Chemistry Science Fair Projects 1

Robert Gardner
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Chemistry!
BEST
SCIENCE
PROJECTS
Using Acids, Bases,

Metals, Salts, and
Inorganic Stuff
Robert Gardner
Copyright © 2004 by Robert Gardner
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced by any means

without the written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gardner, Robert, 1929–

Chemistry science fair projects using acids, bases, metals, salts, and
inorganic stuff / Robert Gardner.
v. cm. — (Chemistry! best science projects)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: Identifying substances — Conservation of matter — Some chemical
reactions and their reaction speeds — Energy in chemical and physical changes —
Acids, bases, ions, and an electric cell.
ISBN 0-7660-2210-2 (hard cover)
1. Chemistry—Experiments—Juvenile literature. 2. Science projects—
Juvenile literature. [1. Chemistry—Experiments. 2. Experiments.
3. Science projects.] I. Title. II. Series.
QD38.G35 2004
540’.78—dc22
2003027476
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Our Readers: We have done our best to make sure all Internet Addresses in this book were
active and appropriate when we went to press. However, the author and the publisher have no
control over and assume no liability for the material available on those Internet sites or on other Web
sites they may link to. Any comments or suggestions can be sent by e-mail to [email protected]
or to the address on the back cover.
Illustration Credits: Tom LaBaff
Cover Photo: Copyright © 2002–2004 Art Today, Inc. (model); Matt Meadows/Photo
Researchers, Inc. (beaker).
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Identifying Substances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.1 Separating the Components of a Mixture. . 14
1.2 Separating by Chromatography. . . . . . . . 18
1.3 Using Density to Identify Liquids . . . . . . 21
1.4 Using Density to Identify Solids . . . . . . . 26
1.5 The Density of Pennies, New and Old . . 29
1.6 Identification by Melting. . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
1.7 The Melting and Freezing Temperature
of Water (Ice). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
1.8 The Boiling Temperature of Water . . . . . 39
1.9 Using Solubility to Identify Substances . . 43
Conservation of Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.1 Does Weight Change When
Water Freezes? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.2 Lavoisier and a Chemical Law . . . . . . . . 48
2.3 Paper Clips, Washers, “Chemical
Formulas,” and Laws of Nature . . . . . . . 54
Some Chemical Reactions and

Their Reaction Speeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
3.1 Rusting of Iron. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.2 What Fraction of Air Is Oxygen? . . . . . . 61
3.3 Preparing and Testing Oxygen . . . . . . . . 64
3.4 The Rate at Which Hydrogen
Peroxide Decomposes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
3.5 Factors Affecting the Rate of a Reaction . . 73
Energy in Chemical and

Physical Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4.1 The Energy (Heat) Needed to Melt Ice . . 79
4.2 The Energy (Heat) Needed to
Boil Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.3 The Heat of Condensation . . . . . . . . . . . 88
4.4 Energy Changes During Physical and
Chemical Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.5 A Chemical Reaction: Reactants,
Products, and Energy Changes . . . . . . . . 96
Acids, Bases, Ions, and an Electric Cell . . 103

5.1 Ions and Electric Current . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
5.2 Identifying Acids and Bases . . . . . . . . . . 109
5.3 Indicator Papers and Sticks. . . . . . . . . . . 114
5.4 Neutralization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
5.5 pH, a Measure of Hydrogen
Ion Concentration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
5.6 Building an Electric Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Appendix: Science Supply Companies . . . 125

Further Reading and
Internet Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
hemistry is the part of science that deals with what materials
C are made of and how they combine with one another.
Chemists know how to keep your new bike from rusting,
why pizzas are delivered in insulated bags, and what to use to
remove stains from your clothing. They divide their work into
two types: the study of materials that are organic and those that
are not. Organic chemistry deals with compounds containing
carbon, many of which are found in living things such as plants
and animals. Inorganic chemistry studies all the other sub-
stances, such as water, air, metals, salts, and many more. This
book will focus on projects and experiments related to inor-
ganic chemistry. Another book in this series covers organic
chemistry.
Most of the materials you will need to carry out the pro-
jects and experiments described in this book can be found in
your home. Several of the experiments may require items that
you can buy from a supermarket, a hobby or toy shop, a hard-
ware store, or one of the science supply companies listed in the
appendix. Some of the experiments in Chapters 2, 3, and 4
require special equipment, like a Bunsen burner. As you
begin to use this book, show it to one of the science teachers
in your school. Perhaps the teacher will allow you and some of
your friends to use the school’s equipment. At times, you will
need a partner to help you. It would be best if you work with
5
Chemistry Science Fair Projects
friends or adults who enjoy experimenting as much as you do.

In that way you will both enjoy what you are doing. If any
danger is involved in doing an experiment, it will be
made known to you. In some cases, to avoid any
danger to you, you will be asked to work with an
adult. Please do so. We do not want you to take any
chances that could lead to an injury.
Like any good scientist, you will find it useful to record your
ideas, notes, data, and anything you can conclude from
your experiments in a notebook. By so doing, you can keep
track of the information you gather and the conclusions you
reach. It will allow you to refer to experiments you have done
and help you in doing other projects in the future.
SCIENCE FAIRS
Some of the projects in this book are followed by a section
called “Science Project Ideas.” These ideas may be appropri-
ate for a science fair. However, judges at such fairs do not
reward projects or experiments that are simply copied from a
book. For example, a diagram or model of an atom or molecule
would not impress most judges; however, a unique method for
finding out how the rate of a chemical reaction is affected by
temperature or pressure would attract their attention.
Science fair judges tend to reward creative thought and
imagination. It is difficult to be creative or imaginative unless
you are really interested in your project. Consequently, be sure
6
Introduction
to choose a subject that appeals to you. And before you jump

into a project, consider, too, your own talents and the cost of
materials you will need.
If you decide to use a project found in this book for a sci-
ence fair, you should find ways to modify or extend it. This
should not be difficult because you will discover that as you do
these projects, new ideas for experiments will come to mind—
experiments that could make excellent science fair projects,
particularly because the ideas are your own and are interesting
to you.
If you decide to enter a science fair and have never done so
before, you should read some of the books listed in the further
reading section. These books deal specifically with science fairs
and will provide plenty of helpful hints and lots of useful infor-
mation that will enable you to avoid the pitfalls that sometimes
plague first-time entrants. You will learn how to prepare
appealing reports that include charts and graphs, how to set up
and display your work, how to present your project, and how
to relate to judges and visitors.
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Doing a science project, particularly one that involves origi-
nal research, will require you to use what is commonly called
the scientific method. In many textbooks you will find a sec-
tion devoted to the subject. It will probably tell you that the
7
scientific method consists of a series of steps. The book may

even list the steps in a particular order.
While such a cut-and-dried explanation may appeal to
someone starting out in science, any seasoned scientist will tell
you that there is no set pattern that leads him or her to new
knowledge. Each investigation is unique and requires different
techniques, procedures, and thought processes. Perhaps the
best description of the scientific method was given by Nobel
prize–winning physicist Percy Bridgman. He said that it was
doing one’s best with one’s mind, no-holds-barred.
The idea that there is a set scientific method that all scien-
tists follow probably came about because of the way scientists
report their findings. These reports are very similar in format
and include the problem, the hypothesis (a possible solution),
the experimental procedure, the results, and a conclusion. You
will follow a similar format when you prepare the report on
your project. The format will include references to authority
(searching the literature), coming up with a question, and
forming a hypothesis. You will then conduct experiments,
report the data, and look for relationships or patterns in the
experimental variables and controls that may lead to a conclu-
sion based on the results of your experiments.
SAFETY FIRST
Most of the projects included in this book are perfectly safe.
However, the following safety rules are well worth reading
8
Introduction
before you start any project. Whenever doing chemistry

experiments, it is a good idea to wear safety goggles. Most
of the substances are not dangerous, but they might sting your
eyes if they splatter.
1. Do any experiments or projects, whether from this book
or of your own design, under the supervision of a sci-
ence teacher or other knowledgeable adult.
2. Read all instructions carefully before proceeding with a

project. If you have questions, check with your supervi-
sor before going any further.
3. Maintain a serious attitude while conducting experi-

ments. Fooling around can be dangerous to you and
to others.
4. Wear approved safety goggles when you are working

with a flame or doing anything that might cause injury
to your eyes.
5. Do not eat or drink while experimenting.
6. Have a first-aid kit nearby while you are experimenting.
7. Do not put your fingers or any object other than

properly designed electrical connectors into electrical
outlets.
9
8. Never let water droplets come in contact with a hot

lightbulb.
9. Never experiment with household electricity except

under the supervision of a knowledgeable adult.
10. Use only alcohol-based thermometers. Some older

thermometers contain mercury, which is a dangerous
substance.
10
Chapter
arly Greek philosophers believed that all matter was made

E up of four basic elements—earth, air, fire, and water.
These elements had the effect of dryness, coldness, hotness,
and wetness on other objects. The amount of each element was
different in different types of objects.
ALCHEMY
The idea that any kind of matter consisted of a particular com-
bination of earth, air, fire, and water led to alchemy—the
notion that matter could be transmuted (changed). The
11
alchemists (the people who practiced alchemy) believed they

could transmute matter from one form to another. They tried
to convert less valuable metals, such as lead, into gold, which
they regarded as the “perfect” form of matter. Undoubtedly,
the value attached to this metal inspired their research.
Although they never succeeded, their work led to many use-
ful chemistry techniques, such as distillation and filtering (ways
of purifying liquids) and crystal growing. Modern chemists still
use these techniques. Alchemists also discovered a number of
substances that we recognize as true elements—phosphorus,
antimony, bismuth, and zinc, among others. They identified
many compounds such as salts, acids, bases, and alcohols.
By the seventeenth century, the alchemists’ failure to trans-
mute other substances into gold led many to abandon the
search. However, some alchemists went on using practical
techniques that led to a better understanding of matter. These
scientists realized that most samples of matter, such as rocks,
dirt, and seawater, are mixtures. Mixtures, they learned, can
be separated into substances whose characteristic properties
(density, solubility, boiling temperature, etc.) are unchanging.
They discovered that these pure substances were of two kinds:
elements and compounds. Elements were seen as substances
that could not be decomposed into simpler substances by
any chemical means. Compounds, on the other hand, were
substances that could be broken down into elements. Our
modern view of matter is basically the same.
12
Identifying Substances
Most matter exists in mixtures. To find out what substances

are in a particular mixture, we must first separate the mixture
into its components. Then we have to identify the substances
we separated. How can we do that?
The elements and compounds extracted from a mixture are
identified by their properties. These properties, which distin-
guish one substance from another, include its state (solid,
liquid, or gas), density, boiling and freezing temperatures, sol-
ubility in water and other liquids, conductivity (of heat and
electricity), color of light emitted when heated, and other char-
acteristic properties.
13
Experiment 1.1
Separating the Components

of a Mixture
Materials
an adult drinking glass

plastic cup water
teaspoon Pyrex beaker or small
sawdust baking dish
salt oven mitt
sand oven
iron filings (if available) funnel
or steel wool (without filter paper or white
soap) cut into small coffee filter
pieces with scissors ring and ring stand or
paper some other way of
magnet supporting a funnel
In a plastic cup, mix together a teaspoonful of each of the fol-

lowing: sawdust, salt, sand, and iron or steel wool filings.
Spread the solids out into a thin layer on a sheet of paper. Pass
a magnet over the solids. Is any component of the mixture
attracted to the magnet? If it is, remove that solid from the mix-
ture and place it on a separate piece of paper.
Pour the remaining mixture into a glass, add some water
14
and stir. Do any components of the mixture dissolve in the

