Question:
What factors affect the rate of chemical reactions?
Materials:
- Glowsticks
- Beakers/tongs/vials
- Liquid nitrogen
- Heating plate
- Juice from pickled red cabbage
- Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
- 1M acetic acid (vinegar)
- Stopwatches
Instructions:
(glowstick demonstration)
- Place a glowstick in beakers containing (i) room temperature water, (ii) ice water, and (iii) 60 °C water)
- Observe the brightness (corresponds with reaction rate of the glowsticks)
- To test an extreme, use tongs to place an active glowstick in liquid nitrogen
(acid-base reaction experiment)
- Place a vial of acetic acid in a beaker of water at room temperature, 0 °C (ice bath), and 60 °C
- Add a teaspoon of pickled red cabbage juice
- Add 0.5-3 teaspoons of sodium bicarbonate and moniter the time it takes for the solution to turn blue
- Correlate the observed time with reaction temperature and amounts/ratios of acetic acid and sodium bicarbonate