The solubility of Silver Chloride (Part I).
(approximately 10.8M)
Solubility is an idea that you've encountered before, even if you may not realize it! To put it simply, solubility is all about dissolving stuff.
Have you ever tried to dissolve sugar in iced tea? At first, it seems like the sugar has completely disappeared, but if you taste the tea, it tastes sweet! The sugar is still there, but the sugar particles are dissolved throughout the tea.
In the iced tea example, we call the mixture of iced tea and sugar a solution. The sugar that was dissolved gets a special name:"solute." The solute is simply the stuff that gets dissolved. The ice tea is called the " solvent," which means the liquid that dissolves the solute.
Can you think of other examples of solutes that dissolve in water?
Later on we'll see a movie that shows one example.Now can you think of anything that does not dissolve in water? How about cooking oil? Instead of mixing in to the water, oil floats on top. Sand from the beach doesn't dissolve in water either; it sinks to the bottom of the container even if you keep stirring! Things that do not dissolve are called " insoluble." We'll see another example of something that's insoluble later on.
The purpose of this experiment is to identify solids that are soluble or insoluble in water.
Type the purpose into your lab notebook.
The solids we are using are regular table salt, which is also called Sodium Chloride (NaCl),
and another salt called Silver Chloride (AgCl2). They will be mixed with water in a
beaker.
Type these materials into your lab notebook.
Instead of doing this experiment yourself, you will watch three movies that show these salts being mixed
with water. What do you think will happen? Use what you already know about solubility to make a prediction
or guess. This is called a hypothesis.
Do you think either of our solutes will dissolve? Which one? Do you think either will be insoluble?
Type your hypothesis into your lab notebook.
Instructions: Read each paragraph and then click on the movie icon to watch a movie that shows part of the experiment. Then type your observations into your lab notebook.
Step 1: The solubility of Silver Chloride
Pour some Silver Chloride into a beaker of water.
Make sure that you wear gloves to protect your hands. Stir the Silver Chloride to see if it dissolves in
water:
Before going on, type your observations into your lab notebook.
Step 2: The solubility of Sodium Chloride
Pour some Sodium Chloride into a beaker of water.
Make sure that you wear gloves to protect your hands. Stir the Sodium Chloride to see if it dissolves in
water:
Before going on, type your observations into your lab notebook.
Step 3: Conclusion
What happened? Review the results:
Type your observations into your lab notebook.Then answer the rest of the questions in your notebook. Make sure you click the "Submit your Work" button!
Step 4 (Optional): Follow-Up:
In the forum write a message about the scientific method. Was your hypothesis correct? What did you think about doing a virtual experiment? You may either write a new message or reply to someone else's message.