water? Do any of the components float on the surface of
the water? Which component can you easily separate at this
stage? How will you do it? Remove that component from the
mixture and place it on a piece of paper to dry.
Can you separate the remaining components by pouring off
the liquid? You might try that by pouring the liquid into a
Pyrex beaker or a small baking dish. Spread the solid out on a
piece of paper where it can dry. Ask an adult to place the
container that holds the liquid in a warm (120°F) oven where
the liquid can evaporate. After the water has evaporated, ask
an adult to use an oven mitt and remove the beaker or dish
from the oven. What do you find in the beaker or dish?
Examine the solid after it has dried. Is there any evidence of
salt crystals among the grains of sand? If there is, pour the sand
into a glass or beaker, add water, and stir to dissolve the salt.
A ring and ring stand, borrowed from a science class, or some
other means, such as a board with a hole in it, can be used to
support a funnel. Line the funnel with a piece of filter paper and
pour the liquid and sand into it, as shown in Figure 1. (If you
do not have the round filter paper used in chemistry courses, you
can use a white coffee filter.) Collect the liquid that passes
through the filter paper in a glass or beaker. Rinse the sand that
remains on the paper by pouring water over it. Once the liquid
has passed through the filter, evaporate the liquid and dry the
sand as before.
15
sand and liquid

filter paper
Fold in
half.
funnel Fold again

into a
quarter.
ring stand
Pull one sheet

aside to make
a cone-shaped
filter and insert
in funnel.
Figure 1.
Filtering will separate solids from liquids.
When the liquid has evaporated and the sand has dried,
examine the sand and the beaker or glass again. Have you
finally separated all the components of the original mixture?
G
About 3.5 percent of seawater is salt. How can drinking
water be obtained from seawater? If you can obtain
some seawater, design an experiment to separate the
water from the salt. Then, under adult supervision,
carry out the experiment.
G
In some desert countries, people obtain drinking water
from seawater. How do they do this? Why is it expensive
to do?
G
How might you go about separating two salts, such as
sodium chloride and potassium nitrate, that are both
soluble in water?
17
Experiment 1.2
Separating by Chromatography
Materials
black ink scissors
red, green, blue, and ruler
yellow food coloring colored marking pens
water blue and black ink pens
filter papers or white toothpicks
coffee filters or blotter
tape
paper
wide, shallow dish
funnel
There are many ways to separate substances. One of the more

subtle methods is paper chromatography. You can use this
method to try to separate the pigments in ink and food color-
ing. These substances often contain more than one pigment.
Can you separate the colored substances by filtering?
To find out, add a few drops of black ink and a few drops
each of red, green, blue, and yellow food coloring to about
5 mL of water. Then fold a piece of filter paper or a coffee fil-
ter as was shown in Figure 1. Place the filter in a funnel. Pour
the mixture of water, ink, and food coloring onto it. Is the liquid
that comes through the filter paper clear or is it still colored?
What happens to the color on the filter after an hour or two?
18
You may have noticed that the colored pigments on the filter
began to separate into different colors. To separate the colors that
may be in ink and food coloring, cut some strips about 2 cm ×
15 cm (1 in × 6 in) from white coffee filters, filter paper, or white
blotter paper. Near the bottom of one strip, paint a stripe using
one of your colored samples (food coloring or ink). Prepare sep-
arate strips for each sample. A toothpick can be used to paint the
stripes of food coloring. Use different colored marking pens as
well as blue and black ink pens to “paint” on some colored inks.
When the strips are dry, use tape to hang them from a
kitchen cupboard or a ruler, as shown in Figure 2. The bottom
ends of the strips should just touch the water in a wide con-
tainer. What happens as water climbs the paper? Do any of the
colors separate into different pigments? Would this method
work if the pigments were not soluble in water? Can you put
the pigments back together again?
nvestigate the different types of chromatography, such as

I column, thin layer, high-pressure liquid, and gas. How does
each of these various forms of chromatography separate the
components of a mixture? How do forensic scientists use
chromatography to help solve crimes?
19
tape
filter paper
strips
colored stripes
water
Figure 2.
Paper chromatography is sometimes used to separate sub-
stances in a mixture.
Experiment 1.3
Using Density to Identify Liquids

Materials
100-mL graduated pencil and paper
cylinder 4 aluminum cans of
a balance cola: regular cola, which
water contains caffeine and
sugar; decaffeinated
eyedropper (optional)
cola with sugar;
isopropyl rubbing decaffeinated diet cola
alcohol (isopropanol) (no sugar); and diet
cooking oil cola with caffeine
drinking glass pail of water
The density of a liquid—its weight per volume—can often be

used to help identify it. A liquid’s density is a property that can
be determined quite easily. To see how it is done, first weigh a
100-mL graduated cylinder on a balance. Record the weight
and then fill the cylinder to the 100-mL line with water.
Because water adheres to the surface of the cylinder, the top of
the water curves down. This concave surface is called a menis-
cus. To accurately measure the volume, the bottom of the
meniscus should just touch the 100-mL line, as shown in
Figure 3. If necessary, use an eyedropper to add or remove a
small amount of water.
21
a) b)
bottom of
meniscus
100 100
mL mL
95 mercury
95 water
90
90
85
85
Figure 3.
a) Because water sticks (adheres) to glass or plastic, you should
read the volume of water from the bottom of its meniscus.
b) Some substances, such as mercury, do not adhere to glass.
Their surface in a glass vessel is convex rather than concave.
Once you have exactly 100 mL of water, reweigh the cylinder

and water. How can you find the weight of the water alone?
Knowing the weight and volume of the water, you can eas-
ily calculate the density of water by dividing the weight by the
volume.
Weight, g
Density =
.Volume, mL.
How many grams of water are contained in each milliliter?
Express the density of water as grams per milliliter (g/mL).
Since a milliliter and a cubic centimeter (cm3) have the same
volume, how else might you express the density of water? Does
22
the density you calculated agree closely with the value for water
found in Table 1?
Next, find the density of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol.
(Isopropyl alcohol is another name for isopropanol.) Does the
density of the rubbing alcohol correspond to any of the liquids
found in Table 1?
You might have expected the liquid would have the same
density as isopropanol. However, if you read the finer print,
you will see that rubbing alcohol is only 70 percent iso-
propanol. If we assume that the other 30 percent is water, we
can make a good estimate of the liquid’s density. (When alco-
hol and water are mixed, the volume of the mixture is slightly
less than the sum of the two volumes when separated.)
Suppose we have 100 mL of rubbing alcohol made by mix-
ing 70 mL of isopropanol with 30 mL of water. The water will
weigh 30 g. Since each milliliter of the alcohol weighs 0.79
grams, the weight of 70 mL will be:
70 mL × 0.79 g/mL = 55.3 g
The total weight will be 85.3 g (30 g + 55.3 g). Hence,
the estimated density would be:
85.3 g ÷ 100 mL = 0.853 g/mL
How does this value compare with the value that you found
for the density of rubbing alcohol?
23
Pour a few drops of cooking oil into a glass of water. Does

the cooking oil sink or float in water? Do you think the density
of cooking oil is more or less than 1.0 g/mL?
Carry out an experiment to test your prediction about the
density of cooking oil. What do you find? Was your prediction
correct?
Would density be useful in distinguishing among the alco-
hols known as methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol?
Table 1:
DENSITIES OF SOME LIQUIDS, SOLIDS, AND GASES.
Substance Density (g/mL or g/cm3) Substance Density (g/cm3)

Liquids Solids
Acetone 0.79 Aluminum 02.7
Ethanol 0.79 Copper 08.9
Isopropanol 0.79 Gold 19.3
Methanol 0.79 Iron 07.9
Water 1.00 Lead 11.3
Gases (at 20°C and atmospheric
Lithium 0 0.53
pressure)
Carbon
0. 0018 Mercury 13.6
dioxide
Oxygen 0.0013 Nickel 08.9
Nitrogen 0.0012 Silver 10.5
Helium 0.00017 Water (ice) 0 0.92
Hydrogen 0.000084 Zinc 07.1
24
DENSITIES OF SODAS
Obtain four aluminum cans of cola. You will need regular cola,
which contains caffeine and sugar. You will also need decaf-
feinated cola with sugar, decaffeinated diet cola (no sugar or
caffeine), and diet cola with caffeine.
Place the can of regular soda in a pail of water. Does it sink
or float? What does this tell you about the density of a can of
regular soda as compared with the density of water?
Next, place a can of decaffeinated diet soda in the water.
Does it sink or float?
Any difference in density could be due to the caffeine, the
sugar, or both. Carry out an experiment to determine whether
the difference in the density of sodas is caused by caffeine,
sugar, or both. What do you find?
Finally, based on the way they float or sink, estimate the
densities of the different kinds of soda in grams per milliliter.
Then carry out experiments to test your estimates. Did your
estimates agree closely with the densities you measured?
Which of the solids listed in Table 1 will float in water?
25
G
Carry out an experiment to demonstrate that the volume
actually shrinks when alcohol and water are mixed. Then
try to develop a hypothesis to account for the shrinkage.
G
Prepare sugar solutions of different concentrations by
dissolving different weights of sugar in a fixed volume of
water. How is the density of the sugar water related to
the concentration of the solution? Is this also true of salt
solutions?
Experiment 1.4
Using Density to Identify Solids

Materials
ruler 100-mL graduated

wood block cylinder or metric
measuring cup
balance for weighing
brass object
water
cubes or cylinders of
steel objects such as
known metals, such as
washers, nuts, or bolts
aluminum, copper, iron,
lead, and zinc (optional)
26
Density is also useful in identifying solids. In some cases, the

volume of a solid object can be easily obtained by measuring its
dimensions. For example, you can use a ruler to measure the
length, width, and height of a wooden block. As you probably
know, the volume of such a block is equal to its length times its
width times its height.
Find a block of wood and determine its volume (volume =
length × width × height). Weigh the block of wood. Now you can
calculate its density. Remember that density = weight ÷ volume.
Compare the density of the wood with the density of water. Do
you think the wood will sink or float in water? Place it in water.
Were you right?
The volumes of other solids, such as stones, cannot be
measured easily. Their volumes can be found, however, by
displacing water.
You can also use displacement to find the density of some steel
objects, such as washers, nuts, and bolts. Gather a number of
identical steel washers, nuts, or bolts and weigh them. Then care-
fully drop them into a 100-mL graduated cylinder that holds, say,
50 mL of water. If the water rises to the 85-mL line, you know
the volume of the washers is 35 mL (85 mL − 50 mL). Once
you know the volume, you can calculate the density.
Like many metal products, steel is an alloy, a combination of
metals. Steels are primarily iron, but they contain small amounts
of carbon (a nonmetal) and possibly other metals that include
nickel, chromium, molybdenum, vanadium, and tungsten. By
27
how much does the density of the steel you measured differ from
the density of iron given in Table 1?
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. Find a brass object
and determine its density. Then, from Table 1 and what you
learned in the previous experiment, determine the approximate
percentage of zinc and copper in the brass object.
If possible, obtain some cubes or cylinders of known metals,
such as aluminum, copper, iron, lead, and zinc. (Your school’s
science department may have such samples that you might bor-
row.) Find the densities of these metals and compare your
findings with the densities listed in Table 1. How closely do
your results agree with those in the table?
G
Do different kinds of wood, such as pine, oak, maple,
and birch, have different densities? Design and carry out
experiments to find out.
G
Find some pieces of copper (pipe, nails, or tubing), alu-
minum (bars, nails, tubing, or flashing), lead and zinc
(flashing), and other metals. Find the densities of these
metals. Then figure out whether they are pure metals or
alloys.
28
Experiment 1.5
The Density of Pennies,

