AP Chemistry Gravimetric Analysis Kit

This AP Chemistry lab kit gives students a complete gravimetric analysis investigation, the quantitative technique in which the amount of a substance is determined by measuring mass rather than volume or concentration. Working through the procedure, students identify an unknown metal chloride and calculate its formula weight from the mass of a precipitate, reinforcing the stoichiometry and careful measurement that gravimetric methods demand.

In gravimetric analysis, the analyte, the species being measured, is converted into a compound of known composition that can be isolated and weighed. Here, the unknown chloride is dissolved and treated with silver nitrate, which precipitates the chloride as insoluble silver chloride. After the precipitate is collected, dried, and massed, students relate its mass back to the quantity of chloride in the original sample, then use that result to determine the formula weight and identity of the unknown. Because the calculation rests entirely on measured masses, the lab rewards precise weighing, complete precipitation, and clean technique, reinforcing the stoichiometric reasoning central to AP Chemistry.

The kit supplies the two reagents the procedure requires, 10 g of an unknown chloride and 5 g of silver nitrate, along with a teacher's manual containing background, procedure, and instructional guidance. It is intended for laboratory use only and is designed to pair with standard glassware and a balance already present in the lab. The reagents ship under the small-quantity exception of 49 CFR 173.4 for domestic ground transport.