Empirical formula lab - copper oxide?
I'm doing this lab for chemistry where we find the empirical formula for copper oxide by reacting it with 3 M HCl.
I need a bit of help with what the sources of error for this experiment could be. One is probably the balance (?) because of the uncertainty - but I can't think of anything else.
Would be glad of any help - thanks a lot.
Answers & Comments
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Some sources of errors for that lab can be a factors such as: uncertainty of balances...if the balance is not properly calibrated that might resulted to uncertain amount of copper oxide. More factors of errors were: if the 3 M HCl is not pure or it was contaminated of something else that might distruct the property/nature of that solution. thinks of something else...what exactly your asking? what did you do in this lab? what are the instruemntations that you did use. Pls tell me more what exactly you did in this lab..it wasn't clear at all
It is impossible to produce more copper from copper oxide than the mass you were given. There are two main possibilities: 1, you wrote down the wrong reading, or 2, the copper produced was contaminated.
Sources of error don't usually include measuring devices because all of them have some degree of uncertainty.
Assuming you did a titration lab, you could use overshooting the endpoint of the reaction as a source of error.
CU2O