New and Old
Materials
pennies minted before 100-mL graduated

and after 1982: at least cylinder or metric
40 of each kind measuring cup
balance for weighing water
Gather as many pennies as you can. You need a lot of pennies

so that you can measure their volume accurately. The volume
of just a few pennies is so small that it is difficult to measure
accurately.
Separate the pennies into those minted before 1982 and
those minted after 1982. The date is on the right side of each
coin’s face. A hundred of each type would be good, but 40–50
of each kind will be enough.
Weigh and record the weight of the pennies minted before
1982. Do the same for the pennies minted after 1982.
Next, find the volume of the pennies minted before 1982
by adding them to about 60 mL of water in a graduated cylin-
der. What is the volume of these pennies? What is the density
of these pennies?
In the same way, find the volume of the pennies minted
29
after 1982. What is the density of these pennies? How does

the density of these pennies compare with the density of the
pennies minted before 1982?
Pennies are made from an alloy of copper and zinc. What
must have happened to the composition of the alloy after
1982? Which pennies do you think contain more copper?
What makes you think so? (See Table 1.)
G
Do some research to find the composition of pennies
minted before 1982 and the change in composition that
was made in 1982. Based on those compositions, calcu-
late the expected densities of the two types of pennies.
G
Design and carry out an experiment to determine whether
or not nickels (5-cent coins) are really made of nickel.
G
Dimes, quarters, half-dollars, and silver dollars are often
referred to as silver coins. Design and carry out some
experiments to find out whether or not these coins really
are made of silver.
30
Experiment 1.6
Identification by Melting
Materials
an adult oven mitt
2 pairs of safety tongs
goggles matches
small pieces of ice, candle
candle wax, aluminum
Bunsen burner (from
foil, iron wire, copper
a science class)
wire, sulfur (small
lumps), lead foil an old pan
This experiment should be done under adult super-

vision because you will be working with flames. Wear
safety goggles!
Obtain small pieces of as many of the following substances
as possible: ice, candle wax, sulfur (small lumps), lead foil, alu-
minum foil, iron wire, copper wire. Wearing an oven mitt and
using tongs, hold each piece, in turn, near the top of a candle
flame. Which substances melt? Which do not melt?
Repeat the experiment using a Bunsen burner flame. To
prevent any melted material from falling into the burner, have
the adult hold the burner at an angle as shown in Figure 4.
Place an old pan beneath the flame to catch any melted matter
that may fall. Which substances melt? Which do not melt?
31
adult
Figure 4.
Hold the Bunsen burner at an angle to prevent melted matter
from falling into it.
Which of the substances you tested melt at temperatures

equal to or below the temperature of the candle flame?
Which of the substances melt at a temperature between that
of the candle and Bunsen burner flames? Which melt at
temperatures higher than the Bunsen burner flame (about
1800°C)?
32
Experiment 1.7
The Melting and Freezing

Temperature of Water (Ice)
Materials
12-oz Styrofoam cup water
chopped ice or snow 7-oz Styrofoam
thermometer that can cup
measure temperatures at tape and/or clay
and below 0°C (32°F) notebook and pen
plastic pail or pencil
freezer clock or watch
graduated cylinder or graph paper
metric measuring cup
Many substances melt and freeze at a particular temperature,

known as the melting or freezing point. It is not necessary to
list melting and freezing points separately because a substance
freezes at the same temperature that it melts. The only differ-
ence is that to make a substance melt, heat is added; to make
it freeze, heat is removed.
The same is true of boiling and condensation temperatures.
Many substances change on their own from liquid to gas (boil)
at a particular temperature if heat is being added. If heat is
being removed, the gas condenses to a liquid at a temperature
33
known as its condensation point. For any particular substance,

its boiling and condensation points are the same temperature.
As Table 2 reveals, melting (or freezing) temperatures can
often be used to help identify substances. In this experiment,
you will measure the temperature at which solid water (ice)
melts. You will then check to see that it freezes at the same tem-
perature that it melts.
Half fill a 12-oz Styrofoam cup with chopped ice or snow.
With a thermometer that can measure temperatures at and
below 0°C (32°F), gently stir the ice or snow. What is the low-
est temperature the ice or snow reaches as you stir it? Continue
to stir the cold solid for several minutes. Does the temperature
change or does it remain about the same? According to your
thermometer, at what temperature does solid water (ice or
snow) melt? Bear in mind that common thermometers are only
accurate to within one or two degrees of the true temperature.
Next, half fill a plastic pail with chopped ice or snow. Stir the
solid particles with a thermometer. Does the amount of the melt-
ing solid affect the temperature at which it changes to liquid?
To see that water freezes at the same temperature at
which it melts, first measure the temperature of the freezer
you will use to freeze the water. It may take a few minutes for
the thermometer to cool to the temperature of the freezer.
Then pour about 50 mL of water into a 7-oz Styrofoam cup.
Place a thermometer in the water. Use tape and/or clay, as
34
shown in Figure 5, to ensure that the thermometer bulb is

slightly below the center of the volume of water.
Table 2:
THE MELTING (OR FREEZING) AND BOILING
(OR CONDENSATION) TEMPERATURES OF SOME
COMMON SUBSTANCES.
Melting (freezing) Boiling (condensation)

Substance
temperature (°C) temperature (°C)
Acetone −95 57
Aluminum 658 1800
Copper 1084 2310
Ethanol −117 78.5
Helium −272 (under pressure) −269
Hydrogen −259 −253
Iron 1535 2450
Isopropanol −89 82
Lead 327 1740
Methanol −98 64.7
Nitrogen −210 −196
Oxygen −218 −183
Sodium 371 1156
Sulfur 386 718
35
thermometer
tape
Styrofoam cup
water
Figure 5.
At what temperature does water freeze?
Record the temperature of the water in your notebook.

Then put the cup with the water and thermometer in a
freezer where you can read the thermometer every 10 min-
utes by simply opening the freezer door. Continue to record
the temperature of the water (and ice) until the temperature
reaches the temperature of the freezer. What happens to the
temperature while the water is freezing? What happens to
the temperature after the water is frozen? Why does the tem-
perature finally reach a minimum (lowest point)?
Leave the frozen water and thermometer in the freezer
overnight. The next day, remove the frozen water from the
freezer. Record its temperature at 10-minute intervals until it
reaches room temperature.
Using the data you have collected, plot graphs of tempera-
ture vs. time for the water as it cooled and froze and for the ice
as it melted and warmed. You can plot both graphs on the
same set of axes. Place time on the x-axis and temperature on
the y-axis.
How does the graph of the water that froze compare with
the graph of the ice that melted?
The author did a similar experiment with moth flakes
(naphthalene). He placed the flakes in a test tube, which he
placed in a beaker of warm water until they melted. He then
suspended a thermometer in the liquid. He recorded the tem-
perature at one-minute intervals and used the data he collected
to plot the graph shown in Figure 6.
37
Figure 6.
A temperature vs. time graph for the freezing of moth flakes
(naphthalene).
What is the freezing temperature of naphthalene? What

was the temperature of the room in which the experiment took
place? If the author had heated the water to remelt the solid,
what would that graph have looked like?
Examine Table 2. Which of the substances listed in the
table are liquids at room temperature (20°C)? Which are
solids? Which are gases?
38
G
Under adult supervision, carry out an experiment to
find the freezing temperature of acetamide (C2H5NO).
G
Some plumbers claim that pipes containing hot water
will freeze before pipes that hold cold water. Can you
find any evidence to support such a claim?
G
Why do the machines used to clean and make new ice in
hockey rinks spray hot water on the ice?
Experiment 1.8
The Boiling Temperature of Water

Materials
an adult thermometer with range

2 pairs of safety of −10 to 110°C
goggles notebook and pen or
small cooking pan pencil
cold water clock or watch
hot plate or stove graph paper
39
Do this experiment under adult supervision. You

should both wear safety goggles.
Half fill a small cooking pan with cold water. Then turn
on a hot plate or one of the small heating elements on a stove.
Put a thermometer that has a scale extending from −10 to
110°C in the water (see Figure 7). What is the temperature of
the cold water? Record the temperature in your notebook.
Next, put the pan of water with the thermometer in it on the
hot plate or heating element.
As the water warms, record the water temperature at one-
minute intervals. Also, note the small bubbles that form and
Figure 7.
You can heat water on a hot plate or stove to find its boiling
temperature.
40
rise to the surface. Some are bubbles of air that were dissolved
in the water. You have probably seen such air bubbles in a
cold glass of water that was left overnight. But other bubbles
form when liquid water changes to gas. When the water
begins to boil, the bubbles of gaseous water rise to the surface
and burst. What is the temperature of the water when it begins
to boil vigorously? (Be careful not to let the thermometer bulb
touch the pan.)
Continue heating the water and recording its temperature
until about half of it has boiled away into a gas. According
to your measurements, what is the boiling temperature of
water?
Plot a temperature vs. time graph of your data. How can
you account for the shape of the graph?
The author heated a small volume of an alcohol to boiling
using the equipment shown in Figure 8a. The apparatus
enabled him to find the boiling temperature without allowing
the gaseous alcohol to reach the flame. This was important
because alcohol is flammable.
He boiled away most of the alcohol and condensed it in a
test tube immersed in cold water. While doing the experiment,
he recorded the temperature of the heated alcohol over a period
of time. He then plotted a graph of the data, which is shown in
Figure 8b. From his graph and Table 2, which alcohol do you
think he heated? Why do you think so?
41
80
a) b)
2-hole glass 70
rubber tube
Temperature (˚C)
stopper 60
50
40
30
20
10
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
thermometer clamp
Time (minutes)
alcohol
being rubber tube
gauze
heated pad
ring
ring stand cold

water
burner
condensed
alcohol
Figure 8.
a) This apparatus was used in an experiment to find the boil-
ing point of an alcohol.
b) The results of the experiment are summarized by the
graph. Which alcohol was it? (See Table 2.)
G
People living in Denver, Colorado, say that water there
boils at about 95°C. Can this be true? If it is true, how can
it be explained?
G
Do some research to find out why the boiling point of
water is so much higher than other compounds of com-
parable atomic weight, such as ammonia, methane, and
hydrogen sulfide.
Experiment 1.9
Using Solubility to Identify Substances

Materials
teaspoon small amounts of baking

sugar soda, baking powder, flour,
instant tea, instant coffee,
drinking glasses
Kool-Aid drink powder,
graduated cylinder or Tang drink powder, vita-
metric measuring cup min C, aspirin, gelatin,
water and cornstarch
kosher salt Epsom salt (magnesium
citric acid sulfate)
methanol (methyl alcohol)
43
Another property that is used to identify substances is their

solubility. If one substance dissolves (disappears) when mixed
in another, we say it is soluble in that substance. If little or
none of the solid dissolves, we say it is insoluble.
Add one teaspoon of sugar to a small glass. Add about
100 mL of warm water and stir the mixture. Does sugar dis-
solve in water?
Repeat the experiment with kosher salt. Does salt dissolve
in water?
Try dissolving a small amount (1/4 teaspoon) of each of the
following, one at a time, in half a glass of water: baking soda,
baking powder, flour, instant tea, instant coffee, Kool-Aid
drink powder, Tang drink powder, vitamin C, aspirin, gelatin,
and cornstarch. Which substances are soluble in water? Which
are insoluble? Are any of the insoluble substances soluble in
hot water?
Sugar and citric acid are both white powders with about the
same densities. You know that sugar is soluble in water. Is cit-
ric acid also soluble? To find out, add a pinch of citric acid to
some water and stir. What do you conclude?
Is either of these solids soluble in methanol (methyl alco-
hol)? To find out, add a pinch of each to separate glasses that
contain some methanol and stir. Did either dissolve?
What about Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate)? Is it soluble
in water? In methanol?
44
G
Design and carry out experiments to find the maximum
weight of kosher salt, Epsom salt, and sugar that can be
dissolved in 100 mL of water at room temperature.
Which solid is most soluble? Which is least soluble?
G
Carry out additional experiments to determine how tem-
perature affects the solubility of these solids in water.
Then plot graphs of solubility, in grams per 100 mL of
water, vs. temperature.
G
Find the weight of salt that is dissolved in 100 mL of
seawater.
G
Design and carry out experiments to find the freezing
temperatures of saturated solutions of salt, Epsom salt,
and sugar.
G
Do you think a bouillon cube will dissolve faster in hot
water or cold water? Design and carry out an experiment
to find out.
45
Chapter
he scientific law of the conservation of matter states that

T there is no gain or loss of weight during physical or chem-
ical changes. Antoine Lavoisier, a French scientist, was to
eighteenth-century chemistry what Isaac Newton had been
to seventeenth-century physics. It was Lavoisier who combined
the major useful ideas of chemistry, demonstrated the false
assumptions of other concepts, provided new and unifying ideas
of his own, and made careful weighings and measurements the
basis of chemistry. It was Lavoisier, too, who developed a prac-
tical language and system for naming elements and compounds.
46
Conservation of Matter
Lavoisier weighed a large number of chemicals before and

after physical and chemical changes. In all the experiments he
did, he could find no change in weight. In the next two exper-
iments, see if your results confirm what Lavoisier found.
Experiment 2.1
Does Weight Change When

