ChemicalReactionsLab

AimeeGardner

November

 ChemicalReactionsLab

Purpose:

Thepurposeofthislabwastoseethechemicalreactionsthatoccurredwhen
mixingvariouschemicalstogether.Afterseeingthereaction,observationsmustbe
writtentohelpdeterminewhatthebalancedchemicalequationwasandtonotehowthe
chemicalsformedfromareactanttoaproduct.Aftercompletingthebalancedchemical
equation,thefinalstepwastoclassifywhattypeofchemicalreactionitwas.


Hypothesis:

Theoverallhypothesisoftheexperimentwasthatallreactionswilleitherfizzor
bubbleand/orchangecolor.Eachreactionthenhadaseparatehypothesis:
Reaction#1~Demo:Magnesiumribbonwouldburnandturnblack,thenfallapart.
Reaction#2:Becauseofexperiencefromrecentlabs,thehypothesiswasthatitwould
bubble/fizzthenincreaseintemperature.
Reaction#3:Reactionwouldsteam/haveasmoke-likeappearancerisefromitand
litmuspaperwouldturndarkred.
Reaction#4:Bubble/fizz;becomewarm
Reaction#5:Becauseofexperiencefromrecentlabs,hypothesiswasthatitwouldturn
blackthenslowlybecomeredandbreakapart.
Reaction#6:Bubble/fizz;changecolor
Reaction#7:Befizzy;acidic;changecolorfast
Reaction#8:Asaclass,wedidnotdoReaction#8.

1

Procedure:

MaterialsList:
Ammoniumcarbonate,(NH4)2CO3,0.5g
Calciumcarbonate,CaCO3,0.5g
Copper(II)chloridesolution,CuCl2,0.5M,4mL
Ethylalcohol,C2H5OH,1mL
Hydrochloricacid,HCl,1M,4mL
Magnesiumribbon,Mg,2-4cmstrips,2
Phenolphthaleinindicator,1drop
Sodiumhydroxidesolution,NaOH,1M,1mL
Sodiumphosphatesolution,Na3PO4,0.5M,1mL
Water,distilled
Zinc,mossy,orzincshot,Zn,1-2pieces
Bunsenorlaboratoryburner
Butanesafetylighter
Evaporatingdish,porcelain
Forcepsorcrucibletongs
Heat-resistantpad
Litmuspaper
Pipets,Beral-type,6
Spatula
Testtubes,small,6
Testtubeclamp
Testtuberack
Washbottle
Woodsplints,3

Directions:

Reaction#1~Demo:
1. Obtaina3-4cmstripofmagnesiummetalribbon.Holdthepieceofmagnesium
withforcepsorcrucibletongsandheatthemetalinalaboratoryburnerflame.Be
carefulnottolookdirectlyatthereactionasitwillpotentiallydamageyoureyes.
2. Whenthemagnesiumignites,removeitfromtheflameandholditoveran
evaporatingdishuntilthemetalhasburnedcompletely.Lettheburning
magnesiumfallintothedish.
3. Turnofflaboratoryburnerandobservethepropertiesoftheproductinthedish.
4. Recordobservationsinthedatatable.

