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NAMA PELAJAR

NURIN NAZIFA BINTI REZA SHAHREZ

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A182975
NAMA KURSUS
AMALI KIMIA I
KOD KURSUS
STKK1012
KIMIA SAINS FORENSIK

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OLEOKIMIA SAINS MAKANAN
TANDA (X) PADA KOTAK

TEKNOLOGI KIMIA

MAKLUMAT EKSPERIMEN
TARIKH
TAJUK EKSPERIMEN NO. EKSPERIMEN
EKSPERIMEN

SOLUBILITY OF A SALT 2 22 October 2020

NAMA DEMONSTARTOR

NAMA PENYELARAS AMALI

Dr. Mohamad Azuwa Mohamed

Prof. Madya Dr. Muhammad Rahimi Yusop

Experiment 2
Solubility of a Salt

Introduction

Solubility is the amount of solute that dissolves in a given amount of solvent

(Janice,2019) and usually reported in grams of solute per 100 mL of solution (g/100 mL). A
solution that has less than the maximum number of grams of solute is said to be unsaturated.
A saturated solution is a chemical solution containing the maximum concentration of a solute
dissolved in the solvent (Anne,2020). If we were to add more solute to a saturated solution,
the additional solute would remain undissolved in the flask, creating a supersaturated
solution.

Salt is a substance produced by the reaction of an acid with a base. The reaction
between an acid and a base is called a neutralization reaction. (Britannica,2020) It is an ionic
compound which is made up of two groups of oppositely charged ions, positive and negative.
Ionic compound is water soluble because the dipole water molecules attract the positive and
negative ions of the salt and split them apart.

In this lab, we are required to determine the solubility, that is, how much of a salt can
dissolve in certain amount of water. Specifically, we will be determining the solubility at
different temperatures.

Hence, we are using a water-soluble salt, KNO3, formed when a strong base, KOH
(potassium hydroxide) reacts with a strong acid, HNO3 (nitric acid) for all temperatures. This
is to keep the type of salt as constant throughout the experiment. This is because each salt
acts differently when dissolved in water, and this is due to the physical properties of the
atoms in each salt (Mae,2016).

KOH (aq) + HNO3 (aq) → KNO3 (aq) + H2O (aq)

The salt is held together by a very strong electrostatic interactions of oppositely

charged ions. When mixed with water, it dissociates completely to form potassium cations,
K+, and nitrate anions, NO3- and surrounded by polar water molecules.

KNO3 (aq) → K+ (aq) + NO−3 (aq)

Solubility of the salt is the ability of salt to dissolve in the solution. It depends on the
molarity of the solution (Karina,2019). The solubility process in this instance starts when
ionic compound KNO3 dissolves in water, the K+ and NO3- interactions of the crystal are
replaced by new interactions of K+ and NO3- ions with solvent. Each ion is surrounded by a
loose shell of water molecules arranged so that the oppositely charged species are close to
each other (Janice,2019). Each K+ is surrounded by water molecules arranged with their
partially negative charged O atoms close to the positive charge of cation. On the other hand,
each NO3- is surrounded by water molecules arranged with their partially positive charged H
atoms close to the negative charge of the anion.
 The mechanism of this dissolving process is water. Even though water molecules
seem static in the test tubes, they are actually in a continuous motion, especially on the
surface molecules. This is due to their kinetic energy.

The purpose of conducting this study is to collect the experimental data necessary to
construct a solubility curve for potassium nitrate (KNO3) in water and to determine the
relationship of temperature and solubility of a salt (potassium nitrate). This is because
temperature changes affect the solubility of solids, liquids and gases differently. However,
those effects are finitely determined only for solids and gases (Eric T et al.,). Hence the
objective of the experiment is to calculate the solubility of KNO3 under a variety of
temperatures using the right formula. Besides, to construct a solubility curve based on
experimental data and see the proportional relationship between temperature and solubility
more clearly.

Regarding the manipulation variable in this experiment, we will completely dissolve

different masses of potassium nitrate, KNO3, in the same volume of water at a high
temperature. This aims to observe the effect of temperature on solubility. As each solution
cools down, solid crystals start to form. At this point, the solution is saturated and contains
the maximum amount of solute at that temperature. Thus, the data consists of a solubility
value (g of solute per 100 g H2O) and a corresponding temperature.

The importance to study how temperature effects solubility is because when

conducting reactions, we attempt to use the minimum amount of water to circumvent from
producing too much excess water. Removing the excess water requires time, fuel and other
costs associated with separation process. By knowing the temperature in which a substance
has the highest solubility we can avoid excess water and related expenses in chemical
reactions and minimize the production cost.

