Effect of Experimental Errors on Calculated Molar Volume of CO2
What are the potential effects of specific experimental errors on the calculated molar volume of CO2?
A. Too much Dry Ice was added to the flask.
B. After determining the mass of the flask, stopper, and air, the student used a stopper with less mass than the original stopper when he weighed the CO2-filled flask.
Impact of Experimental Errors on Calculated Molar Volume of CO2
Too much Dry Ice will result in an incorrectly larger calculated molar volume of CO2, while using a stopper with less mass will lead to an incorrectly smaller calculated volume.
When ideal gas laws such as the STP conditions are applied, the volume of carbon dioxide can be converted into moles by dividing by the molar volume of 22.4 L/mol. Experimental errors can affect this calculation.
Too much Dry Ice in the flask would result in a larger mass being recorded, and consequently, a larger calculated molar volume of CO2. The additional mass of Dry Ice would lead to an overestimation of the amount of CO2 present.
Using a stopper with less mass would yield a smaller mass difference when compared to the initial mass with air, incorrectly suggesting a lower amount of CO2 has been added. Consequently, this would result in a smaller calculated molar volume for CO2.