Investigation into the Reaction Between Marble Chips and Hydrochloric Acid

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Matthew Crites 11F

Investigation into the Reaction Between Marble Chips and Hydrochloric Acid

Planning

Introduction

        In the reaction between marble and hydrochloric acid, calcium carbonate particles from the marble react with the hydrogen chloride particles in the hydrochloric acid producing calcium chloride, water and carbon dioxide. The formula for this reaction is:

CaCO3 (s) + 2HCl (aq)  CaCl2 (s) +H2O (l) + CO2  (g)

Choosing the variable

To investigate this reaction, first a variable must be chosen for the investigation. In order for the calcium carbonate and hydrochloric acid particles to react together they must collide with each other and the collision must have enough energy. So, to select a variable for the investigation, a variable must be chosen that either affects the number of collisions between the calcium carbonate and hydrochloric acid particles or affects the energy of the collision. Some variables that could affect the rate of the reaction are:

  • The concentration of hydrochloric acid used in the reaction.

The higher the concentration of acid, the more particles of acid there are in the solution. Therefore it is more likely for a successful collision between an acid particle and a calcium carbonate particle to occur.

  • The temperature of the environment that the experiment takes place in.

When reacting substances are heated, the particles have more energy. This means that they move faster which in turn means that they collide more often and with more energy.

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  • The surface area of calcium carbonate used in the experiment.

Hydrochloric acid particles can collide only with calcium carbonate particles on the surface of the marble chip. Therefore, if the marble chip is crushed into a powder, there will be a larger surface area and therefore more collisions.

I have chosen the concentration of hydrochloric acid as the variable that I will use for the investigation. The other factors will have to be kept constant in order for the experiment to be a fair test. The temperature shouldn’t vary too much throughout the investigation but it may be difficult to ...

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