I will ensure that I wear the appropriate eye protection just in case the acid or any other o substance splash. I will wash up any spillages in the correct way as soon as they occur. I am aware that it is important to act quickly as acid is corrosive (meaning that it corrodes most surfaces, including the skin). I will wash my hand after handling acids.
I predict that the magnesium in the higher concentration will ‘disappear’ much quicker than that of the lower concentration due to the simple fact that the higher the concentration the more particles there are present. Meaning that there are more particles present resulting in the reaction to be able to happen quicker.
In order for a reaction to take place, the particles must collide to make a reaction.
The reaction will be faster at a higher concentration because there are more particles in a set are which means more successful collisions.
I will make this a fair test by trying to keep all aspects the same. I will do this by keeping treating all of the beakers the same and measuring as accurately as I can
Obtaining My Evidence
I am now going to do the experiment and try and find the results that I have been asked to find.
Throughout this experiment, it is vital that all safety procedures are followed and that eye protection is worn. Also it is important that suitable sized apparatus is used.
- Measure 50 cm3 of water into a 50cm3 measuring cylinder.
- Transfer the Acid from the measuring cylinder to the beaker.
- Then add the 2.5 cm of magnesium ribbon.
- Stir once and start the clock as soon as the magnesium is dropped in the acid timing how long this takes to dissolve using the stop clock.
- Repeat this using the measurements as stated in the results table.
- Make sure that the experiment was repeated 3 times for more accuracy.
- Average all the results up to get a final set.
It is important that the beakers and all apparatus are being supervised at all times so that the most possible accuracy is maintained. If it is required, then ensure to repeat any odd looking results. Try and ensure that all measurements are as accurate as possible, to ensure fairness amongst all of the solution.
Analysis
I found out that the higher the concentration of the acid, the quicker the magnesium is able to react and dissolve into the solution.
Result Table
Conclusion
Overall, I believe that my results are pleasing ones. Due to the fact that they are roughly to what I predicted them to be and there are only 1 or two anomalous results. The results basically say the higher the concentration, the greater reaction which provides a much shorter time period for it to take place in. This is due to the fact that the higher the concentration, the more particles there are in a small meaning that more collisions (reactions) are going to take place. This leads to there being a short time for this to happen as the reaction is ‘over’ fairly quickly.
This is closeto what my prediction tries to explain. My prediction stated that the higher the concentration the quicker the magnesium will take to dissolve, due to the same scientific logic.
Evaluation
I believe that to certain extend my results where fairly accurate and that a high level of accuracy was used. I do believe that the method I used was fair, due to the fact that all of the same apparatus was used and there was the same amount of treatment for each beaker.
For example, they were all only stirred once and that was it and the timer was started as the magnesium was dropped in the water. Also the room temperature would have been the same, even though there may have been a slight differ due to the fact that the practical experiment was over a 2 day period. Also the magnesium ribbon was not cut accurately enough.
I do believe that there was a couple of anomalous result, and I will highlight these on a second results table below.
I do believe that I would have been able to make the experiment ever so slightly better by improving a couple of things.
- I would have tried to keep the surrounding temperature at the same temperature if possible.
- I would make sure that all of the magnesium ribbon is cut at exactly the same length.
- I would have tried to make sure that we were using the same taps.
- I would have possibly redone a few more of the results which I believe to be anomalous.
- I think the experiment would be even more accurate if I had done the experiment more then 3 times.
- I would use brand new magnesium ribbon, due to the fact that the old magnesium ribbon had formed an magnesium oxide layer.
