In the limiting reagents lab, we will react copper-tooth sulfate in solution with iron metal. This will result in two products, pure copper and iron sulfate either iron 2 or iron 3. And one of these reagents, either the copper-tooth sulfate or the iron, is the limiting reagent. We'll start out by heating some water in our double-ringed apparatus. And we will add 7 grams of anhydrous copper-tooth sulfate. Note the color. It's almost white. We will stir to dissolve as much of the copper sulfate powder as possible. We do not want the solution to boil. Once all the solid has dissolved, we turn off the heat source and we observe the color of the solution. We will then move the solution to the lab station to cool. Once it is cooled slightly, we can add in our 2 grams of iron metal. Note the appearance of the iron and note the color of the copper sulfate solution before we add in the iron. Note the color change in the solution as the reaction proceeds. Stirring or agitation speeds up the reaction process because it causes more collisions between the atoms and molecules. The greater the number of collisions, the greater the number of collisions, the faster it reacts. After several minutes of stirring and several more minutes, you can see that our copper product has settled to the bottom, leaving blue solution behind up above. We look at the bottom of the beaker here and it's very clearly a nice copper color. Now we need to filter our product out and in order to do that we need to use some filter paper. I have obtained a piece of filter paper and the mass of the filter paper is 1.50 grams. In order to make this piece of filter paper fit into the filter paper. In this funnel I have to take the filter paper and fold it in half and then fold it in half again. Once I have done that, if I pinch three layers of the filter paper, I can fold it out into a paper. I can use a cone shape which will fit very nicely into the funnel. To get it to rest in place, I can use some distilled water and force it into the funnel. Now I will take my product and I will pour it into the funnel. That means our solid copper will be trapped in the filter paper. Obviously we don't want to leave any product behind in the beaker like this. So we will use our distilled water bottle and squirt some water up into the beaker causing the copper product to pour out. Obviously we don't want to leave any product behind in the beaker like this. So we will use our distilled water bottle and squirt some water up into the beaker causing the copper product to pour out. I also take some extra distilled water here and rinse the sides of the beaker to make sure I have obtained as much product as possible. The more copper I can get in my filter paper, the higher my percent yield. After several minutes we filtered all of the water out of the mixture and we are left with only copper in our filter paper. However, our filter paper is still wet and so we will need to let it dry overnight in order to weigh it accurately the next day. Before we weigh it, before we let it dry overnight, note the color of the solution that is left over. Obviously it has been diluted by the extra distilled water used but it is an important clue as to which chemical, the iron or the copper to sulfate, was your limiting reagent and which chemical was your excess. So we will take our funnel carefully remove our filter paper so that we don't lose any product and we will lay it flat in the fume hood to dry overnight. After allowing the copper product to sit overnight to dry in the fume hood, we can now take it and place it on the balance to see how much it weighs. The final mass is 3.96 grams. Remember this is the mass of the copper product plus the filter paper and the original mass of the filter paper was 1.50 grams. So in order to find the mass of the copper you will have to subtract the filter paper from the final mass.