The purpose of this experiment is to perform an experiment of the combustion og magensisum and gather precise data of masses and find the number of moles of the substance throught the stoichiometry mole equation in order to evaluate the empircal formukq of magnesium oxide.In chemsitry, compounds can be be distingushed by using the empirical formula. The formula gives the simplest postive ratio integer ratio elements in a compound. The emprical fomrula is largerly useful in determining the ratio of elements within ionic compounds where the strucutre is of non-directial nature of bonding where any ion at any time could be surronded by 4,6 or 8 oppisotley charged ions. Which creates a pattern of endlesy repeating lattice of ions they do not exist as a free unit of atoms but in a crystal lattice with reapeting ions in specfic ratios which is why emprical formula is used as a formof identification for defining an ionic-bonded substance. The predicted formula of magnesium oxide is MgO from knowledge of the periodic table and understanding of bonding.
In order to determine the empirical formula, for when two reactants underfo a chemical reaction. the number of moles from of each element that combine together to form a compound must be found. The value of moles of the different atoms in a compound is needed. The number of particles, in one mole in a substance is defined as the number of atoms within 12 grams of C12. Mole is a unit used to measure the number of atoms, it can be compared to the unit “dozen” which is used to refer to anything that has a value of 12. One mole is 6Ã x 1023 atoms or molecules and this unit is known as the Avogadro number.
In order to determine the formulae by experiment, Magnesium metal (strip) is heated in air until it is combined by oxygen creating magnesium oxide. The combustion of magnesium will give data which can be used to calculate the empirical formula of magnesium oxide. The amount of oxygen can be determined by the law of conversation of mass; as the oxygen will react with the magnesium ribbon to produce a measure amount of magnesium oxide. Which cvan be converted into mole do find the simplest molar ratio giving the empirical formula of magnesium. The valence bond theory is a chemical bonding theory that uses ‘Lewis structures’, to demonstrate how bonds are formed using shared electrons between overlapping orbitals on adjacent atoms.
An ionic compound is formed by movement of electrons from a metal to a nonmetal which means an octet has be produced from remain ions. During this process the number of protons does not change; using the periodic table we can see that metal atoms in Groups 1-3 lose electrons to non-metal atoms with 5-7 electrons missing in the outer level.
