How Much Gas? Flashcards
What caused the syringe plunger to go up during the reaction between citric acid and sodium bicarbonate? Explain.
The pressure of the gas created in the citric acid and sodium bicarbonate reaction caused the syringe plunger to rise. Gas naturally spreads out evenly to fill any container. In this case, the newly produced gas only had one place to fill up: the syringe. When a syringe takes in gas, it causes the plunger to go up.
Why is a syringe more useful than a balloon to conduct this experiment? Explain.
A syringe is more useful than a balloon in this experiment because it allows for more accurate results. When using a balloon, it is impossible to immediately start capturing gas after the reaction. A little bit of gas will always seep out before you put the balloon onto the bottle. Whereas a syringe can be put on before the reaction. This means that its results will always be accurate because no gas will be able to seep out.
Did a chemical reaction occur? What evidence do you have? Explain. (how much gas)
Yes, a chemical reaction did occur. Signs of a chemical reaction include a formation of gas, a change in temperature, a change in color, etc. This experiment showed two signs of a chemical reaction. A temperature change, and a formation of gas. In my qualitative data, I recorded an endothermic reaction. An endothermic reaction is when energy is absorbed, causing the substance to become colder. I know gas was produced because my quantitative data shows that an average of 17.4 mL of gas was produced throughout the reactions. These two pieces of evidence show that a chemical reaction occurred.
What happened to the amount of gas produced when you doubled the amount of citric acid solution? Explain why you think this happened.
The controlled experiment yielded 17.4 mL of gas. The experiment with double the citric acid solution yielded 28.1 mL of gas. When the amount of the citric acid solution was doubled, the amount of gas produced increased by about 61.9% when compared with the reactions that used 5 mL of citric acid solution. This happened because the acid was able to react with more particles of baking soda. This means that more gas would be produced because of the bigger reaction.
What happened to the amount of gas produced when you doubled the amount of sodium bicarbonate solution? Explain why you think this happened.
The controlled experiment yielded 17.4 mL of gas. The experiment with double the sodium bicarbonate yielded 13.5 mL of gas. There was a 22.4% decrease when the amount of sodium bicarbonate was doubled. This happened because the citric acid wasn’t able to react with all of the sodium bicarbonate. My qualitative observations showed that some sodium bicarbonate sat at the bottom. This means that less gas was produced because fewer sodium bicarbonate particles underwent a reaction.
