My aim is to put zinc, iron, magnesium, nickel and calcium into an order of reactivity by reacting them with hydrochloric acid.

Method

• The things that will change in the experiment are the temperature
• I will carry out the experiment by putting the metal powder in a test tube and then mixing with it hydrochloric acid and I will measure the temperature every 30 seconds for five minutes. I will measure the temperature before I mix it so I can see how it reacts.
• I will know the reaction is taking place when the acid is fizzing and bubbles are coming out. The temperature will also rise.
• The apparatus will need are ten test tubes, a thermometer, test tube rack, bottle of hydrochloric acid, the metals and a stopwatch.
• To ensure my safety I will wear an overall and goggles.
• I will measure the temperature twice for each metal and then take an average. This to have

Fair Test

To make it a fair test some things will be kept the same. I will use the same amount of hydrochloric acid for each metal. The same volume of each metal will be used. I must ensure the metals I use are in the same state of matter. I will use powder. The time must also be kept the same otherwise it will not be a fair test. I will record the temperature every 30 seconds for five minutes. I f I do all of this my experiment will be a fair one.

Diagram

OBTAINING EVIDENCE

• The equipment will be safe to use and in case of any hazardous situations I will be wearing goggles and an overall to protect me.
• I will take a measurement every 30 seconds for five minutes
• Altogether I will take 10 measurements for each metal and I will do each metal twice.

Results

Zinc

Magnesium

Calcium

Iron  

Nickel

Analysing Evidence

I have analysed my graph and I have noticed a pattern. The pattern is when I add the hydrochloric acid the temperature rises and then I noticed it falls and then it the end of the reaction.

My prediction was correct because the graph clearly shows that calcium and magnesium are the most reactive and Nickel was the least reactive. This was the order they finished:

Calcium (Ca)

Magnesium (Mg)

Zinc (Zn)

Iron (Fe)

Nickel (Ni)

In my experiment calcium reacted very violently with hydrochloric acid and the temperature rose very high and quick. The same for Magnesium except the temperatures were a bit less than Calcium. Zinc reacted with a lot of bubbles being produced and it was fizzing a lot but the temperatures were not that high and didn’t rise very much. It did not decrease in temperature it continued to rise. Perhaps if did it for longer it would eventually have decreased. Iron reacted very slowly and the temperatures were about the same all the way through. It did not continue to rise and it started to decrease after 30 seconds. As I predicted Nickel would hardly react and it didn’t. The temperatures almost remained the same and it had only risen by one degrees.

Evaluating Evidence

I have completed the experiment and I can now safely say that it was a successful one. I think this because my prediction was correct and the metals reacted in the way that science says they do.

My measurements are accurate because I took them accurately. I made sure I measured the temperature after 30 seconds and to make sure there was nothing wrong I did each metal twice. My results are reliable because they are accurate and there is nothing unusual about them. Maybe if I had better equipment I could have made them even better. But I made the most of my resources and got the best results possible. Although it was a fair experiment I could have made it even fairer by putting even more accurate volumes of metals and with better reading equipment I could have taken more accurate readings.

I could have experimented with other acids and discovered the differences. But I did not have the time and resources for this and with what I had I done the best possible.