Separation of Nickel, Lead, Cobalt, and Lithium from an Aqueous Solution

By: Jessie Allen, Derek Alba, Tyler Haynie, Sarah Schobert

Purpose

To find a way to separate lead, nickel, lithium, and cobalt out from one another and the aqueous solution by turning all but one of them into a solid, then use a flame test to see if the other is the only one left.

Materials

Multiple test tubes Test tube rack(s) Funnel Goggles Apron Gloves Bunsen burner Wooden sticks Filter Paper

Ions used

Carbonate Fluorine Iodide Sulfate Sodium

1st Procedure

1. Put your test tube into the rack with the lead, cobalt, lithium, and nickel in an aqueous solution.

2. Insert sulfate. After a while lead should turn into plumbous sulfate.

3. Then pull it out of the aqueous solution. To precipitate it out, put a piece of filter paper over a different test tube. The hold the funnel so that the liquid pours into the other test tube.

4. Then pour the aqueous solution into the funnel.

5. Remove the filter paper which should contain your solid.

6. Repeat steps 2-5 until lead is completely precipitated out.

7. Then insert fluoride. After a while nickel will turn into nickelous fluoride (NiF2).

8. Follow steps 3-5 to precipitate out NiF2. 9. the repeat steps 7 and 8 until nickel is

completely precipitated out. 10. Insert carbonate. After a while cobalt should

turn into cobaltous carbonate. 11. the remove it from the solution by repeating

steps 3-5 to precipitate cobalt out.

12. Then repeat steps 10 and 11 until cobalt is completely precipitated out leaving you with only lithium left.

13. Now take the wire and get some of what is left of the solution on it.

14. Then hold it over the bunsen burner flame. Lithium should produce a red orange flame to show that lithium is the only element left.

2nd Procedure

1. Put your test tube into the rack with the lead, cobalt, lithium, and nickel in an aqueous solution.

2. Pour your aqueous solution into anywhere from 4 to 8 smaller test tubes in case you mess up.

3. Then your going to take one of those smaller test tubes and split it evenly in between another empty test tube so that you have more room to add ions.

4. Next you add iodide to the solution to precipitate out lead (put into centrifuge to speed up the precipitating process). By doing this is should produce PbI.

5. Next you should remove the left over liquid from the test tube leaving your precipitant. The way you do that is by dumping the liquid into another test tube.

6. Then you are going to repeat steps 4 and 5 until lead is all the way out of the solution.

7. Next you add chlorate (ClO3) to your aqueous solution to precipitate nickel out by forming NiClO3.

8. Then remove the precipitant from the aqueous solution using the same method from before and repeat until nickel is completely out.

9. Next add carbonate (CO3) to your aqueous solution to precipitate out cobalt. This should form CoCO3.

10. Remove liquid left and repeat until cobalt is no long existing in the aqueous solution.

11. Now that you have everything out of the aqueous solution except lithium, take a wooden stick and soak it in the aqueous solution.

12. After the wooden stick as soaked for a while, hold it over an open flame and it should produce a red orange color.

Failures

Nickel and fluoride – no reaction Carbonate mixing with both cobalt

and nickel Diluted solution – no red flame for

lithium Never actually precipitating nickel

out

Conclusion

In conclusion, this lab was and was not a success at the same time. In a way it was a success because two participants were eventually isolated. However on the other hand it was unsuccessful because nickel was never able to be isolated and a red flame from lithium was never achieved.

Pictures from Lab

Most of our Materials

More Materials

Aqueous Solution

Aqueous Solution

Step 2 in the 2nd Procedure

Adding Sulfate

Result from Adding Sulfate

Plumbous Sulfate

Nickel and Fluoride

Failed attempt to get nickel precipitated

Step 4 of the 2nd Procedure

Step 4 of the 2nd Procedure

Nickel and Cobalt

Step 9 of 2nd Procedure

Step 9 of 2nd Procedure

CoCO3 Precipitant

CoCO3 Precipitant

Diluted Lithium Solution

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