CHEMISTRY

INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT

Submitted By :
Gowtham krishna G S
Class:XII
Roll no:06
 Study
Of
Constituents
Of
Alloys
Acknowledgement
I wish to express my deep gratitude and
sincere thanks to the Principal,Sheeja.R,
Sree Saraswathy Vidayalayam, for her
encouragement and for all the facilities that
she provided for this project work. I
sincerely appreciate this magnanimity by
taking me into her fold for which I shall
remain indebted to her. I extend my hearty
thanks to Mrs.Karthika, Chemistry teacher,
who guided me to the successful completion
of this project. I take this opportunity to
express my deep sense of gratitude for her
invaluable guidance, constant
encouragement , immense motivation ,
which has sustained my efforts at all the
stages of this project work… I can’t forgot to
offer my sincere thanks to parents and also
to my classmates who helped me to carry
out this project work successful and for their
valuable advice and support , which I
received from them time to time….
 -: Certificate :-
 Guided By :
 Class :
 Year :
 Roll No : ________________
 School :

Certified to be the bona fide work done

by- Master ______________ of class XII A
in the Chemistry Lab during the year
2024- 2025.

Date :-________ Submitted for Central

Board of Secondary Education.
Examination held in Chemistry lab at
Sree Saraswathy Vidayalayam School.
 -: INDEX :-
1-- Introduction

2-- Some Common Alloys

3-- Preparation of alloys

4-- Analysis of an alloy

5-- Experiment 1

To analyze a sample of brass

qualitative
6-- Uses of Alloy
7-- Bibliography……
 INTRODUCTION

An Alloy is a homogenous mixture of two or more metals or a

non-
metal.
An alloy of mercury with another metal is called amalgam.
Alloys are usually harder than their components but very
often less
ductile and less malleable. Thus the hardness of gold is increased by
addition of copper to it. The melting point of an alloy is always lower
than the melting points of the constituent metals. Other properties
such as reactivity towards atmospheric oxygen and moisture,
mechanical strength, ductility, colour etc. also under goes a change
when an alloy is made from its constituents (metals). This change of
properties is very useful and makes an alloy beneficial.
Some of the alloys along with their composition is given below.
1. Brass :-
It consists copper-50-90%.
Zinc. : 20-40%
and small amounts of tin, lead and iron.
 SOME COMMON ALLOYS :-

Amalgam
Any alloy of mercury is called an amalgam. Most metals are
soluble in mercury, but some (such as iron)are not. Amalgams are
commonly used in dental fillings because they have been relatively
cheap, easy to use, and durable. In addition, until recently, they
have been regarded as safe. They are made by mixing mercury
with silver ,copper ,tin , and other metals. The mercury content of
dental fillings has recently stirred controversy, based on the
potentially harmful effects of mercury.
Mercury amalgams have also been used in the process of mining
gold and silver, because of the ease with which mercury
amalgamates with them. In addition , thallium amalgam is used as
the liquid material in thermometers, because it freezes at -
58°C,whereas pure mercury freezes at -38°C.

Brass
A decorative brass paperweight (left), along with zinc and copper
samples.
Brass is the term used for alloys of copper and zinc in a solid
solution. It has a yellow color, somewhat similar to gold. It was
produced in prehistoric times, long before zinc was discovered, by
melting copper with calamine, a zinc ore.
The amount of zinc in brass varies from 5 to 45 percent, creating
a range of brasses, each with unique properties. By comparison,
bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin.
Despite this distinction, some types of brasses are called bronzes.
Brass is relatively resistant to tarnishing and is often used for
decorative purposes. Its malleability and acoustic properties have
made it the metal of choice for musical instruments such as the
trombone, tuba, trumpet, and euphonium. Although saxophones
And harmonicas are made out of brass, the saxophone is a
woodwind instrument, and the harmonica, a free reed aero phone.
In organ pipes designed as "reed" pipes, brass strips are used as
the "reed."

