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O Level Chemistry & IP Chemistry Notes by 10 Year Series Author – Chemistry Specialist

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O Level Chemistry: Preparation of Salts

Question on “Preparation of Salts” for discussion:

Question:
Which pair of substances is most suitable for the preparation of copper(II) sulphate?
A. Aqueous copper(II) nitrate and aqueous sodium sulphate
B. Copper(II) carbonate and dilute sulphuric acid
C. Copper and dilute sulphuric acid
D. Copper(II) oxide and ammonium sulphate

Takers??

PS: Leave your answers in the “Comments” section below.

Rgds
Sean

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Comments

  1. Imaniraguha says

    August 19, 2012 at 6:16 am

    yes

  2. said says

    March 7, 2012 at 2:21 am

    Aqueous copper(II) nitrate and aqueous sodium sulphate

  3. Melvin says

    September 8, 2011 at 7:28 pm

    A is out cuz although copper sulfate is formed but it wil dissolve in the aqueous solutions.
    C is definitely out cuz copper is unreactive wif an acid
    D is out too because ammonium sulfate is aqueous, so the copper sulfate formed wil dissolve in the water and a precipitate cant be obtained
    Hence B is the answer

  4. FCY says

    February 6, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    Yeah,my answer is D TOO. You Will require Copper(II) oxide and ammonium sulphate to form Copper(II) sulphate.

  5. Amanda says

    September 27, 2010 at 8:59 pm

    THE ANSWER IS B ๐Ÿ˜€ To prepare a soluble salt, you need an insoluble reagent with an acid. The answer cant be C as Copper is too unreatcive to react with acid. ๐Ÿ˜€
    Metal carbonate + Acid -> Salt + Carbon dioxide + Water ๐Ÿ˜€

  6. mar says

    September 20, 2010 at 2:38 pm

    B

  7. yi en says

    May 5, 2009 at 10:26 am

    Copper sulphate is soluble. So you can either prepare it using titration or crystallisation. Crystallisation is easier and it has lesser steps than titration.
    A is wrong as the two salts would not react at all.
    B is correct
    C is wrong as copper is an unreactive metal and the reaction would not occur
    D is wrong as the two salts would not react.

    So B is correct right?

  8. dreamsforeva says

    November 1, 2007 at 8:24 am

    its B!

    C is out cos copper is unreactive.
    as for A, both the products are aq which makes it difficult to seperate them.

    For B, sulphuric acid and excess of insoluable copper carbonate to ensue that all of the acid is used up.

    since the excess copper carbonate is insoluable, it can easily be filtered out.
    the pure filtrate is then evaporated to dryness to obtan pure cuso4 crystals.

    there!
    ๐Ÿ˜€

  9. Anonymous says

    October 23, 2007 at 3:33 am

    It A la….u all know y? because in order to produce a salt both substance must be in aqueous form…..

  10. Sean Chua says

    October 20, 2007 at 5:10 pm

    Ruth is right!

    Copper being a very unreactive metal will tends to form very unstable (thus reactive)compounds with other element(s).

    Copper (II) carbonate is not a very stable compound of Cu and thus tends to react with the H2SO4 based on the word equation below.

    Answer should be B.

    PS: The only soluble carbonates are SPA – Sodium, Potassium and Ammonium carbonates.

    Sean
    SimpleChemConcepts
    “Learning Experience with A Difference”

    Copper(II) carbonate + sulphuric acid ==> copper(II) sulphate + water + carbon dioxide

  11. ruth says

    October 20, 2007 at 3:00 am

    Weeeell, A isn’t wrong per say cause you will get copper(II) sulphate. Yes, they are both soluble salts which means that you’ll find that they deionise in water to form ions(duh, lol).
    Thus, some of the ions will bond to form copper(II) sulphate but it isn’t a very effective method ^ ^
    For the pure copper and acid reaction, there won’t be any reaction at all since copper’s less reactive than hydrogen and won’t be able to displace it.
    And yeah well, the answer should be copper carbonate and the acid. See right, the rule of thumb is that since copper is low down in the reactivity series, it doesn’t like staying as a salt and will decompose easily. Thus when you react it with acid, it’ll easily form copper(II) sulphate, water and carbon dioxide.
    The last two are just bases so, no reaction as lots of you have said(:

    AND AND copper carbonate is insoluble. The only soluble carbonates are sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate and ammonium carbonate.

  12. Spirit-Breaker says

    October 18, 2007 at 9:21 pm

    B
    H2 SO4 + CuCO3 — CuSO4 + H2O + CO2
    Is it true?

  13. FluffySnow says

    October 18, 2007 at 2:22 am

    anonymous: the only soluble carbonates are group 1 carbonates and ammonium carbonate.

  14. lijun(: says

    October 17, 2007 at 6:36 am

    B.

    CuSO4 is soluble in water, hence can be obtained by B.
    CuCO3(s)+H2SO4(aq) -> CuSO4(aq)+CO2(g)+H2O(l)

    A and D are not possible, since it will not undergo ions exchange, as all the reactants and products are aqueous.

    C is also not possible, since Cu is too unreactive, and will not react with acid. it is also because it is below Hydrogen in the reactivity series, hence cannot displace H+ ions.

  15. Anonymous says

    October 17, 2007 at 6:04 am

    I thought copper carbonate is not insoluble?!

  16. FluffySnow says

    October 16, 2007 at 3:59 pm

    The answer is B.

    C is definitely out, since copper is unreactive and does not react with dilute acids.

    Copper (II) carbonate is insoluble. Hence, it is added in excess to ensure that all of the acid is used up (to form Copper (II) Sulphate). It is then filtered off from the mixture, leaving behind pure, aqueous CuSO4.

    and then u heat it to saturation, crystallize and so forth. : )

  17. LinwooD says

    October 16, 2007 at 9:10 am

    I dont think it’s A, because Copper is less reactive than Sodium, so Sodium is not replaced.

    B – no, because copper (II) carbonate is insoluble.

    C – Copper will react with sulphuric acid to form Copper (II) Sulphate and hydrogen gas.

    D – somehow it’s not the right answer and i think there’s no ammonium oxide? or maybe there is, or maybe it will form something else, but i think D is not the most suitable if compared to the easier method in C.

    Therefore, my answer is C.

    please answer ASAP, o level is so around the corner. ๐Ÿ˜€

  18. illuminate-x says

    October 16, 2007 at 9:01 am

    Copper (II) sulphate is is soluble which means an insoluble metal/base/carbonate and an acid is needed to prepare it… so my answer would be B. It can’t be C because copper is too unreactive to react with H2SO4 ๐Ÿ™‚

  19. h3llsmokes says

    October 16, 2007 at 8:59 am

    my ans is C

    A and D will have no reaction as A is both salts and they wont react. For D, copper oxide is a base and wont react with ammonium sulphate
    B is copper with dilute sulphuric acid. copper would not react with dilut sulphuric acid as copper is less reactive than hydrogen. Hence the ans is C

  20. cherie says

    October 16, 2007 at 7:05 am

    my guess is A as both are soluble salts hahah im not that sure too.

    what’s the correct answer?:D

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