Water Freezes?
Materials
plastic container that marking pen

can be sealed balance for weighing
water a freezer
paper towel
We can understand that water loses heat when it freezes. But

does heat have weight? If it does, we might expect that ice
would weigh less than the water that froze. To test this idea,
find a plastic container that you can seal. Partially fill the con-
tainer with water and seal it. Be sure to wipe off any moisture
that may be on the outside of the container. With a marking
pen, draw a short line at the water level in the container. Then
weigh the container as accurately as you can. Next, place the
container in a freezer where the water will freeze overnight.
The next day you can remove the container from the
47
freezer. Wipe off any moisture that may condense on the cold
container. Then quickly reweigh it. Has it lost weight? Notice
the level of the ice in the container. What happened to the vol-
ume when the water froze?
Do you think the weight will change after the ice melts back
to water?
After the ice melts, wipe off any moisture that may have
condensed on the container and weigh the container again.
What do you find? Do your results match Lavoisier’s?
esign and carry out an experiment to see if there is any

D change in weight when salt or sugar dissolves in water.
Experiment 2.2
Lavoisier and a Chemical Law

Materials
an adult graduated cylinder

paper distilled water
balance for weighing small containers or
chemicals beakers
48
straws sodium iodide (ask an

marking pen and tape adult, perhaps a science
teacher, to obtain these
plastic vials and caps
chemicals for you)
lead nitrate
[Pb(NO3)2] and
In this experiment you will use chemicals that are

poisonous if ingested. Consequently, you should
work with a knowledgeable adult.
In Experiment 2.1, you probably found there was no
change in weight when water changed from liquid to solid as it
froze. That was a physical change because no new substances
were formed.
Lavoisier weighed a large number of chemicals before and
after chemical and physical changes. In all the experiments he
did, he could find no change in weight. In this experiment, you
will measure the weight before and after a chemical change,
one in which new substances are formed.
Place a small piece of paper on a balance pan. Weigh out
7.5 g of lead nitrate. On a separate piece of paper, weigh
out 3.5 g of sodium iodide. Prepare a clear solution by adding
the lead nitrate and 50 mL of distilled water to a small con-
tainer or beaker and stirring with a straw. Prepare a second
clear solution in another small container by adding sodium
iodide to 50 mL of distilled water. Label the solutions. Fill a
plastic vial about one third of the way with one of the solutions.
49
Pour about the same amount of the other solution into a

different vial. Place caps on both vials to avoid evaporation or
spilling. Weigh the two vials and their contents together on a
balance. Carefully remove the covers from the vials and pour
one solution into the other. Be careful not to lose any liquid.
Replace the caps on both vials, place them on the balance, and
reweigh them.
What evidence is there that a chemical change has taken
place? Has the chemical change been accompanied by a
change in weight?
esign and carry out, under adult supervision, an

D experiment to show that even when a gas forms in a
chemical reaction, the law of the conservation of matter
holds true.
DALTON AND THE ATOMIC THEORY

Although Lavoisier made fundamental changes in chemistry,
he never developed a theory to explain the laws of nature that
he and others discovered. It was John Dalton who first crafted
a theory to explain the laws of chemistry.
50
Dalton was an English Quaker who worked in the early

1800s. Like other chemists of that time, Dalton knew that ele-
ments were pure substances, and that different elements could
combine to form compounds. To explain what made an ele-
ment pure, Dalton developed what has come to be known as
the atomic theory. He proposed that all matter is made up of
tiny, indivisible, indestructible particles called atoms.
According to his theory, the atoms of any one element are iden-
tical to each other but different from the atoms of any other
element. Atoms of different elements differ in weight. And
since atoms are indestructible, there is no change in weight
when substances undergo physical or chemical change.
To find the relative weights of atoms, he decomposed
compounds into their elements and weighed them. Or he
weighed the elements that combined to form a compound.
For example, by passing an electric current through water, he
was able to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen. This
resulted in the release of eight grams of oxygen for every one
gram of hydrogen. If one gram of hydrogen was mixed with
eight grams of oxygen and ignited with a spark, an explosion
took place. After the explosion, nine grams of water and no
gas remained. Based on this evidence, Dalton concluded that
oxygen atoms weigh eight times as much as hydrogen atoms.
He assumed that hydrogen and oxygen combine to form
water in a 1:1 ratio. Therefore, he concluded, the molecular
formula for water was HO.
51
Later, an Italian chemist, Amedio Avogadro, hypothesized

that equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pres-
sure contain the same number of molecules. Since for any given
volume of oxygen, twice that volume of hydrogen combines
with it, Avogadro concluded that the formula for water was
H2O. Today we know that Avogadro was right. However, it
took half a century before his hypothesis and conclusion about
the formula for water was accepted by most chemists.
Now, since hydrogen gas is the lightest (least dense) gas
known, chemists assigned hydrogen atoms a relative weight of
one unit (1 atomic mass unit, or 1 amu). No one knew what
the actual weight of an atom was because atoms were too light
to be weighed. However, if hydrogen atoms weighed 1 amu,
oxygen atoms must weigh 16 amu. After all, two grams of
hydrogen combines with 16 grams of oxygen, a ratio of 1:8.
Since two atoms of hydrogen combine with one atom of oxy-
gen, a ratio of 2:1, the oxygen atoms must be 16 times as heavy
as the hydrogen atoms in order for their weight ratio in water
to be 1:8.
1 2 1
2× = =
16 16 8
Today we know not only the relative weights of the atoms of
every element, we know their actual weights as well. The rela-
tive and actual weights of some common elements are shown in
Table 3.
52
Table 3:
THE RELATIVE AND ACTUAL WEIGHTS OF THE
ATOMS OF SOME COMMON ELEMENTS.*
Relative weight of atom in Actual weight in septil-

Element
atomic mass units (amu) lionths of a gram**
Hydrogen 1.0 1.7
Helium 4.0 6.7
Carbon 12.0 20
Oxygen 16.0 27
Sodium 23.0 38.3
Magnesium 24.3 40.5
Aluminum 27.0 45
Sulfur 32.1 53.5
Chlorine 35.5 59
Iron 55.8 93
Copper 63.5 106
Zinc 65.4 109
Lead 207 345
* Based on oxygen atoms having an atomic weight of 16 amu.
** A septillionth of a gram is 0.000000000000000000000001 gram.
53
Experiment 2.3
Paper Clips, Washers, “Chemical

Formulas,” and Laws of Nature
Materials
identical paper clips notebook and pencil

identical washers calculator (optional)
balance
The smallest particle of a compound is a molecule. It contains

atoms of the elements that combine to form the compound. A
chemical formula, such as H2O, tells the ratio of the atoms of the
elements that make up the compound. In a molecule of water,
there are two atoms of hydrogen for every one atom of oxygen.
This experiment provides a concrete look at how chemists
arrive at chemical formulas and two laws of nature. You will use
identical paper clips to represent atoms of an imaginary element
C and identical washers to represent atoms of element W.
Prepare a large number of “molecules” (at least 10) of CW
by joining “atoms” of C and W as shown in Figure 9a. Place
all the molecules on a balance pan. Record the weight of the
“compound” you have prepared.
Next, “decompose” the compound into the elements C and
W as shown in Figure 9b. Place the atoms of both elements on
the same balance pan you used before. What is the total weight
54
of the elements? Compare the total weight of the two elements

with the weight of the compound you prepared. How do your
weighings illustrate the law of conservation of matter? That is,
how do they illustrate that matter is neither created nor
destroyed in a chemical reaction?
Now weigh separately each of the elements that you
obtained by decomposing the compound. What is the weight of
C? What is the weight of W? What is the relative weight of an
a)
W C
b)
W
C C
c)
Figure 9.
a) Prepare some molecules of the “compound” CW. Then
weigh the compound.
b) Decompose the compound into its elements, C and W.
c) Prepare molecules of the “compound” C2W.
55
atom of W to an atom of C? For example, if you combined 12

grams of paper clips with 36 grams of washers, the relative
weight of washers to paper clips would be:
W:C = 36:12 = 36 ÷ 12 : 12 ÷ 12 = 3:1
If the weight of an atom of C is considered to be 10 amu,
what is the weight of an atom of W in amu?
What was the percentage composition of the compound
CW? To find out, first divide the weight, in grams, of element
C by the weight of the compound CW. Why should you mul-
tiply that decimal fraction by 100 to find the percentage? How
can you find the percentage of W in the same compound?
Repeat the experiment, but prepare only about half as
many molecules of the compound CW. Again, record the
weight of the “compound.” Then decompose the compound
into the elements C and W. What was the percentage compo-
sition of the compound?
How do the results of these two experiments illustrate the
law of constant proportions? That is, how do the results
demonstrate that elements always combine to form a particular
compound in a fixed percentage, or ratio, by weight?
MULTIPLE PROPORTIONS
Suppose, as is often true in nature, that elements C and W
combine to form more than one compound. Use the same
“atoms” of C and W to prepare as many molecules as possible
56
of the compound C2W (2 Cs and 1 W), as shown in Figure

9c. The formula C2W shows that there are two atoms of C and
one atom of W in each molecule of C2W. This formula is sim-
ilar to the formula H2O, which also shows that there are two
atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen in each molecule of
water. What is the percentage of C in the compound C2W?
What is the percentage of W?
Chemists have found that carbon and oxygen combine to
form two different gases. In one (carbon monoxide), the ratio
of carbon to oxygen is 3:4; in the other (carbon dioxide), the
ratio is 3:8. For a fixed weight of carbon, let’s say 3, the ratio
of oxygen in carbon monoxide to oxygen in carbon dioxide is
4:8, or more simply, 1:2.
In all cases where two elements combine to form more than
one compound, the following law of multiple proportions holds
true. If the weight of one element is kept the same, the ratio of
the weight of the other element in the two or more compounds
will be in simple whole numbers. For carbon monoxide and car-
bon dioxide, when the weight of carbon is fixed, the ratio of
oxygen in the two compounds is 1:2. For other compounds, it
might be 3:2, 5:2, and so on, but always simple whole numbers.
How does this experiment, in which you made the com-
pounds CW and C2W, illustrate the law of multiple proportions?
Predict the percentage composition of the compound CW2.
Then carry out an experiment to confirm your prediction. Do
the same for the compound C2W3. Were your predictions
57
correct? If not, can you figure out where you made a mistake?
How do the compounds CW, C2W, CW2, and C2W3 illus-
trate the law of multiple proportions?
ANTOINE LAVOISIER, A GREAT CHEMIST

Many of the basic ideas and experiments that led to the law of
conservation of mass were conceived of or performed by the
great French scientist Antoine Lavoisier.
Lavoisier had the good fortune to marry Marie Anne
Paulze, a woman who illustrated his books, translated books
and letters, helped him with experiments, and recorded his
notes. Marie Lavoisier was one of the few women we know was
involved in science prior to the twentieth century.
Lavoisier lived during the time of the French Revolution—
a time of great violent change in French society. To support his
experimental work, Lavoisier worked as a tax collector. Many
tax collectors were persecuted by the French revolutionary
forces, and Lavoisier was among those arrested. When he
pleaded that he was a scientist and not a tax collector, the rad-
ical, antimonarchist judge replied, “The Republic has no need
of scientists.” And so, on May 8, 1794, Lavoisier and his
father-in-law (also a tax collector) were beheaded.
Lavoisier’s friend, astronomer Joseph-Louis Lagrange,
spoke for the future when he said of Lavoisier: “It took but a
moment to cut off his head; it will take a century to produce
another like it.”
58
Chapter
chemical reaction in which oxygen combines with other

substances to form compounds is called oxidation. You
see oxidation every time something burns. Burning is rapid
oxidation, but not all oxidation reactions are so speedy. The
rusting of iron is an example of slow oxidation that you will
examine in Experiment 3.1.
59
Experiment 3.1
Rusting of Iron
Materials
2 pairs of safety vinegar

goggles cups or glasses
steel wool (without soap) spoon
scissors paper towels
water marking pen
household ammonia soap and water
Iron (Fe) rusts when oxygen in the air slowly combines with it
to form a compound called iron, or ferric, oxide (Fe2O3). You
can use steel wool, which contains iron, to study this process. To
see how different chemicals may affect the rate of rusting, put
on safety goggles, then cut a steel wool pad (one without
soap) into four equal parts. Soak one piece in water, one in
ammonia, and a third in vinegar. The fourth piece can remain
dry. It can serve as a control. After soaking the steel wool for
several minutes, remove them using a spoon and put them on
labeled paper towels. Then wash your hands thoroughly.
Leave the samples for at least a day. Then examine them
periodically to see what happens. Which piece is the first to
show evidence of rusting? Do any appear not to rust at all?
Record your results and save them for analysis in Chapter 5,
Experiment 5.5.
60
Some Chemical Reactions and Their Reaction Speeds
Experiment 3.2
What Fraction of Air Is Oxygen?

