Aim: The aim of this experiment was to determine the presence of the law of conservation of mass and stoichiometry when reacting magnesium with oxygen through combustion. Background Theory: Magnesium, Mg, is an alkaline earth metal with an atomic number of 12. It is located in 2nd group and 3rd period on the periodic table. It has an atomic mass of 24.305g and is the 8th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust. When metal magnesium is heated and in the presence of oxygen, a combustion reaction occurs and the product of this exothermic reaction is magnesium oxide. It can also be observed that while this reaction is in progress, a bright, white light is emitted (Ophardt, 2001). Oxygen, O, is a Group 16 element with an atomic number of …show more content…
As all combustion reactions produce heat, this reaction would be known as an exothermic reaction (Arrington, 2014). However, the combustion of hydrocarbons will always produce carbon dioxide and water. There are two types of combustion reactions, complete and incomplete. A complete combustion reaction occurs when there is a sufficient amount of oxygen. On the other hand, an incomplete combustion reaction occurs when there is a limited amount of oxygen to react with. This means that oxygen in this reaction is a limited reagent (n.a, …show more content…
Therefore in a chemical reaction, the mass of the reactants will be the same as the mass of the products (BBC, 2014). In a balanced chemical equation Stoichiometry describes the quantitative relationship between chemicals as they react (Nijmeh, 2011). Magnesium oxide is produced when magnesium is heated with a Bunsen burner and a sufficient amount of oxygen is present. The balanced equation of this chemical reaction is: 2Mg_((s) )+〖O_2〗_((g) )→2MgO In this above equation, 2 moles of magnesium are reacting with 1 mole of oxygen to form 2 moles of magnesium oxide. Due to the law of conservation of mass and stoichiometry, the mass of the reactants will be same as the mass of the products and the mole ratio of this equation will always stay the same. Therefore, the mole ratio of this equation is – 2:1:2. Hypothesis: It is hypothesised that when magnesium reacts with oxygen through the process of combustion, magnesium oxide will be produced and the predicted mole ratio between Magnesium, Oxygen and Magnesium Oxide will be 2:1:2. This is hypothesised as the law of conservation of mass states that matter cannot be created nor destroyed indicating that the mole ratio will stay the same throughout the experiment. Therefore, the predicted balanced chemical equation for this experiment will