Aqueous Fertilizer Lab Report

The purpose of this laboratory experiment was to create a clear aqueous fertilizer that had a pH range of 6.0-7.0 with first three solid compounds the first day and then four solid compounds the second day. To complete this experiment, make calculations to find how much of each compound is needed in grams, use an analytical balance to measure out compounds accurately, mix the compounds in DI water until they are dissolved, test pH levels, effectively add acids or bases depending on pH level, and administrate EDTA when a precipitate has formed. When only components that include 0.06g Nitrogen, 0.0497g Phosphorous, and 0.0399g Potassium are combined, on the first day of the experiment, a very basic solution with a pH level of 13.0 formed. The addition of 18 droplets of hydrochloric acid lowered the pH level to 6.0. When combining components …show more content…
The compound Fe(NO3)3+12H2O was added to satisfy the iron component, and KCl was used in place of KNO3 to eliminate the usage of two compounds that had limiting reagents. This choice minimized the number of calculations that needed to be made and reduced possible errors. Despite efforts made to reduce errors, a contamination occurred while personal tests to find what caused the formation of a precipitate were conducted. The combination of Fe(NO3)3+12H2O and NaNO3 resulted in a small amount of precipitate that was significantly smaller than the initial precipitate that was viewed when all compounds were mixed. Considering this combination did not produce the same precipitate, a final test was conducted, which resulted in the same precipitate that formed when all compounds were mixed together. This indicated that the test between Fe(NO3)3+12H2O and NaNO3 was most likely contaminated. By making sure all glassware and materials used are cleaned, contaminations that may lead to incorrect results can be