oxide using a filter funnel and filter paper to only have a copper sulfate solution with the acid fully reacted

• Take the copper sulfate and place in an evaporating basin and gently heat over a bunsen burner until about half of the solution has been evaporated

• Leave the solution in a cool place for 24 hours and copper sulfate crystals will have formed