It is hypothesized that for most ionic compounds, such as salts, in water, solubility
varies directly with temperature. That is, the higher the temperature of the solvent, which is
water, the more solute, salt, will dissolve in it. Therefore, in this experiment, different
quantities of KNO3 will be dissolved completely in the same volume of water in four separate
test tubes within a beaker at a temperature close to the water’s boiling point. It is expected
that the higher the amount of substance in a test tube, the quicker it starts to cool and form
crystals, but it does take a longer time to dissolve beforehand. The start of crystallization
indicates that the solution has become saturated. Using the data obtained in this experiment,
we will collectively construct a solubility curve of KNO3 in water vs temperature.
Procedure

A 600 mL beaker is filled 2/3 full with tap water as a preparation for the water bath
process. The beaker is the placed on a hot plate. This is to allow the water to heat up just
below boiling. While the water is heating, 4 test tubes was taken and labelled 1 to 4 each
using a grease pencil. All the test tubes are then placed in the test tube rack.

Using an analytical balance, the following masses of solid potassium nitrate, KNO3 is
measured out accurately. 2 grams of KNO3 placed in test tube labelled 1, 4 grams of KNO3
placed in test tube labelled 2, 6 grams of KNO3 placed in test tube labelled 3 and 8 grams of
KNO3 placed in test tube labelled 4. The balance is handled with care and used as instructed.
An exact amount of 5.0 mL of distilled water is measured using a 10 mL measuring cylinder
and then added to each of the potassium nitrate filled test tubes.

When the water bath is ready, each of the test tube is placed into it to let the solid
KNO3 dissolve. With a stirring rod, the solution in test tube 1 is stirred to help and make sure
the salts dissolve thoroughly.

Test tube 1 is then removed from the hot water bath once the potassium nitrate has
fully dissolved. A thermometer is placed into the test tube. Solution is being watched
carefully to observe any crystallization. The temperature is taken and recorded as soon as
when the crystals forming within the test tube.

After done with test tube 1, the procedure of stirring and taking thermometer’s
reading is repeated with the other 3 test tubes. It is necessary to act quickly but carefully for
test tube 4 as the crystallization occurs almost right after it is removed from the hot water
bath. When filling up the data into a table as shown in Figure 1, the solubility of KNO3 per
100 mL H2O is calculated using the following formula:

mass salt ( g ) x 100 g water

Solubility , x=
water volume (mL)

A graph of solubility (y axis) vs. saturation temperature of (x axis) in Celsius is

prepared. The points on graph is connected in the best possible manner, creating a solubility
curve.

Lastly when tidying up the workplace, no remaining substances are poured down the
drain. Instead, they are being disposed in the provided bin. Hands are washed with soap and
water before leaving the laboratory as a safety step.
Result and Data Analysis
Test Mass of KNO3 used Water Volume Solubility of Saturation
Tube (g) (mL) KNO3 Temperature
(g/100 mL) (oC)

1 2.0 5.0 40 57.0

2 4.0 5.0 80 52.0
3 6.0 5.0 120 69.0
4 8.0 5.0 160 75.0
Table 1

Based on Figure 1, a solubility curve for KNO3 is plotted as below:

Solubility curve for KNO3

300
Solubility g KNO3/100 mL H2O

250

200

150

100

50

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Temperature (oC)

Figure 1
Questions
1. Based on your solubility curve, predict the solubility of KNO3 at the following
temperatures:
a) As we can see by tracing the solubility curve in (Fig. 1), potassium nitrate has a solubility
of 60 g per 100 mL water at 50oC. The solubility at 50oC is slightly lower than solubility at
52oC which is 80 g per 100 mL. This is because decreasing in saturation temperature means
lesser kinetic energy provided. The solution has no extra energy causing water molecules to
break apart the intermolecular attractions in potassium nitrate molecules less effectively.
b) As we can see by tracing the solubility curve (Fig. 1), potassium nitrate has a solubility of
a 110 g per 100 mL water at 70oC. Based on the curve, solubility at 70oC is slightly lower
than solubility at 69oC which is 120 g per 100 mL. Since the temperature is slightly
increased, supposedly the kinetic energy also increases along with the solubility which then
allows water molecules to more effectively break apart the potassium nitrate molecules that
are held together by intermolecular attractions. However, in this case the solubility decreases
as the temperature increased by 1oC. This may be due to the accuracy of the curve as the
curve only represent best fit of the data.

2. Based on your solubility curve, would you best describe the following solution as
unsaturated, saturated or supersaturated:

a) Potassium nitrate has a solubility of 70 g per 100 mL water at 45oC. Adding this much
potassium nitrate per 100 mL water at this temperature will result in the formation of a
saturated solution. The solution is at dynamic equilibrium. If we were to plot this on the
solubility curve above, the plot will be just right on the line. This saturated solution with
solubility of 70 g KNO3/100 mL water indicates the solution has reached the maximum
amount of solute that is capable to dissolve at 45 oC. By the time solution is cooled, it can
become supersaturated. This is because the saturated solution at high temperature tend to
contain more dissolved solute than it would contain at lower temperature. If we were to add
more solute in this saturated solution, the solvent begins to drop the solute and crystallization
will occur more vigorously.
b) Potassium nitrate has a solubility of 80 g per 100 mL water at 70oC. The plot for this is
below the solubility curve which indicates an unsaturated solution. The solution is
unsaturated because the temperature is very high compared to the amount of solute. Meaning
to say there is still room in the solvent to dissolves more of the solute. There will also be no
visible solid salt in an unsaturated solution. This is because, a high temperature of solution
means a greater kinetic energy for both solute and solvent. The increased in energy of the
solute molecules causes them to be less able to hold together and have weaker bonds, and
thus they dissolve more readily. Simultaneously, the increased in energy of the solvent will
increase the collision between solute and solvent which results in higher solubility.
c) Potassium nitrate has a solubility of 80 g per 100 mL water at 30oC. Adding this much
potassium nitrate per 100 mL water at this temperature will result in the formation of a
supersaturated solution (the plot is above the solubility curve). The solution contains more
amount of KNO3 than it could ordinarily dissolve into the solvent at such low temperature.
The decrease in temperature results in lower kinetic energy. Consequently, solvent molecules
do not have enough energy to break apart the solute molecules that are held together by
intermolecular attractions therefore solubility decreased. Such a solution is unstable and when
it is disturbed, the solute precipitates rapidly.
Discussion
Just like the nature of solubility, potassium nitrate dissolves in water, the ions in the solid
separate and disperse uniformly throughout the solution; this process represents a physical
change known as dissociation. When solid KNO3 is added to water, the positive end of the
polar water molecules (hydrogen) is attracted to the negative nitrate ions, and the negative
ends of water (oxygen) are attracted to the positive potassium ions. The water molecules
surround individual K+ and NO3− ions, reducing the strong forces that bind the ions together
and letting them move off into solution as solvated ions.
In this lab, we are seen increasing the grams of salt in purpose to observe the temperature
effects on its solubility. Moreover, the grams of salt used is beyond than it could ordinarily
dissolve in water at room temperature. Hence, increasing the temperature in this experiment
will provide extra energy since it is required to separate both the solute and the solvent in
solution formation. Saturation of temperature is also a form of energy.
As known for solids, solubility increases as temperature increases. This can be seen in
Table 1 where 57oC results in solubility of 40 g/100 mL and going down the table, solubility
is increased and the highest it gets is 160 g/100 mL at 75oC. This in line with our hypothesis
whereby increasing the temperature results in increase solubility and vice versa. Thus, we
could say that the results obtained support our hypothesis with exception. The exception can
be observed at 57oC to 52oC, the solubility is expected to decrease as the temperature
decreased. However, the result shows otherwise where the solubility increased as the
temperature decreased. This happened could be due to some errors happened when
conducting the experiment. Furthermore, to avoid any parallax error, reader’s eye position is
made sure at the same level with the surface of the mercury when taking the thermometer’s
reading.
As for the time taken for crystallization to happen, it is called induction time. In
supersaturated solution, it does not take much time to get crystals to form. This is because
induction time is lower for higher supersaturation.

Conclusion
This experiment is conducted to observe the solubility of a salt besides the temperature
effects on it. The objective is achieved, we are now able to calculate the solubility of
potassium nitrate under a variety of temperatures by using the solubility formula; mass salt in
g multiply by 100 g of water and divide by 5.0 mL of water volume used to dissolve the salt.
We also have constructed a solubility curve based on the experimental data collected. The
following obtained is confirmed, solubility of KNO3 is proportional to the temperature of
solution. The hypothesis is accepted, solubility tends to correspond with increasing
temperature. As water molecules heat up, they vibrate more quickly and are better able to
interact with and break apart the solute.
References

Material In-Text Citation Bibliography

type
An (Britannica,2020) Encyclopædia Britannica (2020) Salts. Encyclopædia
Encyclopedia Britannica Online March 23, 2020.
<https://www.britannica.com/science/salt-acid-base-
reactions>

A Website (Eric T et al.,) Eric T et al., (2020) Solubility and Factors Affecting
Solubility. Aug 16, 2020.
< https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Supplemental-
Modules-(Physical-and-Theoretical-
Chemistry)/Equilibria/Solubility-and-Factors-Affecting-
Solubility>
A lab report (Mae,2016) Mae Booth (2016) Solubility of A Salt in Water at
in pdf form Various Temperatures Lab. August 21, 2016.
<https://silo.tips/download/solubility-of-a-salt-in-water-
at-various-temperatures-lab>
A book (Janice,2019) Janice (2019) General, Organic & Biology Chemistry
Fourth Edition. Mc Graw Hill Education Book, 278-282.
A lab report (Karina,2019) Karina K (2019/2020) Determination of solubility of salt
in pdf form in water/ ethanol and percentage error.
<https://www.studocu.com/my/document/jacksonville-
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An article (Anne,2020) Anne M (2020) Saturated Solution Definition and
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< https://www.thoughtco.com/definition-of-saturated-
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