Materials
steel wool pad 2 narrow jars (olive

(without soap) jars are good) or large
drinking glasses test tubes
vinegar rubber bands
water pencil
shallow plastic container paper
ruler marking pen
food coloring
Since the iron in steel wool reacts with oxygen, we can use steel
wool to remove oxygen from air. By doing so, we can determine
what percentage of air is oxygen.
Begin by soaking a pad of steel wool in a glass of vinegar
for 20 minutes. While the steel wool is soaking, add water to a
depth of about 2 cm to a shallow plastic container. To make the
water more visible, you can add a few drops of food coloring.
Pull a few strands of steel wool from the pad that has
soaked in vinegar. Roll them into a small, loosely packed ball.
The ball should be slightly wider than the diameter of the nar-
row jar (an olive jar is good) or large test tube you plan to use.
Put the steel wool ball into one of the narrow jars or test tubes.
61
Use a pencil to push the ball all the way to the bottom of the
jar or tube. Push a ball of paper to the bottom of the second
tube or jar.
Turn the tubes upside down and place them side by side in
the container of water you prepared earlier, as shown in Figure
10. Devise some means of fastening the tubes so they won’t tip
over. Leave the inverted tubes for a period of 24 hours. As the
oxygen in the air reacts with the steel wool, water should rise up
the tube, replacing the volume previously occupied by the gas.
After 24 hours, mark the water level in each tube with a
marking pen or a rubber band. Leave them for several more
hours to see if the water level rises any higher. Once the water
level has stopped rising, look closely at the steel wool in the
paper
steel wool
glass to support tube

water,
2 cm deep rubber band
Figure 10.
What fraction of air is oxygen?
62
tube. Has it rusted? Did the water rise in the tube that held the
ball of paper? What was the purpose of that tube?
Use the ruler to measure the height of the water in the tube
that contains the steel wool. What is the ratio of the height of
the water level to the total height of the tube? According to
your measurements, what fraction of the air is oxygen? What
percentage of air is oxygen? For example, suppose water rises
to a height of 3 cm in a jar that is 15 cm tall. The fraction and
percentage of the air that is oxygen would be:
3 cm 1
= = 0.2 = 20%
15 cm 5
G
Design and carry out an experiment to see whether plac-
ing the steel wool at different places in the jar or tube
affects the height to which the water rises.
G
Will a candle burning in a limited supply of air use up all
the oxygen in the air before it goes out? Design an exper-
iment to find out. Then, under adult supervision, carry
out your experiment.
63
Experiment 3.3
Preparing and Testing Oxygen

Materials
an adult 3% hydrogen peroxide

half-pint bottles solution (from a pharmacy
or supermarket)
one-hole rubber stopper
that fits the mouth of teaspoon
a bottle manganese dioxide (from
short length of science teacher or science
glass tubing supply company)
soap or glycerin 2 pairs of safety
goggles
rubber tubing
wood splint
plastic pail
matches
water
tongs
square pieces
of cardboard or rigid steel wool (without soap)
plastic Bunsen burner (use in
100-mL graduated school science room)
cylinder a sink
Oxygen, which you probably found makes up about one fifth

(20 percent) of air, can be prepared by decomposing hydro-
gen peroxide (H2O2). The decomposition of hydrogen
peroxide is very slow. Consequently, you will use manganese
dioxide to speed up the reaction. Manganese dioxide will
64
serve as a catalyst. A catalyst is a substance that changes the

rate of a reaction without itself undergoing any change.
To begin, obtain a half-pint bottle and a one-hole rubber
stopper that fits the mouth of the bottle. Ask an adult to
insert a short length of glass tubing into the stopper. (A little
soap or glycerin on the glass may make it easier to insert the
tubing.) Attach a piece of rubber tubing about 30 cm (1 ft)
long to the glass tubing. Next, fill a plastic pail about one third
full with water. Fill another half-pint bottle with water and
cover its mouth with a square piece of cardboard or rigid plas-
tic. Invert the bottle and put it in the pail. You can then remove
the cover. Water will remain in the bottle as long as its mouth
is beneath the surface of the water in the pail.
Remove the stopper from the upright bottle and pour 100
mL of a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution into the bottle. Add
one teaspoon of manganese dioxide to the hydrogen peroxide
and replace the stopper. Place the end of the rubber tubing
into the pail. When gas bubbles begin to emerge from the tube,
let them escape. They are mostly air that was in the flask and
tube. The air is being replaced by oxygen. After about 30 sec-
onds, place the end of the tube under the inverted water-filled
bottle as shown in Figure 11. While gas collects in the bottle,
prepare a second bottle in which you can collect gas. When the
first bottle is filled with gas, slide the cardboard or plastic cover
under it and remove it from the pail. Stand that covered bottle
upright and place the tube under the second bottle in the pail.
65
Collect a second bottle of oxygen. Cover it, remove it from the

pail, and place it beside the first bottle.
Put on safety goggles and, under adult supervi-
sion, light a wood splint. When it is burning well, blow it out.
Remove the cover from the bottle of oxygen and insert the
glowing splint into the bottle of oxygen. What happens?
Dip the splint into the pail
of water to put it out.
Using tongs, hold a small
ball of steel wool (without
soap) in a Bunsen burner
flame. When the steel is
rubber tubing second
water-
filled
bottle
glass rubber
tube stopper
H2O2
MnO2 water
cover gas-collecting
bottle
Figure 11.
Oxygen can be prepared by decomposing hydrogen peroxide
(H2O2) in the presence of manganese dioxide (MnO2), which
catalyzes the reaction.
66
glowing, quickly place it in the second bottle of oxygen. What

happens?
Place the steel wool in a sink where it can cool.
Predict what will happen if you remove the stopper from the
bottle of H2O2 and insert a glowing splint into the bottle. Under
adult supervision, try it! Was your prediction correct?
Based on what you observed in this experiment, what can
you say about oxygen’s color, odor, and solubility in water? How
does oxygen affect the rate at which something burns?
How might you test a gas to see if it is oxygen?
G
Cut a slice of potato into small pieces and put them in a
flask. Then add about 50 mL of 3% hydrogen peroxide
and swirl the flask. Is there evidence of a chemical reac-
tion? Might the gas bubbles be oxygen? Under adult
supervision, carry out a test to see if the gas is oxygen.
What do you find?
G
In addition to manganese dioxide, what other sub-
stances might serve as catalysts in the decomposition of
hydrogen peroxide? You might begin with small pieces
of raw beef liver.
G
Why is hydrogen peroxide always stored in dark brown
plastic bottles?
67
Experiment 3.4
The Rate at Which Hydrogen

Peroxide Decomposes
Materials
an adult rubber tubing
2 pairs of safety goggles 10- and 100-mL
paper clips graduated cylinders
washers square pieces of
cardboard or
3% hydrogen peroxide solu-
rigid plastic
tion (from a pharmacy or
supermarket) clamp
100- or 150-mL flask ring stand
clear plastic containers potassium iodide (KI)
from science teacher or
water
science supply company
1-hole rubber stopper that
balance
fits flask
notebook and pencil
short glass tube
clock or watch
soap or glycerin
The chemical formula for hydrogen peroxide is H2O2. This

compound decomposes slowly to form water (H2O) and oxygen
(O2). The reaction can be represented by the chemical equation
2H2O2 ➝ 2H2O + O2
(Hydrogen peroxide yields water and oxygen.)
68
The formulas show that there are two atoms of hydrogen

and two atoms of oxygen in each molecule of H2O2. The for-
mulas also show that there are two atoms of hydrogen and one
atom of oxygen in each molecule of water and two atoms of
oxygen in each molecule of oxygen. In the equation, you see a
2 in front of the H2O2 and another 2 in front of the H2O.
These numbers are used to balance the equation. The word
equation indicates an equality of numbers before and after the
arrow. If you count the number of atoms of hydrogen and oxy-
gen on either side of the arrow, you will find that four hydrogen
atoms and four oxygen atoms are found on both sides of the
arrow. To be realistic, equations have to be balanced because
we know matter cannot be created or destroyed.
If the equation were written
H2O2 ➝ H2O + O2
it would indicate that one molecule of oxygen and one molecule
of water are created for every molecule of hydrogen peroxide
that decomposes. Notice, however, that there are three atoms
of oxygen on the right side of the equation and only two on the
left side. This equation is not balanced: something is missing.
Using paper clips and washers to represent atoms of hydro-
gen and oxygen, prepare “molecules” that represent hydrogen
peroxide. Then decompose these molecules into water and oxy-
gen molecules. You will quickly see that two molecules of
69
hydrogen peroxide are needed to form two molecules of water

and one molecule of oxygen.
To observe the actual reaction, put on your safety gog-
gles and pour 15 mL of a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution into
a flask. Place the flask in a clear plastic container that contains
water at room temperature. The water will keep the reaction at
a constant temperature. In this experiment you will test the
effect of concentration (amount of hydrogen peroxide per vol-
ume) on the rate of the reaction. Temperature might also affect
the speed of the reaction, so you need to keep the temperature
constant. Otherwise, you would not know whether it was con-
centration or temperature that was affecting the rate.
Ask an adult to insert a short glass tube into a one-hole
rubber stopper. (A little soap or glycerin on the glass may make
insertion easier.) Place the stopper in the flask and connect a
piece of rubber tubing to the glass tube. Place the end of the
rubber tubing under an inverted 100-mL graduated cylinder
that is filled with water. The open end of the cylinder should be
under water in another plastic container so that the water stays
in the cylinder. A clamp attached to a ring stand can be used to
support the cylinder as shown in Figure 12.
Swirl the flask and look for bubbles of oxygen to be
released and collected in the graduated cylinder. As you can
see, this reaction is a very slow one. In fact, you may not see
any bubbles of gas.
70
100-mL
graduated
cylinder
rubber tubing
clamp
glass tube rubber

stopper
ring
stand
3% H2O2 + KI water
cardboard or
rigid plastic
Figure 12.
How fast does hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) decompose when
potassium iodide (KI) is used as a catalyst?
Perhaps a catalyst will increase the rate of the reaction. A

catalyst, as you have seen, is a substance that changes the rate
of a reaction without undergoing any change itself. To find out,
prepare a catalyst by adding 3.3 grams of potassium iodide
(KI) to 100 mL of water. After the solid has dissolved, remove
the rubber tubing from beneath the graduated cylinder and the
71
stopper from the flask. Ask an adult, who is wearing safety

goggles, to add 15 mL of the KI solution to the hydrogen per-
oxide in the flask. Replace the stopper and rubber tube as
before and again swirl the flask. Continue to swirl the flask in
the water bath throughout the experiment.
When bubbles of oxygen begin to collect, record the time.
Record the time again when 10 mL of gas have formed.
Continue to record the time after each additional 10 mL of gas
have been collected. Do this until you have collected 80 to 100
mL of gas.
What happens to the rate of the reaction as more gas is col-
lected? What must happen to the concentration of hydrogen
peroxide as the reaction proceeds? Based on your data, what
can you conclude about the effect of the concentration of hydro-
gen peroxide on the rate of its decomposition?
Under adult supervision, carry out a test to show that
the gas you collected is oxygen.
esign and carry out an experiment to see if the concen-

