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Making Assumptions Explicit: How the Law of Conservation of Matter Can Explain Empirical Formula Problems

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Stephen DeMeo

Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Hunter College of CUNY, New York, NY 10021

J. Chem. Educ., 2001, 78 (8), p 1050

DOI: 10.1021/ed078p1050

Publication Date (Web): August 1, 2001

Section:

History, Education, and Documentation

Abstract

The law of conservation of matter plays an important part in the story of the determination of the empirical formula of a compound. Utilizing the law of conservation could promote student understanding of this subject by providing the rationale for many of the procedural steps used to solve empirical formula problems. This is an argument for linking theory to method. It is not pedagogically sound for students to simply go through a series of steps and arrive at an answer without knowing why these steps can be performed, what assumptions they rest on, and how they relate to other chemical concepts. With this in mind, a table was constructed that explicitly connects theoretical assumptions of conservation to the procedural steps followed by introductory students when determining the empirical formula of an unknown compound.

Keywords (Audience):

High School / Introductory Chemistry

Keywords (Domain):

Curriculum

Keywords (Feature):

Chemical Principles Revisited

Keywords (Subject):

Descriptive Chemistry

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This article has been cited by 1 ACS Journal articles (1 most recent appear below).

The Empirical Formula of Silver Sulfide
Carlos Alexander Trujillo
Journal of Chemical Education2007 84 (10), 1682
- The Empirical Formula of Silver Sulfide
  Carlos Alexander Trujillo
  Journal of Chemical Education2007 84 (10), 1682
  An experiment is described that allows students to experimentally determine an empirical formula for silver sulfide. At elevated temperatures, silver sulfide reacts in air to form silver, silver sulfate, and sulfur dioxide. At higher temperatures (960 °C)...
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