The %w/w Cu in a synthetic basic copper carbonate may be found by reducing and isolating the copper as Cu metal. To calculate the %w/w Cu we use the following formula
The following is typical data
test-tube: 45.6615 g
test-tube + sample: 46.0634 g
test-tube + residue: 45.8838 g
(a) What is the %w/w Cu in this sample?
(b) Taking the uncertainty in each mass as ±0.00014 g (this already accounts for the tare), use a propagation of uncertainty to estimate the absolute uncertainty in the weight percent Cu.
(c) Based on your answer to part (b), would you expect to be able to distinguish between the following proposed formulas for basic copper carbonate: Cu3(OH)2CO3 and Cu2(OH)2CO3•½H2O using only data about the weight percent of copper?