D tration of the catalyst affects the rate at which
hydrogen peroxide decomposes to water and oxygen.
72
Experiment 3.5
Factors Affecting the Rate

of a Reaction
Materials
hot and cold water paper
clear plastic cups watch or clock with a
seltzer tablets second hand
RATE VS. TEMPERATURE

As you saw in the previous experiment, the rate of a reaction
depends on the concentration of the substances that react (the
reactants). You may remember that you carried out the reaction
in a water bath in order to keep the temperature constant. How
do you think temperature might affect the speed of a chemical
reaction?
To find out, place equal amounts of hot and cold water in
separate clear plastic cups. Drop one seltzer tablet into each
cup at the same time. You can use a watch or a clock with a
second hand to compare the times for each tablet to completely
disappear. In which cup does the reaction go faster? What
effect does temperature have on the rate of this reaction?
RATE VS. SURFACE AREA

Could the amount of surface area affect the rate of a reaction?
To find out, you will need two seltzer tablets. On a sheet of
73
paper, crush one into tiny pieces. How does this affect its
surface area—the amount of surface exposed to other sub-
stances such as air or water? Leave the second tablet whole.
Drop both tablets at the same time into equal volumes of
water at the same temperature in two separate but identical
containers. Why should the water temperature be the same in
both containers? Which tablet reacts faster? How does surface
area affect the rate of a reaction?
RATE VS. CONCENTRATION OF REACTANTS

In this reaction seltzer and water are the reactants. The gas
formed (carbon dioxide) and some soluble substances are the
products. Do you think the speed of the reaction will depend
on the amount (concentration) of seltzer used?
To check your answer, drop a whole seltzer tablet into half
a cup of water. At the same time, drop half a tablet into an
equal amount of water in an identical cup. In which container
is gas produced faster? (Remember, if the reaction speed is the
same in both containers, it will take the whole tablet exactly
twice as long to react as the half tablet.) What do you find?
Was your answer right?
RATE VS. CONCENTRATION OF PRODUCTS

If you drop a seltzer tablet into a cup of water where several
tablets have already reacted, there will be a lot of the prod-
ucts of the reaction (the gas and new chemicals formed by the
74
reaction) already in the water. Do you think this will affect

the speed of the reaction between the seltzer and water?
You can increase the concentration of one of the products of
the reaction, namely the gas, by placing the palm of your hand
firmly over the top of the cup where the reaction is happening.
This will prevent the gas from escaping and raise the concen-
tration of gas and pressure above the liquid. How does this
increase in concentration of a product affect the rate at which
bubbles form? What happens to the rate of the reaction when
you remove your hand?
To increase the concentration of the new substances and gas
that remain in solution, drop a seltzer tablet into half a cup of
water. When the tablet has completely disappeared, place a
second half cup of water beside the first. Drop a seltzer tablet
into each of the two cups. In which cup is the reaction speed
greater? What can you conclude?
Will the amount of water into which you put a seltzer
tablet affect the speed of the reaction? Design an experiment
to find out.
75
G
Examine the list of ingredients on a box of seltzer
tablets. Obtain these ingredients. Then carry out experi-
ments to find out which ingredient or ingredients cause
the reaction you observe when you drop a seltzer tablet
into water.
G
Weigh out an amount of Alka-Seltzer or Bromo-Seltzer
antacid that has the same weight as a single seltzer
tablet. Add the antacid and the seltzer tablet to equal
amounts of water in separate identical clear cups.
Which sample do you think will react faster? Were you
right?
76
Chapter
n Chapter 1, Experiments 1.7 and 1.8, you found that when

I substances melt or boil, the temperature remains constant.
You may have wondered how this could happen when heat was
being removed from or added to the substance. Normally,
when we add heat to a substance, its temperature rises and its
molecules move faster. When we take heat away, its tempera-
ture drops and its molecules move slower. At a certain
temperature a substance may undergo a physical change; it will
change its state. When a solid becomes a liquid or a liquid
becomes a gas, it has changed its state.
77
During a change of state, energy is involved in changing the

structure of the substance, but not in changing its temperature.
In the case of melting, energy is needed to break the rigid
bonds that hold the molecules in place. Breaking the bonds
allows the molecules to move freely around one another in the
liquid state. The thermal (heat) energy added or removed does
not change the average speed of the molecules.
To change a liquid to a gas during boiling, energy is needed
to separate the molecules. As you know from experience,
energy is required to lift a weight; that is, to separate it from the
earth. Similarly, energy is required to separate molecules from
one another. Just as objects are attracted to the earth by grav-
ity, molecules are attracted to one another.
When a liquid freezes, the energy it gives up comes from
the formation of rigid bonds between the molecules, not from a
decrease in the average speed of its molecules. During conden-
sation, the energy released comes from the loss of potential
energy when the molecules come together, not from a loss in
average molecular speed.
Energy must be added to melt ice or boil water. Energy is
released when water freezes or when steam condenses. These
are physical changes because no new substances are formed.
As you will see in this chapter, energy is also involved in chem-
ical changes, in which new substances are formed. But first you
will investigate the energy required or released during physical
changes (changes of state).
78
Energy in Chemical and Physical Changes
Experiment 4.1
The Energy (Heat) Needed

to Melt Ice
Materials
100-mL graduated thermometer
cylinder or metric Styrofoam cup
measuring cup
paper towel
warm water
ice
As you read earlier, energy (heat) must be added to change

solid water (ice) to its liquid state. In this experiment, you will
try to find the amount of heat needed to melt one gram of ice.
This quantity of heat is known as the heat of fusion.
Heat can be measured in calories. One calorie is the amount
of heat gained (or lost) when one gram of water changes its tem-
perature by one degree Celsius. If the temperature of 100 grams
of water rose by 10°C, the heat transferred to the water would
have been 1,000 calories (100 g × 10°C = 1,000 cal). If its
temperature fell by 10°C, it would have transferred 1,000 calo-
ries to something else.
To begin the experiment, pour 100 mL (100 g) of warm
(about 30°C) tap water into a Styrofoam cup. Use a paper
towel to remove any cold water that may lie on the surface of a
small ice cube. While stirring, add the ice cube as shown in
79
Figure 13. Continue to add small pieces of ice until the water
reaches approximately 10°C. Cooling the water to a tempera-
ture as far below room temperature as it was above room
temperature when you started will offset heat lost and gained to
the air. The heat lost by the warm water to the cooler air as it
cools from 30° to 20°C during the first part of the experiment
will balance the heat gained from the warmer air as the water
cools from 20° to 10°C.
Pour the water, which now contains the melted ice, into a
graduated cylinder. How much ice melted?
thermometer
ice cube
graduated
cylinder
Styrofoam
cup with
warm water
paper towel
Figure 13.
The materials shown here can be used to find the heat of
fusion for water.
80
The heat lost by the warm water can be found from the
weight of the water (100 g) and its change in temperature. In
the example given, the change in temperature of the warm
water was 20°C (30°C − 10°C). Therefore, the warm water
lost 2,000 calories because
100 g × 20°C = 2,000 cal
However, in this experiment the heat lost by the water did two
things: (1) It melted the ice. (2) It warmed the melted ice from
0°C to the final temperature of the water (10°C).
In the example given, suppose the final volume of water was
122 mL. Since 22 g of ice melted (122 g − 100 g), the heat
required to warm the melted ice from 0° to 10°C was 220 cal
(22 g × 10°C). The remaining 1780 calories (2,000 − 220)
was the heat used to melt the ice. According to this example,
the heat needed to melt one gram of ice (the heat of fusion) was
1780 cal ÷ 22 g = 81 cal/g
How does this value compare with the one you found in your
experiment?
Millions of experiments have shown that energy, like mat-
ter, is conserved. That is, energy is never created or destroyed.
We know, then, that the heat used to melt one gram of ice will
equal the heat released when one gram of water freezes.
81
G
Does the shape of a piece of ice affect the rate at which
it melts? Design and conduct an experiment to find out.
Can you explain your results?
G
You may have seen icicles form when snow melts and
drips off a roof. How can water freeze to form icicles
when the temperature is warm enough to melt the snow?
Experiment 4.2
The Energy (Heat) Needed

to Boil Water
Materials
an adult 12- or 14-oz Styrofoam

2 pairs of safety gog- cups
gles, long-sleeved beaker or can
shirts, and oven mitts
water
200-watt electric
immersion heater thermometer with a range
of −10 to 110°C
electrical outlet
watch with second hand
graduated cylinder or
metric measuring cup notebook and pencil
82
Work under adult supervision during this experiment

because you will be using electricity and very hot
water. Wear goggles, a long-sleeved shirt, and oven
mitts throughout this experiment.
The boiling point of water at sea level is approximately
100°C. You have seen that water temperature remains at the
boiling point for as long as the water boils. The energy added
to the boiling water does not increase the water’s temperature.
That energy is used to separate the molecules of water from
each other.
The heat needed to change one gram of a liquid at its boil-
ing point to a gas is called the heat of vaporization. A rough
estimate of the heat of vaporization for water can be done by
using a 200-watt electric immersion heater. An immersion
heater should not be plugged into an electrical outlet
unless its coil is in water!
Although a label on an immersion heater may read 200 W,
the actual power of the heater may be somewhat higher or
lower. Consequently, the first thing you should do is calibrate
the heater. That is, find out how much heat the heater provides
in one minute. To do this, put 200 grams of cold water in a
12- or 14-oz Styrofoam cup. (Stacking two or three such cups
together will provide better insulation. Place the cups in a
beaker or can to provide additional support.) If possible, use
water that is 5º to 10°C cooler than the room. This will reduce
83
heat losses that occur when the water temperature rises above
room temperature.
Place the immersion heater in the cold water. Use a ther-
mometer to measure the water temperature (see Figure 14).
After recording the initial temperature of the water, record the
exact time the adult plugs the immersion heater into an
Styrofoam
cups
immersion
thermometer heater
Figure 14.
An immersion heater can be used to heat water and obtain an
estimate of the heat of vaporization for water.
84
electrical outlet. Stir the water gently with the thermometer as

the water is heated. After exactly one minute, ask the adult
to remove the plug (grasping the plug, not the cord) from the
outlet to disconnect the heater. Leave the heater in the cup as
you stir the water to find its final temperature. Why should you
leave the heater in the water after it is disconnected?
Record the final temperature of the water. By how many
degrees did the water’s temperature change? Use the data you
have collected to calculate how much heat, in calories, the
immersion heater transferred to the water in one minute.
Repeat the experiment several times to be sure your results
are consistent. How much heat does the immersion heater deliver
in one minute? How much heat do you predict it will deliver in
30 seconds? Test your prediction. Were you right?
If the heater really delivers as much heat per second as its
rating (200 W) indicates, it provides 2,870 calories per
minute. How does this value compare with the value you found
by experiment?
Now place 150 ml (150 g) of cold tap water in a stack of
two or three insulated Styrofoam cups supported by a beaker
or can. With only 150 g of water, very little will spatter from
the cup when the water boils. Put the cooled immersion heater
in the water, stir, and record the initial temperature of the
water. Ask the adult to plug in the heater, note the time, and
let it transfer heat to the water for 7 or 8 minutes. During that
period of time, a significant amount of water should boil away.
85
Once the water is boiling, record its temperature. Why might

it boil at some temperature other than 100°C?
Ask the adult to disconnect the heater while you record the
total time you have added heat to the water. Then remove
the heater from the water. Ask the adult, who should be
wearing oven mitts and safety goggles, to pour the hot
water into a graduated cylinder. How much water remains?
What mass of water was changed to gas?
With the data you have collected, you can make a reason-
able estimate of the amount of heat required to boil away one
gram of water at its boiling point. For example, suppose that
your heater transfers 3,000 cal/min. In 8 minutes it will pro-
vide 24,000 cal. If the initial temperature of the water was
20°C and the boiling temperature was 100°C, then 12,000
calories (150 g × 80°C) were required to bring the water to the
boiling point. Assume that the remaining 12,000 calories
(24,000 − 12,000) were used to change liquid water to
gaseous water. If 20 g of water boiled away, then the energy
required to boil away one gram of water was
12,000 cal ÷ 20 g = 600 cal/g
Using your data, what do you find is the heat of vaporiza-
tion for water?
Examine the heats of fusion and vaporization for the sub-
stances listed in Table 4. How do your estimates for the heats
of fusion and vaporization for water compare with the values
86
given in the table? How do the heats of fusion and vaporization

for water compare with those of other substances that have
about the same molecular or atomic weight?
Table 4:
MOLECULAR WEIGHT, IN ATOMIC MASS UNITS (AMU),
AND HEATS OF VAPORIZATION AND FUSION FOR A
FEW SUBSTANCES WITH MOLECULAR WEIGHTS
REASONABLY CLOSE TO WATER’S (18).
Molecular or Heat of Heat of

