During this lab, we studied atoms. They are the smallest piece of a substance that still retains the properties of that element. Within the atom, there are sub particles called neutrons, protons, and electrons. To identify how many of each sub particles are in an atom of an element, we looked at the "Rosetta Stone" of chemistry, the periodic table. Learning to read the periodic table was important because it allowed us to directly identify if an element is a solid/metal/gas, how many neutrons, electrons, and protons are it,and its atomic mass. In the rows of the table you can identify the energy levels and in the columns we can identify how many electrons are in that energy level.
During the experiment, we made hydrogen gas. We took a flask and rolled coils of magnesium and dropped them in. After the magnesium was in the flask, we added 30 grams of citric acid and water. When the hydrogen was starting to be produced, we put a balloon over the end of the flask. Immediately, the balloon started filling up with hydrogen. Hydrogen is 4 times lighter than helium. This would mean its much lighter than air so in theory, our balloon should have floated. Unfortunately, ours did not float. We think that this happened because we didn't use a funnel when pouring our water in the flask. We may have lost a lot of hydrogen during that shortcut. After we had a balloon filled with hydrogen, we put the balloon over a candle and saw it explode. It made an awesome fireball around the balloon. When the balloon hit the candle the hydrogen was let out and reacted with the air molecules. Although we couldn't see it, we made water. Water is H20 so we provided the hydrogen and it reacted with the oxygen in the air. The water turned into vapor and disappeared. This experiment was really cool because we were able to witness the two elements bonding together. The lab went well although next time I would like to make sure my group follows ALL of the directions properly so that we can have the predicted outcome. |