Iron Lab Report Results

Frame: The purpose of this lab is to determine if the iron given in the experiment is Fe (II) or Fe (III). Knowing what chemicals are present in a reaction and what chemicals are produced is significant information that can be applied to real world situations. An example of this is rust. Rust usually occurs when iron reacts with water. By being aware of this, substances can be made to remove unwanted rust. The mass of the collected samples will decrease as it is dried due to evaporation. Excess water that was attached to the samples will disappear into the atmosphere.

Possible Balanced Equations:
Iron(II): Fe(s) + CuSO4(aq) -----> FeSO4(aq) + Cu(s)
Iron(III): 2Fe(s) + 3CuSO4(aq) -----> Fe2(SO4)3 + 3Cu

Design Investigation:
The copper …show more content…
From Fe2(SO4)2, we simplify it by using the formula: molecular/empirical.
Interpret Research: The answer to “Which Iron Is It?” is Fe (II). The mole ratio of iron lost to copper expected for Fe (II) is 1:1 while the mole ratio for Fe (III) is 3:2. According to our data from the experiment, the mole ratio was 0.93, which translates to 1 when it rounds up to one significant figure. The mass of the iron sample changed during the process because a single replacement reaction occurred. Iron absorbed in the sulfate from the copper (II) sulfate solution, creating copper from an oxidation process. The mass of iron decreased because the missing mass of iron aided in the production of copper. Based on my observations during the lab, the iron was the limiting element and the copper was the excess element for the reactants in this chemical reaction. Copper is the excess element because it is the ending product. Iron is the limiting element because it is the source of how the copper came to be. If there was more iron provided in this experiment then more copper would be