Chemical Dominoes
Overview:
For this project we designed a series of 3 reactions that demonstrated what we have learned so far. Our "chemical dominoes" consisted of these chemical reactions:
#1 : Blowing Up a Balloon - Vinegar & Baking Soda
NaHCO3 + CH3COOH ----> CO2 + H2O + Na + CH3COO
This reaction occurs in two steps. First, there is a double displacement reaction in which acetic acid and vinegar reacts with sodium bicarbonate to form sodium acetate and carbonic acid. Then, carbonic acid is unstable and undergoes a decomposition reaction to produce CO2 gas. This CO2 gas is collected in a balloon attached to a beaker. This blows up a balloon and raises the lever on one side to make a marble roll down the other. The marble knocks down a line of dominoes which bump into a cup. This leads to our next reaction.
#2 : Forming a Precipitate - Potassium Iodide & Lead Nitrate
2KI + Pb(NO3)2 ---> 2KNO3 + PbI
In our next reaction, we poured Potassium Iodide from the small plastic cup into a beaker full of Lead Nitrate. This is another double displacement reaction. It forms the yellow precipitate (Lead Iodide.) Once the beaker got even more full, it got heavier and weighed down thee scale. The other side of the scale moved then, colliding with a second series of dominoes. These dominoes set in motion our final reaction.
#3 : Elephant Toothpaste - Hydrogen Peroxide & Yeast
2H2O2 + Enzyme ---> 2H2O + O2
For our final decomposition reaction, we decomposed Hydrogen Peroxide with the help of an enzyme (yeast) to form water and oxygen. We added soap to the mixture which trapped the oxygen gas, forming bubbles. This is what causes the foamy mess!
Reflection:
This project definitely had its ups and downs. A big part of it was trial and error - figuring out what did not work and fixing it. Consequently, with a lot of things going wrong, there was some frustration within our group. We kept changing our project up, modifying steps, and tweaking reactions to ensure everything went smoothly. It took us weeks to finalize our series of reactions, and even then they did not all run perfectly every time. However, this project was also rewarding. Seeing our final product gave me a sense of accomplishment, having overcome those challenges. Coming out of this project, my group and I exercised our patience and strengthened our problem solving skills. Even though it was frustrating at times, I found this project to be worthwhile.
For this project we designed a series of 3 reactions that demonstrated what we have learned so far. Our "chemical dominoes" consisted of these chemical reactions:
#1 : Blowing Up a Balloon - Vinegar & Baking Soda
NaHCO3 + CH3COOH ----> CO2 + H2O + Na + CH3COO
This reaction occurs in two steps. First, there is a double displacement reaction in which acetic acid and vinegar reacts with sodium bicarbonate to form sodium acetate and carbonic acid. Then, carbonic acid is unstable and undergoes a decomposition reaction to produce CO2 gas. This CO2 gas is collected in a balloon attached to a beaker. This blows up a balloon and raises the lever on one side to make a marble roll down the other. The marble knocks down a line of dominoes which bump into a cup. This leads to our next reaction.
#2 : Forming a Precipitate - Potassium Iodide & Lead Nitrate
2KI + Pb(NO3)2 ---> 2KNO3 + PbI
In our next reaction, we poured Potassium Iodide from the small plastic cup into a beaker full of Lead Nitrate. This is another double displacement reaction. It forms the yellow precipitate (Lead Iodide.) Once the beaker got even more full, it got heavier and weighed down thee scale. The other side of the scale moved then, colliding with a second series of dominoes. These dominoes set in motion our final reaction.
#3 : Elephant Toothpaste - Hydrogen Peroxide & Yeast
2H2O2 + Enzyme ---> 2H2O + O2
For our final decomposition reaction, we decomposed Hydrogen Peroxide with the help of an enzyme (yeast) to form water and oxygen. We added soap to the mixture which trapped the oxygen gas, forming bubbles. This is what causes the foamy mess!
Reflection:
This project definitely had its ups and downs. A big part of it was trial and error - figuring out what did not work and fixing it. Consequently, with a lot of things going wrong, there was some frustration within our group. We kept changing our project up, modifying steps, and tweaking reactions to ensure everything went smoothly. It took us weeks to finalize our series of reactions, and even then they did not all run perfectly every time. However, this project was also rewarding. Seeing our final product gave me a sense of accomplishment, having overcome those challenges. Coming out of this project, my group and I exercised our patience and strengthened our problem solving skills. Even though it was frustrating at times, I found this project to be worthwhile.