Ionic And Covalent Compounds Lab Report

Properties of Ionic and Covalent Substances Lab Report
Introduction
The purpose of this lab was to determine which of the following substances: wax, sugar, and salt, are an ionic compound and which are a covalent compound. In order to accurately digest the experiments results, research of definitions of each relating led to the following information: ionic compounds are positive and negatively charged ions that experience attraction to each other and pull together in a cluster of ionic bonds; they are the strongest compound, are separated in high temperatures, and can be separated by polar water molecules. A covalent compound forms when two or more nonmetal atoms share valence electrons; covalent compounds are also

The wax melted first, followed by the salt, and lastly the sugar. The salt not only burned before the sugar, but developed a brown color throughout most of the substance at a faster pace. In the water solubility test, the salt dissolved in the water, as soon as it was properly mixed and the sugar dissolved in the water as well, but was stirred for a longer period of time until it was completely dissolved. The wax did not dissolve in the water, however bits of the substance broke off from the main piece. With this information, the final results included: wax as a nonpolar covalent compound, since the substance melted first and was not soluble in water; salt as a polar covalent compound, since the substance was soluble in water and the second to melt; and sugar as an ionic compound because the substance melted last and was soluble in

Also, salt is an ionic compound and not a polar covalent compound, even though it did not melt last, due to the fact that the elements Na and Cl, both lose or gain an electron and then bond because of their opposite charges, which is a property only ionic bonds possess. The wax was the only substance whose results were synonymous with my hypothesis, since it required a low temperature for its melting point and was not soluble in water, both properties of nonpolar covalent compounds. Potential sources of error included not labeling the spots each substance was placed in the aluminum foil boat, seeing as the result for sugar seemed to be the correct conclusion for salt and vice versa. A future experiment would involve individually testing each substance in an aluminum foil boat, of the same brand, on a heat plate in order to avoid uncertainty. Each substance should be timed to record the precise time each substance began to melt or burn. Also, although this likely served no contribution in disheveling the results, using a stirrer of the same material to ensure the separate testing of each substance will be as uniform as