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Procedure |
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We were given the task to create a series of 3 chemical events that accomplish a task, basically a chemical Rube Goldberg. First we started to brainstorm and come up with an idea of what we wanted to accomplish at the end. We decided that we wanted it to end with a volcano erupting. After we had this idea we created steps that would lead up to it and created our sketch of what we wanted it to look like. We had to rearrange some of the chemical reactions to get them to work together and add some simple machines to connect them to one another.
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Chemical Reactions
Step 1:
We decided that our first step would be to have zinc and hydrochloric acid to create hydrogen gas through a single replacement function and make the balloon rise. The equation of this single replacement reaction is Zn(s) + 2HCl(aq) = H2(g) + ZnCl2(aq).
Step 2:
The second reaction would be to use copper chloride to open a hole in an aluminum foil bowl. After step 1, the balloon would lift one side of the lever and the other side would pull a string down into an open flame, snapping it. When the string is snapped it starts our next chemical reaction with copper chloride and aluminum foil to release a marble down the track. In the reaction, there is a single replacement as they combine to aluminum chloride and copper depositing bits of copper from the foil sheet creating a hole. The equation of this single replacement reaction is 2Al(s) + 3CuCl2(aq) = 3Cu(s) + 2AlCl3(aq).
Step 3:
Our last reaction, and the goal, is to use hydrogen peroxide to react with warm yeast water and dish soap to make elephant toothpaste. After step 2, the the marble goes down the track down hitting the dominoes making the domino with the string fall pulling the plug to the hydrogen peroxide tube. The tube empties down the funnel into the homemade play dough volcano reacting to make elephant toothpaste spew out of the volcano. The elephant toothpaste works as the warm yeast water creates hydrogen gas when it mixes with the hydrogen peroxide and the dish soap captures the hydrogen gas making the "toothpaste." The equation for the elephant toothpaste reaction is represented as 2H2O2(aq) --› 2H2O(s) + O2(g).
We decided that our first step would be to have zinc and hydrochloric acid to create hydrogen gas through a single replacement function and make the balloon rise. The equation of this single replacement reaction is Zn(s) + 2HCl(aq) = H2(g) + ZnCl2(aq).
Step 2:
The second reaction would be to use copper chloride to open a hole in an aluminum foil bowl. After step 1, the balloon would lift one side of the lever and the other side would pull a string down into an open flame, snapping it. When the string is snapped it starts our next chemical reaction with copper chloride and aluminum foil to release a marble down the track. In the reaction, there is a single replacement as they combine to aluminum chloride and copper depositing bits of copper from the foil sheet creating a hole. The equation of this single replacement reaction is 2Al(s) + 3CuCl2(aq) = 3Cu(s) + 2AlCl3(aq).
Step 3:
Our last reaction, and the goal, is to use hydrogen peroxide to react with warm yeast water and dish soap to make elephant toothpaste. After step 2, the the marble goes down the track down hitting the dominoes making the domino with the string fall pulling the plug to the hydrogen peroxide tube. The tube empties down the funnel into the homemade play dough volcano reacting to make elephant toothpaste spew out of the volcano. The elephant toothpaste works as the warm yeast water creates hydrogen gas when it mixes with the hydrogen peroxide and the dish soap captures the hydrogen gas making the "toothpaste." The equation for the elephant toothpaste reaction is represented as 2H2O2(aq) --› 2H2O(s) + O2(g).
reflection
This project went very well for our group as we were able to get all of our reactions to work. We accomplished our task of making a volcano erupt and included three chemical reactions. We demonstrated the destruction of a metal, and two other chemical reactions of our choice. We were able to set up our reaction and got it to work fluently after many attempts with trial and error. Most of our aqueous solutions didn't end up being strong enough at first so we had to go back and create stronger concentrations of them to make it work. Our group was very focused and on task as we were working on this project so we would have enough time to test everything to make sure it worked. We also learned to double check our formulas before starting as we had to redo a few of our new mixtures and solutions. In the end, our project worked well with minimal interference and we were able to complete the project on time.