Substance atomic weight vaporization fusion
(amu) (cal/g) (cal/g)
Aluminum 27 2500 95
Ammonia 17 329 108
Copper 63.5 1150 49
Ethanol 46 205 26
Hydrogen 2 108 14
Oxygen 32 51 3
Sulfur dioxide 64 95 24
Water 18 540 80
87
Experiment 4.3
The Heat of Condensation

Materials
an adult short length of
2 pairs of safety rubber tubing
goggles and glass eyedropper
oven mitts Bunsen burner or
ring stand clamp alcohol burner
large test tube scissors
(25 x 150 mm) 6- or 7-oz Styrofoam cup
water balance that can weigh to
boiling chips (calcium nearest 0.1 gram or better
carbonate) notebook and pencil
one-hole rubber stopper thermometer
that fits the test tube graduated cylinder or
right-angle glass bend metric measuring cup
When an object moves farther from the earth, the earth’s pull
of gravity on the object is lessened. Its speed and kinetic
(motion) energy decreases. As a result, because energy is con-
served, the object’s gravitational potential energy increases.
The raised object can transfer its potential energy to another
object as it falls back to earth. That energy can be used to do
work—to pump water, for instance.
88
In a similar way, molecules of water acquire potential

energy when they are separated from each other. So it is not
surprising that heat is released when gaseous water molecules
come back together (condense) to form a liquid.
In the previous experiment, you measured the quantity of
energy needed to boil away one gram of water. The law of con-
servation of energy would suggest that the same quantity of
energy would be released when a gram of steam condenses
back to liquid water. To find out if this is so, you can let some
steam condense in cold water. Is energy released when this
happens? If it is, is the amount of energy per gram released
similar to the energy per gram absorbed when water boils?
Since steam can cause severe burns, an adult
should do parts of this experiment.
Set up the apparatus as shown in Figure 15. Fill the large
test tube about one third of the way with water. Add several boil-
ing chips (pieces of calcium carbonate) to prevent violent boiling
that might cause water to leave the test tube. Put a one-hole rub-
ber stopper fitted with a right-angle glass bend in the mouth of
the test tube. Add a short length of rubber tubing in order to
connect the glass bend to a glass eyedropper that has a narrow
opening. Under adult supervision, heat the water with a
Bunsen or alcohol burner, being ready to move the burner so
as not to force water out of the test tube. The idea is to send
steam, not boiling water, from the test tube.
89
glass thermometer
eyedropper
right angle
glass bend
rubber
stopper
water
boiling
chips cut-off
Styrofoam
cup
ring
stand
Bunsen
burner
Figure 15.
A steam generator will produce gaseous water. The gas will
condense in cold water, enabling you to find a value for the
heat of condensation for water.
Steam produced in the large test tube will flow through the
right-angle glass bend and eyedropper into the cold water.
There it will condense.
Using scissors, cut away the top third of a 6- or 7-oz
Styrofoam cup. Have the adult begin heating the water in the
test tube while you weigh and record the weight of the cutoff
cup. Add about 100 mL of cold water to the cup. That water
should be about 10°C below room temperature. Now weigh the
cup and the water. What is the weight of the cold water?
When steam without water droplets is coming from the
eyedropper, use the thermometer to measure the exact temper-
ature of the cold water. Record this temperature. Then, the
adult, with safety goggles and oven mitts on, should
hold the cup of cold water so that the end of the eyedropper is
beneath the water’s surface. You will hear the steam sputter as
it condenses in the cold water. Stir the water gently with the
thermometer. When the water temperature reaches a temper-
ature about 10°C greater than room temperature, remove the
cup from the steam. Stir and record the water’s maximum
temperature.
The adult should turn off the burner while you determine
the mass of the cup, water, and condensed steam. What mass
of steam condensed? Why is it a good procedure to start with
water colder than the room and allow its temperature to rise to
a level warmer than the room?
91
How much heat, in calories, was transferred to the cold

water? How much heat was released by the steam as it con-
densed? Do not forget to subtract the heat that came from the
hot water after it condensed. For example, if 3.50 g of steam
condensed and the final temperature of the water was 30°C,
then 3.50 g of condensed steam gave up 245 calories in cooling
from 100°C down to 30°C (3.50 g × 70°C).
What is the heat of condensation for water (heat per gram
of water condensed) according to your data? That is, how
much heat is released when one gram of water vapor condenses
to liquid at the boiling point? Is this value similar to that of the
heat of vaporization?
In the example above, the 3.50 g of steam raised the tem-
perature of the cold water by 20°C. It provided 2,000 calories
to the cold water (100 g × 20°C = 2,000 cal). Of that 2,000
calories, 245 calories came from the steam after it condensed.
Therefore, the heat due to condensation was 1,755 calories
(2,000 − 245). The heat released per gram of steam con-
densed would be 501 cal/g (1755 cal ÷ 3.50 g = 501 cal/g).
Examine the heats of fusion and vaporization for the sub-
stances listed in Table 4. How does the energy required to
separate the atoms of a metal compare with that required
to separate the molecules of liquids? How does the heat of
vaporization for water compare with that of other liquids and
gases whose molecules have a similar weight? How might you
explain water’s rather extraordinary heat of vaporization?
92
Experiment 4.4
Energy Changes During Physical

and Chemical Changes
Materials
an adult 2 pairs of safety
sink goggles and
water oven mitts
graduated cylinder or
Epsom salt
metric measuring cup
small glass or test tube
3% solution of
thermometer
hydrogen peroxide
teaspoon
12-oz Styrofoam cup
ammonium chloride
tablespoon
sodium hydroxide
dry yeast
scoopula or spatula
There are changes in energy when solid substances dissolve in

water. Some substances, such as salts, are made up of ions
(charged atoms). Ordinary salt, such as sodium chloride, con-
sists of sodium ions (Na+) and chloride ions (Cl−). Separating
the molecules or ions of the solids requires an input of energy.
However, the attraction between water molecules and the mol-
ecules or ions in the solid can change potential energy to kinetic
energy (motion). The kinetic energy appears as an increase in
the speed of the particles. This causes an increase in tempera-
ture, because temperature rises in proportion to the average
93
kinetic energy of the molecules. When energy is released and

the temperature rises, we say the dissolving is exothermic. If
energy is absorbed, the temperature decreases, and we say the
dissolving is endothermic.
You can test a number of substances to see whether they
absorb or release energy when they dissolve. After testing each
one, pour the solution into a sink and flush it down the drain
with plenty of water.
To find out what happens when Epsom salt dissolves in
water, pour some water into a small glass or test tube. Use a
thermometer to find the temperature of the water. (It should be
approximately room temperature.) Add one teaspoon of
Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) and stir. What happens to the
temperature of the mixture? Is the dissolving of Epsom salt
exothermic or endothermic?
Repeat the experiment using ammonium chloride
(NH4Cl). Is the dissolving of ammonium chloride exothermic
or endothermic?
Add about 20 mL of water to a test tube or small glass.
Ask an adult to use a scoopula or spatula to add a few pel-
lets of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to the water. Sodium
hydroxide should never touch skin. It is very corro-
sive. Therefore, the adult should wear safety goggles
and oven mitts when handling sodium hydroxide.
Should any of the solid touch skin, the skin should be
rinsed with cold water immediately.
94
Stir the mixture with your thermometer. Is the dissolving of

sodium hydroxide exothermic or endothermic? The adult can
dispose of the solution by pouring it into a sink drain with
plenty of cold water.
Chemical changes can also be exothermic or endothermic.
For example, when an electric current is passed through water
(H2O), the water breaks down into oxygen (O2) and hydro-
gen (H2). It is an endothermic reaction because electrical
energy is absorbed in the process and stored as chemical energy
in the gases.
Add about 60 mL of a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution to
a 12-oz Styrofoam cup. Place a thermometer into the liquid.
Record the temperature of the hydrogen peroxide solution and
remove the thermometer. Then pour one tablespoon of dry
yeast into the solution. As you saw in Experiment 3.4, hydro-
gen peroxide (H2O2) slowly changes to water and oxygen.
You also saw how a catalyst can affect the rate of the reaction.
In this experiment you will see that yeast can also serve as a cat-
alyst for the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. You will also
discover that there are changes in energy.
What happens in the cup? What gas do you think is being
produced? How could you determine whether you are right?
Put the thermometer back in the liquid. What has happened to
the temperature? Is the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide an
exothermic or an endothermic reaction?
95
Experiment 4.5
A Chemical Reaction: Reactants,

Products, and Energy Changes
Materials
an adult paper punch
matches 6-oz frozen juice can
a short candle stick, glass rod, or
aluminum can lid long nail
1-L beaker or a quart jar ring and ring stand
cobalt chloride paper graduated cylinder
two 250-mL or metric measuring
Erlenmeyer flasks cup
limewater cold water
soda straw thermometer
balance notebook and pencil
Because you will be using a candle flame in this

experiment, you should work with an adult.
When a chemical reaction takes place, substances that
change during it are called reactants. Substances that form dur-
ing the reaction are called products.
In this experiment, you will try to identify the reactants and
products of a chemical reaction. You will also measure the heat
released. The reaction is a very common one—the burning of
96
a candle. To prepare for the experiment, with an adult’s

help light a short candle. Once the candle is burning
smoothly, tip it so that some wax falls onto an aluminum can
lid. Before the wax solidifies, place the candle on the wax.
When the wax solidifies, it will keep the candle upright and in
place. (See Figure 16.)
As you know, when a candle burns, the wax burns away
and heat is released. Candle wax generally consists of 60 per-
cent paraffin, 35 percent stearic acid, and 5 percent beeswax.
These materials consist of large molecules that contain mostly
carbon and hydrogen. Paraffin is a white solid consisting of a
mixture of high-molecular-weight hydrocarbons (compounds
that contain only carbon and hydrogen). The formula for
stearic acid is C18H36O2. Beeswax is a mixture of compounds
consisting mostly of hydrogen and carbon and small amounts
of oxygen.
For a candle to burn, it must be in contact with air. As you
found earlier, the component of air that is essential for combus-
tion is oxygen. Therefore, we know that when a candle burns,
the reactants (the substances that combine) are wax and oxygen.
As in many chemical reactions, a certain amount of
energy—the activation energy—must be supplied to start the
reaction. In the case of a burning candle, the flame on a match
provides enough energy to start the reaction. Once it begins,
the reaction is exothermic. The burning candle releases energy
in the form of heat. The energy changes involved are shown in
97
a) +
Potential Energy
candle
+ air Activation energy (striking match)
(reactants)
Heat energy released
(burning candle)
−
Products formed by reaction
b) 1-quart jar
c)
solidified
wax
Figure 16.
a) To make a candle start to burn, some energy must be pro-
vided. This is called the activation energy. Once the reaction
starts, potential energy is released as the candle burns.
b) What happens if you restrict the amount of air available to
the candle?
c) Use an Erlenmeyer flask to cover the candle.
Figure 16a. The potential energy stored in the candle and

