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RSC Education
edu.rsc.org › experiments › finding-the-formula-of-hydrated-copperii-sulfate › 436.article
Finding the formula of hydrated copper(II) sulfate | Class experiment | RSC Education
July 14, 2025 - In this experiment, a known mass of hydrated copper(II) sulfate is heated to remove the water of crystallisation · This is a class experiment suitable for students who already have a reasonable understanding of the mole concept. The mass of water is found by weighing before and after heating. This information is used to find x in the formula CuSO4.xH2O, using mole calculations

chemical compound

Copper_sulfate.jpg
Copper(II)-sulfate-pentahydrate-xtal-1985-Cu-coord-3D-bs-17.png
Copper(II)-sulfate-pentahydrate-unit-cell-1985-3D-bs-17.png
Copper(II) sulfate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula · CuSO4. It forms hydrates · CuSO4·nH2O, where n can range from 1 to 7. The pentahydrate (n = 5), a bright … Wikipedia
Factsheet
Names IUPAC name
Copper(II) sulfate
Identifiers
CAS Number 7758-98-7 (anhydrous) Y
7758-99-8 (pentahydrate) Y
16448-28-5 (trihydrate) N
19086-18-1 (heptahydrate) N
Factsheet
Names IUPAC name
Copper(II) sulfate
Identifiers
CAS Number 7758-98-7 (anhydrous) Y
7758-99-8 (pentahydrate) Y
16448-28-5 (trihydrate) N
19086-18-1 (heptahydrate) N
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Copper(II)_sulfate
Copper(II) sulfate - Wikipedia
December 6, 2025 - Copper(II) sulfate is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula · CuSO4. It forms hydrates · CuSO4·nH2O, where n can range from 1 to 7. The pentahydrate (n = 5), a bright blue crystal, is the most commonly encountered hydrate of copper(II) sulfate, while its anhydrous form is white.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/chemhelp › determining the formula of a copper (ii) sulfate hydrate.
r/chemhelp on Reddit: Determining the formula of a Copper (ii) Sulfate Hydrate.
April 19, 2013 -

Hello r/chemhelp. Hopefully this is not a foolish question but I did a lab in my grade 11 Chemistry class. I am unfortunately weak in chemistry and should not of taken it (my grade 12 courses and university plans don't relate to chem). With that being said I still find chemistry interesting but it is not something I excel at and it is depressing because I would like too. Anyways, I am assuming this is incorrect but I do not understand how this could of happened.

The purpose of this experiment is to find the formula of CuSO4 * xH2O.

We placed 2 grams of a hydrated sample into a crucible and held it over a Bunsen burner on low heat until it turned into the white anhydrous form. We weighed the empty crucible, the hydrated forum, and the anhydrous forum. I did not add anything else. I am trying to do the analysis questions but my mass doesn't make sense. This experiment was done yesterday and I am ashamed to ask my teacher to get all the supplies out and do it again.

Empty crucible: 25.07g Hydrated Copper (ii) Sulfate: 26.11g Anhydrous CuSO4: 26.40g

