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Introduction

Research Question: Is it possible to use baking soda, NaHCO3(s), and 2.00 mol dm-3 HCl(aq) to generate a gas that will fill a zip-lock bag and act as an air bag? Objectives: 1. To determine if baking soda and hydrochloric acid can create a suitable air bag 2. To determine the volume of hydrochloric acid needed Hypothesis: If given baking soda and 2.00 mol dm-3 HCl(aq), it is possible to create an effective airbag, if the correct quantity of each reactant is put into the reaction in order to create a distinct quantity of products. If an incorrect quantity was added, two possibilities can occur; a limp airbag or the airbag will be too firm and explode. In this investigation the limiting reagent is the 2.00 mol dm-3 HCl(aq) as oppose to the baking soda due to the dangerous nature of hydrochloric acid, in case of the airbag exploding if there is an excess of this compound the victim would possibly suffer burns and poisoning, while if there is an excess of baking soda the victim would not suffer additional injuries. ...read more.

Middle

Controlled Variable: The controlled variable in this experiment are temperature and pressure. These two factors are consistent throughout the experiment, if the pressure and temperature were not consistent the results would have changed substantially, and the proper quantities would not be able to be determined in order to obtain the products. Apparatus and Materials Materials Apparatus * 2.00mol dm-3 HCl(aq) * Baking Soda * Zip-lock plastic bag * Thermometer (�0.1�C) * 1000mL graduated cylinder (�0.1mL) *Safety precaution: When performing the experiment be sure to put on safety goggles. Procedure/Method: Preparation for the experiment: Construct two tables; qualitative data and quantitative. (as shown below) Be sure to record the uncertainties in the data collected in order to later address possible sources of error if the expected outcome does not occur. 1. Measure the volume of the ziploc bag by filling it completely up with water (make sure there are no air bubbles!) and pouring it into a large 1000 mL graduated cylinder. 2. Record the volume in your data table. 3. Record the given temperature and pressure that the teacher provides you in the data table. ...read more.

Conclusion

The using the chemical equation; NaHCO3+HCl--> H2O+CO2+NaCl showed that the mole to mole ratio between all of the reactants and products were the same. The number of moles of hydrochloric acid needed was determined, and from that the volume of the HCl from its 2.00 mol concentration was found. The volume of HCl then was subtracted from the volume of the Ziploc bag, to determine the volume that is left for the baking soda to occupy. With the new volume, the ideal gas law once again was used in order to determine the number of moles of baking soda needed. The moles of baking soda then was converted into grams to add into the bag. Finally, the calculations were all complete, and the reactants are added into the airbag. The firm effective airbag was achieved due to the exact amount of reactants needed in order to create the reaction, if the amount of reactants that were added were different then the following experiment would not have been as effective and would have resulted in either a limp airbag, or one that exploded from too high of a density due to too much compounds being present within, and too little volume. ...read more.

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