Ways that I could record my experiment
There are several way which I could record my experiment.
The possible ways are as follows:
The weight before and after the experiment
I could put the conical flask with 25cm2 of hydrochloric acid onto a set scales and record the weight of it. I could then drop a piece of magnesium into the conical flask and measure the decrease in weight different times
- To see how long the magnesium takes to dissolve,
Seeing how long eit takes for the magnesium to dissolve. The problem with this experiment is that it is inaccurate.
Variables
The different types of experiments could include: -
- Changing the temperature of the HCL, If the starting temperature of the acid is different each time the speed at which the acid particles collide with the magnesium ribbon will increase as the temperature increases. This means the acid particles move with more energy, which means they will collide with the magnesium with more energy, which will give more successful collisions per second.
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Changing the surface area of the Mg, if the magnesium had a bigger surface (i.e. cutting the magnesium into smaller pieces area each time the experiment was done,) then the acid particles will have a bigger area to collide with.
- Changing the volume of the HCL
- Varying the mass of the Mg
- The weight before and after the experiment of the magnesium ribbon.
- Type of acid used- Hydrochloric, Sulphuric and Nitric acid all would produce a different rate of reaction, so if I do change the type of acid then all three kinds would produce a different set of results.
Fair Test
To make sure that the experiment is a fair test different aspects have to remain the same for example
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Making sure that the combined use of HCL and H20 is the same.
- Using the same length of Mg
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Using the same size-measuring cylinder when measuring the amount of H2 collected.
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Collecting the H2 carefully, making sure that none of the bubbles escape.
All of these factors will change the rate of reaction because of the Collision Theory.
The Collision Theory is based on the idea that for a chemical reaction to take place, it is necessary for the reacting particles to collide with each other with enough energy to break or form new bonds between the other particles, which is called a successful collision.
Prediction
My prediction is that the higher the concentration of the acid then the higher the rate of the reaction will be. I am saying this because of the collision theory. If double the concentration of the acid from 1M hydrochloric acid to 2M hydrochloric acid then I will expect to see the rate of the reaction double. This is because there are twice as many acid particles in 2M hydrochloric acid than in 1M hydrochloric acid. So there will be twice the amount of collisions per second as many successful collisions per second, increasing the rate of reaction.
Safety
The things that I will need to do to keep my experiment a safe one for myself and other students around me are as follows:
- Wear safety goggles when dealing with the HCL.
- Be careful when walking around with glass in your hands.
- Make sure that no HCL gets in your eyes
- Make sure that all ties are tucked into shirt pockets in case acid is spilt or if you lean over into a flame in might set on fire.
- Make sure that the work surface is clear when doing the experiment.
Explation