Calcite is a mineral which contains mainly calcium carbonate. An experiment, consisting of following five stage, was conducted to determine the percentage by mass of calcium carbonate in a sample of calcite.
Stage 1: Weigh the sample. Add dilute nitric acid to it until the acid is in excess.
Stage 2: Filter the mixture obtained in Stage 1 to remove any undissolved solid.
Stage 3: Add excess sodium sulphate solutin to the filtrate to precipitate out calcium sulphate.
Stage 4: Collect the calcium sulphate precipitate and wash it with distilled wate.
Stage 5: Allow the calcium sulphate to dry and weigh it.
(a) Write a chemical equation for the reaction of CaCO3 with nitric acid. Suggest how one can know that excess acid has been added in Stage 1.
(c)Write the ionic equation for reaction in Stage 3.
(d)Explain why it is necessary to wash the precipitate with distilled water in Stage 4.
(e) The result obtain in the experiment are listed below:
mass of calcite sample=7.98G
mass of calcium sulphate obtain=10.52
(i)Calculate the percentage by mass of CaCo3 in sample of calcite
(ii)State ONE assumption in the calculation.
(C=12.0,O=16,S=32,Ca=40)