Chemistry Coursework
Investigation Into the Rate at which Magnesium Ribbon will React with Acid
Plan
To in investigate the rate at which Magnesium will react with acid. There are various ways to do this, the two main ones being: using heat as a variable (i.e. changing the temperature and recording the amount of gas produced or the time taken to dissolve) and using concentration of acid/water as a variable (and recording the amount of gas produced or the time taken to dissolve).
Preliminary Test
At first I had decided to investigate the effect heat has on the dissolving of magnesium by recording the rates at different temperatures. However, when I put this experiment into practise I realised that it was not as accurate as the above method. I was finding it very difficult to get the mixture of acid and water to a constant temperature only using a Bunsen burner. I then decided to find out how concentration of acid to water affected the rate of reaction. I did this by collecting the gas produced in a measuring cylinder and recorded the amount for each concentration. I began to notice a slight correlation but there were so many anomalous results due gas leaking as it travelled to the measuring cylinder that I decided to time how long each piece of magnesium took to dissolve into the acid. There are other methods for maintaining a steady temperature but they take time, which is not practical when a quicker more accurate test is available.
Investigation Into the Rate at which Magnesium Ribbon will React with Acid
Plan
To in investigate the rate at which Magnesium will react with acid. There are various ways to do this, the two main ones being: using heat as a variable (i.e. changing the temperature and recording the amount of gas produced or the time taken to dissolve) and using concentration of acid/water as a variable (and recording the amount of gas produced or the time taken to dissolve).
Preliminary Test
At first I had decided to investigate the effect heat has on the dissolving of magnesium by recording the rates at different temperatures. However, when I put this experiment into practise I realised that it was not as accurate as the above method. I was finding it very difficult to get the mixture of acid and water to a constant temperature only using a Bunsen burner. I then decided to find out how concentration of acid to water affected the rate of reaction. I did this by collecting the gas produced in a measuring cylinder and recorded the amount for each concentration. I began to notice a slight correlation but there were so many anomalous results due gas leaking as it travelled to the measuring cylinder that I decided to time how long each piece of magnesium took to dissolve into the acid. There are other methods for maintaining a steady temperature but they take time, which is not practical when a quicker more accurate test is available.
