Atoms to Ecosystems

Behavior of Gases

PURPOSE: Extrapolate some pressure-temperature data to determine the Celsius degree value of absolute zero Calculate the molar mass of carbon dioxide gas using the ideal gas law.

Pre-Lab Assignment Determine the molecular weight of a gas if 1.053 g of the gas occupies a volume of 1.000 L at 25 C and 752 mm Hg Part 1: Absolute Zero This part is done as a class demonstration, but write it up as a lab. Materials and methods: Obtain five different temperature baths, large enough to accommodate the bulb of the pressure-measuring device. The five baths should be: A cylindrical Dewar flask, half-filled with liquid nitrogen (LN2); temperature = 195.8C A cylindrical Dewar flask, half-filled with a slurry made from acetone (CH3COCH3) and dry ice; temperature = 78.0C A beaker, half-filled with ice water; temperature = 0.0C A beaker, half-filled with room temperature water; temperature = TBD A beaker, half-filled with boiling water; temperature = 100.0C For further research on how cold various cooling solutions are, check out http://www2.uni-siegen.de/~pci/versuche/english/v105-2.html Procedure: Prepare the baths as described. Using the computers LoggerPro software and the data logger attached to the pressure-measuring device, monitor the pressure as the bulb of the device is set sequentially into each of the five baths. When the pressure has reached an equilibrium value, record it in your notebook in a table similar to the one below: Bath Liquid nitrogen Dry ice/acetone slurry Ice water Room temp. water Boiling water 100.0 Temperature (C) 195.8 78.0 0.0 Pressure

Analysis: Using Excel, plot temperature (x-axis) versus pressure (y-axis). Make sure there is enough room in the graph to be able to extrapolate the graph back at least a hundred degrees. In other words, make the x-axis range from 300C to 100C. Usual rules apply; give the graph a good title, and axes labels (with units). Use the Add Trendline function to draw a best-fit line using a linear regression algorithm, and give the equation for the line. Part 2 Molar Mass of CO2 Introduction: The ideal gas law gives the relationship between the characteristic properties of a gas: PV = nRT where P is the gas pressure, V is the gas volume, n is the amount (in this case, moles) of gas and T is the gas temperature. Of course, the number of moles of a gas is equal to the mass of a given amount of gas divided by the gass molar mass. To put it another way, the molar mass (MM) of a gas is equal to the mass of a given amount of gas divided by the number of moles in that amount of gas. Symbolically, MM = m/n, where m is the mass of a given amount of gas. The ideal gas law can be algebraically rearranged so that it is solved for the number of moles of gas: n = PV/RT. Combining the previous two equations: MM = mRT/PV In other words, you can find the molar mass of a pure gaseous substance by measuring the mass of gas in a certain space, the temperature and pressure of the gas and the volume of the space. Recall that R is the ideal gas constant, whose value can be found in nearly any reference. In this experiment, you will fill a flask full of carbon dioxide, weigh it and determine the volume, pressure and temperature of the carbon dioxide and calculate the molar mass of carbon dioxide using the equation above. One complication is that weighing the carbon dioxide gas is hard; you cant simply tare the balance and add carbon dioxide. You will need to figure out the mass of the air inside the flask and subtract that off of the mass of the flask in order to get just what the flask weighs. Materials 250 mL Erlenmeyer flask Electronic balance Barometer (attached to classroom wall) Small piece of dry ice Rubber stopper Thermometer 100 mL graduated cylinder

Safety Dry ice sublimes at 78.5C; that is the temperature of the dry ice in this experiment. It will cause burns upon prolonged or repeated exposure to bare skin, so do not pick up the dry ice with your bare hands; use a paper towel. Carbon dioxide and water are not considered hazardous, so all fluids can be poured down the sink.

Procedure 1. Obtain the Erlenmeyer flask and rubber stopper; make sure they are dry. Push the rubber stopper firmly into the flask (not so firmly that the stopper wont come back out). Weigh this on the balance, and record the value in your data table. 2. Remove the rubber stopper and obtain a small piece of dry ice, about one-third the size of the rubber stopper. Do not handle the dry ice with your bare hands; use a piece of towel paper as shown. Put the dry ice into the flask. Do not put the stopper on the flask just yet. 3. Allow the dry ice to sublime completely; do not move or shake the flask. After the last bit of dry ice is gone, firmly stopper the flask and weigh it. Record this value in your data table. Immediately place the thermometer inside the flask (you dont need the rubber stopper anymore) and, after it settles, note the temperature in your data table. 4. A 250 mL Erlenmeyer flask is never exactly 250 mL; you will have to determine its volume. Using the flask, water and graduated cylinder, determine the volume of the flask to the nearest tenth of a milliliter. Take into account the rubber stoppers volume! Write the volume in your data table. Record how you determined the value for the volume. 5. Measure the atmospheric pressure in the room by reading the barometer on the wall. If you are not sure how to set the barometer or to read a Vernier scale, please ask the instructor. Note this value in your data table. 6. Look up the density of air in g/mL from any resource; write this value in your data table and also cite the reference. Calculate the mass of the air in the flask from the information you have, and enter this value on the calculation table. 7. Repeat this experiment two more times for a total of 3 trials. Analysis: Prepare a results table. Show the work for each calculation for trial one. 8. Calculate the mass of the flask alone, then the mass of the carbon dioxide gas in the flask. 9. Finally, calculate the molar mass of carbon dioxide. 10. Each pair of students will record their three calculated molar masses on the computer in the front of the lab, along with the first initial and last name of each student in the pair. 11. Determine your average molar mass and the percent error of your average molar mass, using the reference value of 44.01 g/mol for carbon dioxide. 12. Use Excel to determine the mean, standard deviation and percent error for the class data.

Post-lab Assignment Part 1: Submit your data table and Excel graph. Clearly show your final result (the value of absolute zero in C?) Respond in detail to the following questions: 1. Discuss which Gas Law the linearity of your graph confirms? 2. The gas inside the ball of the pressure-measuring device is air. What assumption did you make about the behavior of air as you extrapolated the data to absolute zero? Why did you have to make this assumption? How good of an assumption is it? Part 2 Submit your data, sample calculations and results from both your data and the class data Write an Abstract