Aluminum makes brass stronger and more corrosion-resistant. It

forms a transparent, self-healing, protective layer of aluminum
oxide (Al2O3) on the surface. Tin has a similar effect and finds its
use especially in seawater applications (naval brasses).
Combinations of iron, aluminum, silicon, and manganese make
brass
resistant to wear and tear.
 Preparation of Alloys
Alloys are prepared from the techniques of fusion, compression or
simultaneous electro - deposition. Generally the components are
mixed together in proper properties in a fuse clay crucible, melted
and stirred with a piece of charcoal to avoid oxidation. The molten
mixture is now allowed to cool. When an alloy is obtained e.g. brass
is prepared by above melted.

Analysis of an alloy

The complete analysis of an alloy involves two steps.

1. Qualitative Analysis :
This involves identification of the components of the alloys.

2. Quantitative Analysis :
This involves determination of the components of the alloy. It
involves the separation of the components from the alloy
quantitatively followed by determination of percentage of each
component volumetrically or gravimetrically.
In this project we will carry out qualitative analysis only.

Objectives of Project :
In this project, our aim is to know the various metals present in the
given sample of alloy.
Experiment -1
To analyze a sample of brass
To analyze a sample of brass qualitative

Requirements : China dish, test-tube funnel, filter paper and common laboratory
reagents.
Theory :
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. with the following.
Composition :
Cu = 60-90% and Zn. = 10-40%.
Thus Cu and Zn. form the main constituents of brass. Both these metals dissolved in 50% of
nitric acid due to formation of nitrates which are soluble.
3 Cu + 8HNO3 (Dil) 3 Cu (NO3)2 + 2NO + 4H2O
or
Cu + 8H+ + 2NO3– 3 Cu+2 + 2NO + 4H2O
4Zn + 10HNO3 (Dil) 4 Zn (NO2)2 + N2O + 5H2O
4Zn + 2NO3– + 10H+ 4 Zn+2 + N2O + 5H2O
The solution is boiled to expel the oxides of nitrogen and the resulting solution is tested for
Cu2+ and Zn+2 ions.

Procedure :
1. Place a small piece of brass in a china dish and heat this with m
quantity of 50% HNO3 so as to dissolve the piece completely.
2. Continue heating the solution till a dry solid residue is obtained.
3. Dissolve the solid residue in dil. HCl and filter. Add distilled water to th
filtrate.
4. Pass H2S gas through the filtrate. A black precipitate of copper sulphi
is obtained. Separate the black ppt. and keep the filtrate for the test of
Zn+2 ions Dissolve black ppt. by heating them with 50% HNO3. To this
solution add ammonium hydroxide solution. Appearance of deep blue
coloration in the solution shows the presence of copper ions in the solution.
5. To test Zn+2 ions, boil the filtrate to remove H2S gas, then add solid
NH4Cl to this and heat to dissolve NH4Cl. Add excess of NH4OH so that a
solution is ammoniacal. Now pass H2S gas through this ammoniacal
solution. Dirty white or grey precipitation indicate zinc. Separate the
precipitates and dissolve it in minimum amount of dil. HCl. Boil to expel H2S
gas and add potassium Ferro cyanide solution, white or bluish white ppt.
confirm Zn+2 ions in the solution.
Result :
The given sample of brass contains copper and zinc. metals as the
main constituents.
USES OF ALLOYS :-
i) To modify chemical reactivity :-

When sodium is used as reducing agent it is too reactive to be used

but its allay with mercury, called sodium amalgam can be safely
used as reducing agent.

ii) To increase hardness :-

Hardness of gold is increased by adding copper to it. Also zinc is

added to copper to make copper hard in form of brass.
iii) To increase tensile strength :-

Nickeloy, an alloy of Nickel (1%), Copper (4%) and aluminium (95%)

has high tensile strength.
iv) To lower the melting point :-
Solder metal which is an alloy of Sn(30%) and Pb(70%) has very
less meting point as compared to melting points of Sn and Pb.

v) To modify the colour :-

Aluminium bronze an alloy of Cu and Al has beautiful golden colour.

vi) To resist corrosion:-

Iron gets rusted and corroded. Its corrosion takes place with time
but stainless steel, an alloy of iron and carbon get not rusted the
composition of stainless steel is :
Iron - 98%
Carbon - 2%
Bibliography :-

1. XII class Chemistry NCERT Books

2. iCBSE.com
3.XII class Chemistry Practical Book
4.Photos from Google images.
5.More Information from Wikipedia..

THE END !