1. Name __________________________________________ Period ______
Making Ionic Compounds
Safety
Always wear goggles and a lab apron! Never look directly at burning magnesium
and avoid handling any heated material until it cools. Follow all directions
carefully. Some procedures in this lab can result in your being burned by flying
pieces of very hot materials if you don’t follow the directions carefully.
Materials
magnesium ribbon
crucible
ring stand and ring
clay triangle
Bunsen burner
stirring rod
crucible tongs
balance
100 mL beaker
distilled water
plastic dropper
micro spatula
conductivity tester

3. Lab
1. As in any lab, make sure all utensils are clean (utensils include: crucible,
stirring rod, 100 mL beaker, plastic dropper, and micro spatula). Also
check for cracked glass.
2. Arrange the ring on the ring stand so that it is about 7 cm above the
Bunsen burner. Place the clay triangle on the ring.
3. Measure the mass of the clean, dry crucible and record the mass in the
data table.
4. Roll approximately 25 cm of magnesium ribbon into a loose ball and place
it in the crucible. Measure the mass of the ball and the crucible and
record it.
5. Place the crucible on the clay ring. Heat with a hot flame making sure that
the crucible is near the top of the flame.
Danger! Do not look at the bright light directly! It will permanently damage
your eyes!
6. Watch carefully! When the metal ignites, move the Bunsen burner out
from under the crucible and clay triangle, and turn off the flame.
Caution! Follow these directions carefully! The crucible can shatter, sending
hot pieces of material flying.
7. After everything has stopped reacting, wait a couple of minutes for the
crucible to cool slightly. Then take a plastic dropper and very carefully
place one drop of water along the inside top edge of the crucible. Allow
the drop of water to roll down the inside of the crucible and come in
contact with the magnesium products in the bottom. Continue to add
drops of water in this manner until the water no longer sizzles.
8. Re-light your burner and reheat the crucible with the magnesium product
and water until all the water has been boiled off.
9. Turn off the Bunsen burner and allow the crucible to cool. After a few
minutes measure and record the mass.
10. Use a micro spatula to scrape the solid magnesium product into a beaker
for further testing.

4. 11. Add 10 mL of distilled water to the beaker and stir. Pour the contents of
this beaker into the large beaker with everyone else’s. Check with a
conductivity tester and record your results.
12. Return all lab equipment to its proper place.
13. Complete all Questions.
Data Table
Material(s) Mass (g)
Empty crucible
Mg ribbon and crucible (together) before heating
Magnesium ribbon
Magnesium products and crucible (together) after
heating
Magnesium product
Questions
1. Calculate all masses and record them in the table.
a) Write the electron configuration for magnesium.
• Based on the configuration, will magnesium lose or gain electrons to
become a magnesium ion?
• Write the electron configuration of a magnesium ion.
• What noble gas has the same configuration as magnesium ion?
b) Repeat a) above for oxygen and nitrogen.

5. c) What kind of energy was released during the reaction? What can
you conclude about the product of this reaction?
d) How do you know that the magnesium reacts with certain components
of air?
e) Magnesium reacts with oxygen and nitrogen in the air at high
temperatures. Predict the binary formulas for the products. Write the
names of these compounds.
f) The product of the magnesium and oxygen is white and the product of
magnesium and nitrogen is yellow. Which one dominates your
product?
g) Did the product produce an electric current? Does this indicate
whether or not the compounds are ionic?