Colin Turner
Professor Kuykendall
CHE 102
10 February 2017
Title: Experiment 2: Determining The Molar Mass of a Volatile Liquid
Introduction:
In this lab experiment, the ideal gas law will be used to find the average molecular mass of the unknown liquid as a gas. This will be done by heating the liquid until it is in its gaseous state and then once it is there it will be determined what the average molecular mass is.
The purpose of this lab experiment is to determine the molar mass of a volatile gas by using the ideal gas law.
Procedure: First a 600 mL beaker was filled half way with water and assembled into a boiling water bath. Then 2 stoppers were obtained, one had a hole at the top so that vapor could easily flow out. The stopper with the hole was then placed on a flask. 2.5 mL of unknown liquid B was then put into the flask with the stopper containing a hole in the top. This beaker was then placed in the boiling water bath with a thermometer. The liquid was allowed to
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One example of a factor that could affect the outcome of the experiment would be taking the cork with the small hole in the top off and putting the other cork on and losing some of the gas. Gas could also be lost when taking the cork off for a second so that the pressure inside the flask can become equal to that of the room. This would cause the average molecular mass of the unknown gas to be less than it should be because some of the gas would be lost and replaced with air which weighs less. Another way in which this experiment could be flawed is leaving a small air bubble under the stopper, which could cause the weight of the flask, water, and stopper to be less. This would affect the molar mass by making it larger than it actually should be. The barometer reporting incorrectly could also affect the outcome of the experiment and make the average molecular mass of the gas lower or higher than it should have