2

Reaction#2:
1. UsingaBeral-typepipet,addabout2mL(40drops)of1Mhydrochloricacid
solutiontoasmalltesttube.
2. Obtaina2-3cmstripofmagnesiummetalribbonandcoilitlooselyintoasmall
ball.Addthemagnesiummetaltotheacidinthetesttube.
3. Carefullyfeelthesidesofthetesttubeandobservetheresultingchemicalreaction
forabout30seconds.
4. Whilethereactionisstilloccurring,lightawoodsplintandquicklyplacethe
burningsplintinthemouthofthetesttube.Donotputtheburningsplintintothe
acidsolution.
5. Recordobservationsindatatable.
Reaction#3:
1. Obtainacleananddrytesttubeandplaceasmallamount(aboutthesizeofajelly
bean)ofammoniumcarbonateintothetesttube.
2. Useatesttubeclamptoholdthetesttubeandgentlyheatthetubeinalaboratory
burnerflameforabout30seconds.
3. Removethetesttubefromtheflameandplaceapieceofmoistenedlitmuspaper
inthemouthofthetesttube.Identifyanyodorthatisreadilyapparentbywafting
thefumestowardyournose.Donotsnifftesttube.
4. Recordobservationsindatatable.
Reaction#4:
1. Placeasmallamount(aboutthesizeofajellybean)ofcalciumcarbonateina
cleananddrytesttube.
2. UsingaBeral-typepipet,addabout1mL(20drops)of1Mhydrochloricacidtothe
testtube.Feelthesidesofthetesttubeandobservethereactionfor30seconds.
3. Quicklylightawoodsplintandinserttheburningsplintabouthalfwaydowninto
thetesttube.Donotallowtheburningsplinttocontactthereactionmixture.
4. Recordobservationsindatatable.
Reaction#5:
1. UsingaBeral-typepipet,addabout2mL(40drops)of0.5Mcopper(II)chloride
solutionintoasmalltesttube.
2. Addabout1-2smallpiecesofmossyzincoronepieceofzincshottothetesttube
andobservetheresultingchemicalreaction.
3. Recordobservationsindatatable.
Reaction#6:
1. UsingaBeral-typepipet,addabout2mL(40drops)of0.5Mcopper(II)chloride
solutionintoasmalltesttube.
2. Usingafreshpipet,addabout25dropsof0.5Msodiumphosphatetothetesttube.
3. Recordobservationsindatatable.

3
Reaction#7:
1. UsingaBeral-typepipet,add20dropsof1Msodiumhydroxidesolutionintoa
smalltesttube.
2. Addonedropofphenolphthaleinindicatortothetesttubeandmixthesolution
bygentlyswirlingthetube.
3. UsingacleanBeral-typepipet,add1Mhydrochloricacidsolutiononedropata
timetothetesttube.Countthenumberofdropsofacidrequiredforpermanent
colorchangetobeobserved.
4. Recordobservationsindatatable.
Reaction#8:
**Asaclass,wedidnotdoReaction#8**

Observations:

Eachchemicalthatwasinvolvedduringthislabhadnotablecharacteristics.
Magnesiumribbonresembledapieceofbendablemetalmuchlikethetwistiesthattie
loavesofbreadinbags.Hydrochloricacidsolutioncouldeasilybemistakenforwater
buthasastrongscentlikeammonia.Ammoniumcarbonatelookedlikeahardclumpof
sugarformedtogetherasitwaswhiteandhadagrainyappearance.Calciumcarbonate
resembledsugarbutitwasmorelikepowderedsugarasshowninfigure1.Copper
chloridesolutionhadaninterestingappearancebecauseitwasblueandcopperis
usuallyseenasacoppercolor;tarnishedgold-brown.Thesolutionlookedlikebluejuice
(Figure2).Themossyzincwaslikeatarnishedsilverandintheformoflittlenuggets.
Sodiumphosphatesolutionresembledwateraswellassodiumhydroxide,andthe
phenolphthaleinindicatorgavethesameappearanceaswell.

Figure1:CalciumCarbonate Figure2:Copper(II)ChlorideSolution

4
Data/Results:

Eachreactionwasrelativelysimilar.Therewasnotasinglereactionthathada
minorreactionornoreactionatall.Mostofthemhadsomesortofbubblingorfizzing
and/orcolorchange.Table1showsthedatarecordedaftercompletingeachchemical
reaction.Figure3showsthefinalreactionofChemicalReaction#6,theresultwas
intriguingandprovidedabetterexplanationforthedatarecorded.

