Question

Formulate a Hypothesis Answer the lab question “How can drying a hydrate help you determine its mole ratio of water to salt?” by filling in the boxes below to create a hypothesis. If . . . then . . . because . . . .

Answer 1

If: the Initial mass of an unknown hydrate can be determined

then: the hydrate can be heated to dehydrate it and the mole ratio can be determined

because: the difference in this is equivalent to the water in the hydrate.

Answer 2

If we dry the hydrate then, what will remain is the amount of salt, all of the water will evaporate. We are then able to determine the masses of the salt and water and consequently be able to determine the number of moles by dividing the masses by the molar mass. Then, solve for the mole ratio.