The question is incomplete, the complete question is;
A student determines the number of moles of water in a
hydrated metal oxide by weighing a clean, dry crucible
and lid while the crucible is empty, then reweighing the
crucible and lid with a sample of the hydrate, heating the
crucible and lid with a Bunsen burner and then
reweighing the crucible and lid with the sample after
cooling to room temperature. Which error will result in
too high a value for the amount of water of hydration?
(A) The heating is conducted only once instead of the
three times recommended by the procedure.
(B) The lid is left off the crucible when it is weighed
with the hydrated oxide.
(C) The metal oxide reacts partially with oxygen in the
air, forming a compound in a higher oxidation state.
(D) Some of the heated oxide is spilled from the crucible
before it can be weighed.
Answer:
(D) Some of the heated oxide is spilled from the crucible
before it can be weighed.
Explanation:
It is possible to determine the number of moles of water in a hydrated metal oxide by weighing a clean, dry crucible and lid while the crucible is empty, then reweighing the crucible and lid with a sample of the hydrate. The crucible and lid with the sample are heated, cooled and reweighed.
As this process is going on, suppose some of the heated oxide is spilled from the crucible, then the mass of heated or anhydrous oxide decreases leading to a consequent increase in the number of moles of water in the hydrated metal oxide, hence the answer above.