Top answer
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Ok, well if we subtract the weight of the empty crucible, you started with 1.04 grams of hydrated copper sulphate. And somehow you ended up with 1.33 grams of "anhydrous" copper sulphate? Sorry, but that's impossible. If you are absolutely sure that nothing else was somehow dropped into the crucible, then I suspect a weighing error must have occurred. Perhaps the balance wasn't reading zero (it wasn't tared) when you weighed the crucible with the hydrated copper sulphate in it. Then, once the experiment was complete, if you reweighed it with the balance actually at zero (properly tared) then you could have easily read off a weight which was more than you thought you started with. In any case, the actual formula of hydrated copper sulphate is CuSO4.5H20. The molar mass of this is 249.5, whereas the molar mass of anhydrous copper sulphate is 159.5. The difference between them is 90. This translates to 36.1% water by weight. So your 1.04 grams of hydrated copper sulphate, if completely converted to the anhydrous form, should be reduced in mass by 36.1%, making it now weigh 0.665 grams. That answer is precisely half the weight you actually ended up with (0.665 x 2 = 1.33). This may be a coincidence, but it may also be that somewhere in your calculations, you somehow ended up multiplying your answer by 2? Not sure how, but it would explain the result.
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As midnight-cheeseater said, there seems to either be a small calculation error, otherwise the result obtained is simply impossible. If I was to give a small piece of advice, try doing the analysis again since it's good practice. If you do end up doing it again, make sure to use the same exact scale when weighing everything from when you start to when you finish. Calibration differences between scales can throw off your analysis. Also make sure to handle everything with clean gloves. Using bare hands can transfer oils or dirty gloves can transfer bits of powder to your sample.
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EMBL-EBI
ebi.ac.uk › chebi › searchId.do
copper(II) sulfate hexahydrate (CHEBI:91246)
A hydrate that is the hexahydrate form of copper(2+) sulfate.
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UT Austin Chemistry
ch301.cm.utexas.edu › help › general › compstoich.pdf pdf
Compound Stoichiometry - Mole Concept
laboratory balance as shown below. The chemical formula for copper(II) sulfate is CuSO4·5H2O. Note that the “·5” · in front of the H2O means that 5 waters of hydration are part of the formula.
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UKEssays
ukessays.com › home › hydrated copper sulfate formula
Hydrated Copper Sulfate Formula | UKEssays.com
July 21, 2025 - The value x = 5.0755 can be approximate to x = 5; therefore, the empirical formula is CuSO4· 5H2O. As stated by theory, when heating the crystals, the water will evaporate depending on the temperature.
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Sigma-Aldrich
sigmaaldrich.com › US › en › product › sigald › 209201
Copper(II) sulfate 98 23254-43-5
Copper(II) sulfate hydrate 98%; CAS Number: 23254-43-5; EC Number: 231-847-6; Linear Formula: CuSO4 · xH2O at Sigma-Aldrich
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PubChem
pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › compound › Copper-sulfate-pentahydrate
Copper sulfate pentahydrate | CuSO4.5H2O | CID 24463 - PubChem
Copper sulfate pentahydrate | CuSO4.5H2O or CuH10O9S | CID 24463 - structure, chemical names, physical and chemical properties, classification, patents, literature, biological activities, safety/hazards/toxicity information, supplier lists, and more.
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Vaia
vaia.com › all textbooks › chemistry › chemistry › chapter 3 › problem 139
sample of hydrated copper(II) sulfate - Chemistry - Vaia
In the case of hydrated copper(II) sulfate, once we determine the hydration number 'x' using stoichiometry, we can accurately write its molecular formula as \textbf{CuSO\(_4\)・xH\(_2\)O}. Furthermore, knowing the molecular formula is crucial ...
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Sigma-Aldrich
sigmaaldrich.com › substance › copper(ii) sulfate hydrate
Copper(II) sulfate hydrate -
Copper(II) sulfate hydrate. CuSO4 · xH2O. CAS 23254-43-5. Molecular Weight 159.61 (anhydrous basis). Browse Copper(II) sulfate hydrate and related products at MilliporeSigma.
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Dynamic Science
dynamicscience.com.au › tester › solutions1 › chemistry › moleandempiricalformulae.htm
Chemistry - mole and empirical formulae copper sulfate hydrated
Copper sulfate is a crystalline solid that has many water molecules embedded in its lattice structure. The number of water molecules per copper sulfate particle, depends on the conditions the crystals of copper sulfate are in · The formula of hydrated copper sulfate is CuSO4.
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Scribd
scribd.com › document › 368181770 › riah-kim-determine-the-formula-of-hydrated-copper-ii-sulfate-1
Riah Kim - Determine The Formula of Hydrated Copper II Sulfate 1 | PDF | Applied And Interdisciplinary Physics | Chemistry
Controls such as heating temperature and crucible are kept constant. Safety precautions are described to avoid risks from the Bunsen burner. The student heats hydrated copper(II) sulfate in a crucible and measures the initial and final masses to calculate water loss and deduce the formula.Read more
Rating: 5 ​ - ​ 1 votes
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EMBL-EBI
ebi.ac.uk › chebi › searchId.do
copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate (CHEBI:31440)
The pentahydrate of copper(2+) sulfate. A bright blue crystalline solid.
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Soft Schools
softschools.com › formulas › chemistry › copper_ii_sulfate_formula › 653
Copper (II) Sulfate Formula
Formula and structure: Copper (II) sulfate chemical formula is CuSO4 and the molar mass is 159.60 g mol-1. The compound is commonly found as a hydrated salt with between 1 to 5 molecules of water. The most common hydrated form is the CuSO4.5 H2O. The pentahydrated form has a molecular mass ...
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American Elements
americanelements.com › copper-ii-sulfate-pentahydrate-7758-99-8
Copper(II) Sulfate Pentahydrate | AMERICAN ELEMENTS ®
Copper(II) Sulfate Pentahydrate is a moderately water and acid soluble Sodium source for uses compatible with sulfates. Sulfate compounds are salts or esters of sulfuric acid formed by replacing one or both of the hydrogens with a metal. Most metal sulfate compounds are readily soluble in water for uses such as water treatment, unlike fluorides and oxides which tend to be insoluble.