Sunday, March 20, 2016

Extraction of cooper sulfate

Mixture 1 is cooper sulfate mixed with unknown composition of different metals compounds that gives mixture 1 a green color. A flame test was made and it was observed green and orange flames, which is probably due to sodium and calcium contamination. It's feasible that mixture 1 is also composed of calcium carbonate. The mixture was poured in a solution of 70% sulfuric acid with ethyl alcohol, both were diluted in water. Cooper sulfate isn't soluble in ethyl alcohol so the by-products will be more easily separated. Gas was released and the solution started to become blue like cooper sulfate. A white precipitate was forming on the bottom of the beaker. The colorless gas is not combustible and doesn't have odor. The gas might be carbon dioxide, product of the reaction bellow:
                                                    H2SO4+CaCO3CaSO4+H2O+CO2
The products were gravity filtered. After filtering it was observed a deep blue liquid and a white powder. The liquid was cooper sulfate and water, therefore, the calcium carbonate was mixed with iron and cooper salts as well, that gave the mixture a greenish-blue color.
Final cooper sulfate yield 

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