Online Project Portfolio

About:

These projects here showcase a few examples of my work including the theory and practice of each design.

Project 1:

Chem 1552-003 Lab Report #9

Professor Hartnett

Eric Soszko

11.9.2023

Eric Soszko

Opening Statement:

To start, the main purpose of this lab as a whole is to investigate some of the properties of solubility for calcium hydroxide by dissolving the compound and using titration to find the max solubility for the compound.

The first part of this lab focused on creating a pure solution of dissolved calcium hydroxide that did not contain any solid excess. The way we went about this was by first heating up a solution of calcium hydroxide and stirring for 20 minutes ensuring that the solution was still cloudy by the end to ensure the maximum amount of solute was dissolved. From there we filtered the solution through a buchner funnel with vacuuming to separate the excess to obtain a solid-free solution of saturated calcium-hydroxide solution.

Once the maximum capacity solution of calcium hydroxide was obtained, the focus of the experiment then shifted toward determining the amount of calcium hydroxide was in the saturated solution. We figured this by titrating with HCl and using a pH indicator to tell when complete. Knowing the concentration of HCl and the volume used to titrate we can then determine the final Ksp of the solution.

Calculations:

Ksp = [Ca2+][OH-] = [x][2x]^2 = 4x^3

[OH-] = [HCl](volume used)/volume of saturated CaOH2

Data Table:

Conclusion:

In this lab we investigated the properties of solubility for calcium hydroxide using titration to determine a final Ksp value. Using knowledge of colligative properties and experimental data, we created the data table above summarizing our results, finding a final Ksp value of 5.6x10^-6 across both solutions. This tells us that Calcium Hydroxide is soluble in water but only slightly, which is consistent with what we observed in the experiment and otherwise.

Error Analysis:

Using available sources I determined that our Ksp value of 5.6E-6 was fairly close to what the theoretical value of 6.5E-6. This gives us a percent error of roughly 13%, which speaking from an empirical standpoint is not bad, especially when compared to our last experiments with K values. Some possible causes for the error we observed in this experiment can possibly be attributed to not fully cleaning the tip of the buret during the beginning of the experiment which could have diluted the acid added, but this is highly unlikely since we obtained almost exactly the same concentrations for both experiments and the tip would have been clean by the second experiment. Since the results between trials were nearly indistinguishable our method of observation of the completion of the titration may be at fault as this was consistent between our trials. If we consistently undershot the completion of the titration this could explain our lower average Ksp value. If we were in a professional lab setting where this level of error was not permissible we might consider using a pH probe instead of a visual indicator to get an accurate reading on when to stop the titration.

Post Lab Questions:

1. See Conclusion

2. See Error Analysis

3. See Error Analysis

4. Hard water is mostly caused by excess calcium, iron and magnesium ions present and these can be somewhat problematic when it comes to appliances such as dishwashers. These ions tend to build up and form deposits inside the pipes in your house and in the small tubes and channels that control water to flow in and out of your dishwasher. This can be relatively easily solved with a water softener that uses sodium chloride to exchange the calcium ions in water with sodium which does not create the same issues as calcium.

Source: https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/understanding-and-dealing-hard-water

Project 2:

In progress...

Project 3:

In progress...