Determination of the Empirical Formula of Zinc Bromide Using Microwave Technology: A Simple Experiment for the Undergraduate General Chemistry Laboratory

TCE

The Chemical Educator

ISSN: 1430-4171 (electronic version)

Table of Contents

Abstract Volume 18 (2013) pp 302-303
DOI 10.1007/s00897132511

Determination of the Empirical Formula of Zinc Bromide Using Microwave Technology: A Simple Experiment for the Undergraduate General Chemistry Laboratory

David J. Foreman and Javier E. Horta*^,†

Merrimack College, Department of Chemistry, 315 Turnpike Street, North Andover, MA 01845; ^†Current address: University of Massachusetts Lowell, Department of Clinical Laboratory and Nutritional Sciences, 3 Solomont Way, Suite 4, Lowell, MA 01854, javier_horta@uml.edu
Received April 17, 2013. Accepted August 7, 2013.

Published: 1 November 2013

Abstract. The mass and mole relationships associated with the stoichiometry of chemical reactions and the composition of chemical compounds are among the most fundamental concepts that every student in an introductory chemistry course must thoroughly learn and understand. By reacting granular zinc metal with a substoichiometric amount of a solid ionic bromine equivalent under microwave heating, the empirical formula of zinc bromide can be determined.

Key Words: Laboratories and Demonstrations; general chemistry; bromine; reactions; oxidation/reduction; stoichiometry; zinc

(*) Corresponding author. (E-mail: javier_horta@uml.edu )

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Supporting Materials:

A separate document of supporting materials contains a laboratory handout for students, notes on safety, instructor’s notes, and the CAS registry numbers of all reagents involved in this experiment (27 KB).