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Synthesis Lab

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Introduction: The purpose of this lab was to utilize roasting, smelting, spectroscopy, and the carbonate test in order to determine the identity of an unknown copper mineral. I determined that the most useful of these tests in determining the mineral was roasting because it provides a fairly accurate percent composition of copper in the unknown mineral.

Results: The purpose of performing the variety of tests that we did was to give more accurate results of what the unknown mineral was. By roasting the copper mineral, we obtained copper(II) oxide. This new sample came out of the crucible grayish-black. It was very brittle and full of cracks. This provided the percent composition that was necessary in finding the unknown mineral. When performing …show more content…

The small sample fell apart after the roasting process, making it hard to separate from the charcoal. Also, I think allowing more time to let all the copper(II) oxide be smelted would have increased the accuracy of our results.

References:
Blacksmith Institute. "Metals Smelters and Processing." WorstPolluted. Blacksmith Institute, 2008. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.
Charles, James A. "Metallurgy." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 10 Mar. 2014. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.
Evers, D. J., B. Hendricks, G. Lucassen, and T. Ruers. "Optical Spectroscopy: Current Advances and Future Applications in Cancer Diagnostics and Therapy." NCBI. National Center for Biotechnology Information, 8 Mar. 2012. Web. 13 Sept. 2015.
"Mineralogy Database." WebMineral. David Barthelmy, 15 Sept. 2012. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.
Olson, Maynard V. "Oxidation-Reduction Reaction." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 27 Jan. 2014. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.
Nivaldo J. Chemistry: A Molecular Approach. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2013. Print.

Documentation: Worked with my lab partner, Joey LaPiana, in order to complete the lab and verify data and

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