I have a free response question due for an Ap Chemistry class. It states, an experiment is to be performed to determine the mass percent of silver in a sample of the alloy, sterling silver. The equipment shown above is available for the experiment. A drying oven is also available. The equipment is (Beaker, Side arm flask, Buchner Funnel, Distilled Water, Graduated Cylinder, NaCl, 8M HNO3, Stir rod, Analytical Balance, Ring Stand, and a Ring). The questions they asked are, a) Briefly list the steps necessary to carry out this experiment, b) What measurements need to be collected to calculate the mass percent of silver in the sterling silver sample? c) List the calculations necessary to determine the mass percent of silver in the sterling silver sample, and d) Would NaBr be an acceptable substitute for the NaCl provided for this experiment? Explain. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi AP Chemistry student. It seems this experiment is impossible. Sterling Silver cannot be separated so easily with this pathetic equipment. However, if one were to carry this experiment out, I would assume they would need to put the alloy in the graduated cylinder and then somehow filter the silver out through filter paper or Buchner funnel. taking the mass with a stir rod is also helpful for the mass percent calculation. I hope this helps you out, good luck in Mrs. Fischer's class :)

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