Co-precipitation is the process by which undesirable materials are "carried down" and trapped on the suface or within the desired precitate. The precipitate is washed with distilled water to remove the co-precipitates which are more soluble that the precipitate. Care must be taken not to over-wash as some of the desired precipitate may be removed as well. Indicate, along with a brief explanation, whether the experimentally determined mass of analyte would be too high or too low if co-precipitation occurred, but the sample was not washed.
If co-precipitation occurs, but the sample is not washed, the experimentally determined mass of the analyte would be too high.
Co-precipitation refers to the process where undesirable materials are carried down and trapped along with the desired precipitate. In this case, if the co-precipitate is not washed away, it will remain in the solid precipitate and contribute to its mass. As a result, when the mass of the precipitate is measured, it will include the mass of the co-precipitate, leading to an overestimation of the analyte's mass.
By not washing the precipitate, you are essentially leaving behind impurities that are more soluble than the desired precipitate. This can be problematic because co-precipitates can interfere with subsequent analysis or affect the accuracy of the final result. Therefore, it is important to wash the precipitate to remove the co-precipitates and ensure that the analyte's mass is not erroneously inflated.