What are some strengths of the chemistry experiment procedure below (creating copper metal from copper (II) chloride solution and aluminium foil); 1) Record the mass of a clean, dry 100mL beaker in a data table.
2) Using a graduated cylinder, add 50 mL of the aqueous copper (II) chloride solution to the beaker.
3) Being careful not to wrinkle it, fold a piece of aluminium foil that is approximately 6 cm by 15 cm lengthwise so that it is 3 cm x 15 cm. Fold it a second time so that it is 1.5 cm x 15 cm.
4) Record the mass of the aluminium foil in a data table.
5) Loosely coil the aluminium foil into a circle and place it into the solution in the bottom of the beaker.
6) Place the beaker on the hotplate and set to medium-high. Heat the solution until it has boiled gently for 5 minutes.
7) Once the reaction has boiled for 5 min, remove from the hotplate with the beaker tongs and let cool.
8) Carefully remove any excess solid aluminium with tweezers, taking care not to remove any solid copper.
9) Decant (pour off) the supernatant (liquid phase) from the beaker into a 250 mL waste beaker.
10) Add 50 mL of water to the beaker with the solid copper. Stir well to wash the copper and carefully decant the water into the waste beaker, trying not to lose any copper.
11) Spread the copper on the bottom of the beaker and use a stirring rod to break the copper into smaller pieces. Gently heat the beaker containing the copper to evaporate the water on a low heat setting on the hotplate. Be careful not to allow the copper to begin to turn black. Condensation on the beaker should be observed.
12) Once the copper is close to being dry (and hopefully it has not turned black), hold a watch glass with the tongs above the beaker for a few seconds to see if there is still water evaporating (the watch glass will show condensation). Dry it off and hold it above the beaker and continue heating gently. Repeat this step until no condensed water appears on the watch glass. Then stop heating.
13) Allow the beaker to cool and record the final the mass of the beaker and copper.