EXPERIMENT NO.

4
DETERMINATION OF THE FORMULA OF A HYDRATE
Castelltort, Chin-Chin Charlotte C.
MEG2, Group 3, Ms. Xyza Montaner
Ugsimar, Justin Benedict N.
March 30, 2015
I. ABSTRACT
Hydrates are substances that include water in their formula. The water is not actually part of the
chemical substance and this is reflected in the way the formula is written. Some hydrates are used in the
industry such in agriculture, in pharmacy, as a skin care product and as a natural energy source. With
these knowledge, Experiment # 4, Determination of the Formula of a Hydrate, was done by having 1 g of
Copper (II) sulfate crystals weighed and then heated until the crystals have been decomposed. It was
then weighed again to obtain the ratio and to determine the formula of the hydrate.
II. KEYWORDS
Salt, formula of a hydrate, water, anhydrous, weighing, ratio
III. INTRODUCTION

V. RESULTS

Hydrate is a compound containing

definite amount of water and specific quantity of
salt. Several hydrates are formed when salt
combines with water in different proportions.
There are two objectives in this experiment. First
is to calculate the number of moles of the
components in a compound. Second is to
determine the formula of a hydrate. To fulfill the
objectives, the students should heat 1 g of
CuSO4 to remove the water. Heating is the one
if not the most effective way of separating water
component from a solid particle. After heating,
the researchers would obtain the weight of H2O
and CuSO4. Certain ratio calculations would be
done.

The table below shows data recorded by

the students:
Table 5.1. Determining the Formula of a
Hydrate

IV. METHODOLOGY
First, the students must prepare a clean
and dry test tube with a stopper. After, place it in
a 100-mL beaker and weigh. Put 1 g of copper
sulfate crystals in the test tube and place the
stopper. Place it again in the beaker and weigh.
Then, heat the copper sulfate crystals until the
crystals decompose (or until it turned into white
powder). When it has turned into a white
powder, heat the upper portion of the tube to
evaporate the moisture. Put the stopper and
cool the test tube. Place it again in the beaker
and weigh. Calculate then the formula of the
hydrate by getting the ratio of the moles of the
water and the moles of the residue.

CHEM 14.1, Determination of a Formula of a Hydrate

From the data collected, the students

got the weight of the water in the CuSO4 by
subtracting the combined weight of the beaker,
test tube and cork stopper, and with the crystals

Page 1 of 2

before heating and the weight of the beaker, test

tube and cork stopper, with the crystals after
heating. The formula weight of each element
was derived with the help of the periodic table.
Using the formula weight, the students were
able to calculate the moles of each compound
by dividing the measured weight by the formula
weight. The ratio of H2O moles to CuSO4 moles
were then used to determine the formula of the
hydrate.
Shown below are the computations
done by the students to be able to dertermine
the needed data.

able follow the rules and guidelines and were

able to perform the experiment.
VII.CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
The researchers (students) conclude
that heating, as stated earlier, is an effective way
of separating water to solid particles and
therefore make it possible to determine the
weight of water and copper sulfate. With these
information, their ratio could be determined and
soon knowing the formula of the hydrate.
The students strongly recommend that
the CuSO4 be properly heated until all particles
appear in white powdered form. This is to ensure
that all water molecules have evaporated, and
therefore the computations would have better
accuracy to deviate less from the theoretical
formula of the hydrate.
VIII. REFERENCES
Chemistry Unit, Department of Physical
Sciences and Mathematics. Laboratory Manual
in General Chemistry 1. 2012 Edition. University
of the Philippines Manila.
The Nomenclature of Hydrates. Chemteam.info.
Retrieved
March
22,
2015
from
www.chemteam.info/Nomenclature
/Hydrate.html

VI. DISCUSSION
The students heated the CuSO4 in the
test tube to get the formula of the hydrate. It
should be done by moving it continuously back
and forth. This is to make sure that the heat was
distributed uniformly throughout the substance,
and that the water from the substance was
completely evaporated. The students should
also make sure that the test tube is completely
dry before starting with the experiment.
According to the research, the
theoretical formula of a hydrate is CuSO 45H2O.
In the experiment, the students calculated a ratio
of 4.7892:1 or simply 5:1. With the result of the
experiment closely tallying with the theoretical
formula, it can be inferred that the students were

I hereby certify that I have given substantial

contribution to this report.

_________________________
Castelltort, Chin-Chin Charlotte C.

_________________________
Ugsimar, Justin Benedict N.

CHEM 14.1, Determination of a Formula of a Hydrate

Page 2 of 2