Data/ResultsofChemicalReactions~Table1
Reaction Data/Results

1 Reallybright;smokey

2 Testtubebecamewarm;Ribbonbubbledandfizzedwoodsplintmade
poppingnoise

3 Orangeflame;aluminumcarbonatewasmovingandshakingintube
*NOTE:testtubebrokeintheprocessofheatingthealuminumcarbonate
therefore,noscentwasrecorded.*

4 White,thick,bubbly;madefiregoout;keptsmokeintesttube

5 Turnsbrownandblack;afterafewseconds,slowlyturnsburgundyred;a
littlebubbly

6 Blue;grewalayerofwhitishprecipitate;lookssolid

7 Immediatelyturnedbrightpink;27dropsofhydrochloricacidsolutionto
completelygetridofpink

Figure3:ChemicalReaction#6

5

Conclusion:

Throughoutthislab,sevenchemicalreactionswererecorded,andwithinthese
seventestsconducted,errorsarelikelypossibletohaveoccurredinalmostallofthem.
Possibleerrorswouldinclude,incorrectmeasurementswhenpouringthesolutionsina
graduatedcylinderand/orincorrectmeasurementswhengatheringthesolidchemicals.
Byhaving 0.1mLofthegivenamountofanysolutioninthetesttube,itcouldchange
thereactionsimplybecauseitisnttheexactmeasurementthatwasrequired.Withthe
solidchemicals,errorswouldincludetheportionsizesbecausetherecouldbea
misunderstandingofwhatthesizeofajellybeanisasitwasdescribedinthedirections.
Thegeneralhypothesisofthisexperimentwasessentiallycorrectinmostcases.
Thehypothesiswasthatallreactionswouldbubble/fizzand/orchangecolor.Reaction#1
createdabrightlightthatwaspotentiallydangeroustolookatandthemagnesium
ribbon,ofcourse,burnedandbecameadifferentcolorfromtheflame.Reaction#2
bubbled/fizzed,butreaction#3showedtheammoniumcarbonateshakingrapidlywhile
overtheflame.Therefore,thegeneralhypothesisforreaction#3wasincorrectbecauseit
didnotbubble/fizznorchangecolor.Reaction#4becamebubblyandreaction#5
changedcolorasbothwerepredicted.Inreaction#6,copper(II)chloridewasmixedwith
sodiumphosphate.Whenmixedtogether,alightbluecolorwascreatedasthe
hypothesispredicted.Reaction#7turnedbrightpinkafterbeingaclearcolormuchlike
water.Thehypothesisforthesereactionswasessentiallycorrectwiththeexceptionof
reaction#3.
Ofalltheresultsthatwasgathered,thereactionsrelatetothepastunitsofthe
year.Itrelatestobalancingequations,recognizingchemicalreactions,chemical
properties,andknowingchemicalcompounds.
Ifthisexperimentwastohaveado-over,manymeasurementsandcalculations
wouldbehighlyconsidered.Whenthesolutionsweremeasuredout,notallofthemwere
precise,andwhensomechemicalsweregathered,theymaynothavebeentheprecise
size.Becauseofthesevariableamounts,thedatathatwasgatheredmaynothavebeen
themostaccurate.Differentequipmentthatcouldhavebeenusedwouldbea
microscopetoseetheactualreactioncloseup.Bydoingthis,therewouldhavebeena
betterunderstandingoftheactualreaction.Thepurposewastoseethechemical
reactionandiftherehadbeenamicroscope,theremayhavebeenabetterinterpretation
ofit.
Mistakesinthislabthathavebeenaddressedareespeciallyonreaction#3.The
testtubebrokebeforethescentwasabletoberecorded,causingalackofknowledgeon
thatchemicalsubstance.Infuturelabs,theideaofnotholdingatesttubeoveropen
flameformorethan30secondswillbepresent,preventingthatdilemma.Nowthatthe
datahasbeenanalyzed,anexperimentonstudyingthepropertiesofchemical
substancesupcloseonamicroscopewouldbebeneficial.


6