oxygen is released as heat energy once the activation energy is
provided.
What happens if the air supply is limited? To find out,
reduce a candle’s air supply by placing a 1-L beaker or a quart
jar over the candle as shown in Figure 16b. What happens?
As you can see, a thin film of liquid has condensed on the
glass that covered the candle. To see if it might be water, you
can hold a piece of cobalt chloride paper against the liquid.
Cobalt chloride, which is blue when dehydrated, turns pink
when water is added. Is the liquid water? Could it be some-
thing else?
Ask an adult to light the candle again. When the candle
is burning smoothly, place a 250-mL Erlenmeyer flask beside
the candle (see Figure 16c). Then invert a second 250-mL
Erlenmeyer flask over the candle. After the flame goes out,
remove the second flask and place it beside the first one. Then
add 20 mL of limewater to both flasks and swirl them.
Limewater turns milky in the presence of carbon dioxide
(CO2). Does the limewater in either flask turn milky? What
can you conclude?
As you probably know, there is carbon dioxide in the air
you exhale. What do you think will happen if you use a soda
straw to blow your lung air into the limewater in the flask that
didn’t become milky? Try it! Was your prediction correct?
99
Based on your observations, what are two likely products of

the reaction between candle wax and oxygen?
There are two possible reasons why the candle went out
when the flask was covering it. One or more of the reactants
was in limited supply, or one or more of the products, when not
removed, stopped the reaction. Why do you think the candle
went out when it was covered by a glass vessel?
ENERGY CHANGES
To find out how much energy is released per gram of wax
burned, you should first weigh a short candle that is fixed to an
aluminum can lid. Record the weight. Next, use a paper punch
to make two holes, opposite one another, near the top of an
empty 6-oz frozen juice can. (The can should have a metal
base and cardboard sides.) Put a stick, glass rod, or long nail
though the holes to support the can on a ring connected to a
ring stand as shown in Figure 17. Place the candle under the
can. Add 100 mL of cold water (10 to 15°C below room tem-
perature) to the can and ask an adult to light the candle. The
top of the flame should just touch the bottom of the can.
Stir the water with the thermometer. When the temperature
of the water is 10 to 15°C above room temperature, blow out
the candle. Record the final temperature of the water and
reweigh the candle and lid.
How much heat, in calories, did the candle transfer to the
water? How much weight did the candle lose? Based on your
100
thermometer
glass rod,
stick, or nail
ring
6-oz frozen
juice can
with 100 mL
of water
aluminum
can lid
Figure 17.
How much energy is released when one gram of wax burns?
data, how much heat per gram of wax burned is released by the
reaction between candle wax and oxygen?
G
In Experiment 4.5 some of the heat released as the can-
dle burned was not transferred to the water. It was used
to warm surrounding air. Design a way to do this experi-
ment that would reduce heat losses to the surroundings.
Then, under adult supervision, carry out the experi-
ment. How much heat per gram of wax burned is
produced in this reaction when you use your modified
experiment? How does it compare with the value you
found before?
G
Does the heat per gram of wax burned depend on the
kind of candle you burn? Design an experiment to find
out. Then, under adult supervision, carry out your
experiment.
G
Design an experiment to measure the energy stored in a
peanut. Then carry out the experiment under adult
supervision.
102
Chapter
arly in the history of chemistry, chemists discovered that

E molten (melted) salts such as sodium chloride (NaCl) or
potassium iodide (KI) would conduct electricity. To explain this
behavior, a young Swedish chemist named Svante Arrhenius pro-
posed in 1884 that such salts consisted of ions. As you saw in the
last chapter, ions are atoms that carry an electric charge. You may
know that electric charges flow between positive and negative elec-
trodes connected to a battery. Ions, Arrenhius proposed, carry
charge from one electrode to the other. In the case of sodium chlo-
ride, the salt is made up of positive sodium ions (Na+) and
103
negative chloride ions (Cl−). When an electric current is passed

through molten sodium chloride, sodium metal collects at the neg-
ative electrode and chlorine gas bubbles off the positive electrode.
Most chemists did not accept Arrhenius’s theory. However,
when J. J. Thomson discovered the electron (an elementary par-
ticle with a negative charge) in 1897, and certain elements,
such as uranium, were found to give off charged particles (radi-
ation), Arrhenius’s idea became widely accepted. It became
clear that atoms contained charged particles—electrons and
protons. A chloride ion was an atom with one extra electron,
while a sodium ion was an atom that had lost one electron. In
recognition of his work, Arrhenius was awarded the Nobel
prize for chemistry in 1903.
Experiment 5.1
Ions and Electric Current

Materials
table salt insulated wires with

clear plastic vial alligator clips
paper clips water
6-volt dry-cell battery or coffee stirrer or
4 D cells, masking tape, swizzle stick
and a mailing tube Epsom salt
flashlight bulb and socket sugar
104
Acids, Bases, Ions, and an Electric Cell
When you hear the word salt, you probably think of the white
crystals you shake onto food to add flavor. To a chemist, how-
ever, a salt is a compound that consists of positive and negative
ions. For example, ordinary table salt, sodium chloride, con-
+
sists of equal numbers of positive sodium ions (Na ) and
−
negative chloride ions (Cl ). Calcium chloride (CaCl2) has
−
two singly charged chloride ions (Cl ) for every one doubly
+2
charged calcium ion (Ca ). Aluminum ions carry an excess of
+3
three positive charges (Al ). What would be the chemical for-
mula for aluminum chloride?
Will ordinary solid salt, the kind you put on food, conduct
electricity? To find out, nearly fill a clear plastic vial with table
salt. Add two paper clips as shown in Figure 18a, then connect
them to a 6-volt dry-cell battery through a flashlight bulb in a
socket. If you do not have such a battery, you can make one by
placing four D cells head to tail (Figure 18a) in a mailing tube.
The tube should be slightly shorter than the total length of the
four D cells. Use masking tape to fasten paper clips firmly
against the positive and negative terminals, as shown.
Insulated wires with alligator clips can be used to connect the
4-D-cell battery to a flashlight bulb in a socket and to the paper
clips on each side of the vial of salt, as shown in Figure 18a. If
you do not have a bulb socket (holder), touch the metal base of
the bulb with one wire and the metal side with a second wire, as
shown in Figure 18b. If you do not have wires with alligator clips,
you can use clothespins to hold the ends of the wires in place.
105
a)
salt-filled
vial
6v
flashlight
bulb
socket
tape
(−)
paper
clips (+)
wire touching
side
b)
wire touching
base
Figure 18.
The apparatus shown can be used to test the electrical con-
ductivity of salt, solutions of salt, and a sugar solution.
Does the bulb light? Does solid table salt conduct electricity?
Suppose you dissolve some of the salt in water. Do you think
the solution will conduct electricity? To find out, remove half the
solid salt from the vial, add water to nearly fill it, and stir with a
coffee stirrer to dissolve as much of the salt as possible. Connect
the paper clips on the vial to the battery and a lightbulb, as shown
in Figure 18. Does the bulb light now? What does this tell you?
You won’t find sodium collecting at the negative electrode.
If it did, it would react with water to release hydrogen. The
chemical reaction of sodium with water is
2Na + 2H2O ➝ H2 + 2Na+ + 2OH−
What do you see that indicates a gas is being released at the
negative electrode? What might that gas be?
Chlorine is very soluble in water. Why will you not see a
gas collecting at the positive electrode?
Epsom salt, so named because it was first obtained from
mineral springs in Epsom, England, is magnesium sulfate. It is
used as a purgative and for making solutions to bathe painful
joints. Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) crystals contain equal
numbers of magnesium (Mg+2) and sulfate (SO4−2) ions. Each
of these ions carries an excess of two electric charges. Do you
think a solution of Epsom salt will conduct an electric current?
Fill the vial you used before about halfway with Epsom salt.
Then add water until the vial is nearly full and stir. Connect
the vial’s paper clip electrodes to the 6-volt battery through the
107
lightbulb. Does the flashlight bulb glow? Did you predict

the result?
What about substances that do not have ions, such as
sugar? The molecular formula for ordinary table sugar, whose
chemical name is sucrose, is C12H22O11. Do you think it will
conduct electricity when dissolved in water?
To find out, fill the vial you used about halfway with sugar.
Add water until the vial is nearly full. Stir to make a solution
of sugar. Connect the paper clip electrodes to the battery and
lightbulb. Does the sugar solution conduct electricity? Was
your prediction correct?
ACIDS AND BASES

Many chemicals can be identified as acids or bases. Substances
that are neither acidic nor basic, such as water, are said to be neu-
tral. The Latin word for acid, acidus, means “sharp” or “sour,”
so sour-tasting substances came to be known as acids. In addition
to their sour taste, acids dissolve in water to form solutions that
conduct electricity; they contain hydrogen that is released when
the acid is added to certain metals such as zinc; they turn blue lit-
mus paper red; and they neutralize bases—that is, they combine
with bases to form a substance that is neither an acid nor a base.
Bases are also called alkalies, a word that means “ashes.”
Ashes have properties that chemists use to identify bases. They
have a bitter taste and feel slippery like soap. American pio-
neers made soap by boiling wood ashes with animal fat. Bases,
108
like acids, are conductors of electricity. They turn red litmus

paper blue and neutralize acids.
Acids and bases conduct electricity because they form ions
when dissolved in water. Acids form hydrogen ions (H+) and
bases form hydroxide ions (OH−). The chemical equation
below shows how acids and bases neutralize one another to
form water (HOH, or H2O).
H+ + OH− ➝ HOH, or H2O
If the acid is hydrochloric acid, HCl, and the base is
sodium hydroxide, NaOH, then the overall reaction is
H+ + Cl– + Na+ + OH– ➝ H2O + Na+ + Cl−
If the water is allowed to evaporate after the reaction, crys-
tals of salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) will be seen.
Experiment 5.2
Identifying Acids and Bases

Materials
an adult bowl
lemon juice dinner fork
red and blue litmus paper strainer
(obtain from a science cups or glasses
teacher or a science red cabbage
supply company) non-aluminum pot
blackberries and cover
109
water juice, rubbing alcohol,

stove powdered cleanser, salt
and sugar solutions,
tongs
aspirin, wood ashes,
container with lid baking soda, baking
refrigerator powder, lime (calcium
white vinegar oxide), citric acid or
Kool-Aid or Tang drink
glass jars or test tubes
mix crystals, milk of
eyedropper magnesia, washing
household ammonia soda, ginger ale, tonic
substances for testing: water, seltzer water,
apple juice, grapefruit pickle juice, olive juice
Place a drop of lemon juice on your tongue. Do you think

lemon juice is an acid or a base? Why?
To test your hypothesis about lemon juice, dip pieces of red
and blue litmus paper into the liquid. What do you find?
Litmus paper is not the only way to test for acids and
bases. There are many acid-base indicators. You can easily
make your own.
Put five or six blackberries in a bowl. Crush them thor-
oughly with a fork until you have something resembling
blackberry jam. Then pour the “jam” into a strainer and col-
lect the dark red juice in a cup or glass. Save any juice you do
not use here. You will use it in the next experiment to make
indicator sticks.
110
You can also use red cabbage juice as an acid-base indicator.

Remove a few leaves from a red cabbage. Break the leaves into
small pieces and place them in a non-aluminum pot together with
enough water to just cover the leaves. Put a cover on the pot and
ask an adult to help you heat the pot until the water is
boiling. Reduce the heat, but continue boiling for about half an
hour. Then turn off the heat and let the water cool to room tem-
perature. Using tongs, remove the cabbage leaves. Pour the
cabbage juice solution into a container. Cover it and put it in a
refrigerator.
Vinegar is a solution of acetic acid (C2H4O2), which, as you
probably know, has a sour taste. To confirm that vinegar is an
acid, dip a piece of blue litmus paper into a few milliliters of white
vinegar. How does this help you identify vinegar as an acid?
Now add a few drops of the cabbage extract to the white
vinegar in a small glass jar or test tube. What is the color of the
cabbage juice indicator in an acid?
When ammonia gas (NH3) dissolves in water, some of it
reacts with the water to form ammonium (NH4+) and hydrox-
ide ions (OH−), as shown by the chemical equation below:
+ −
NH3 + H2O ➝ NH4 + OH
To confirm that an ammonia solution is basic, dip a piece of
red litmus paper into a few milliliters of a household ammonia
solution. How can you tell that the ammonia solution is a base?
111
Next, add a few drops of the cabbage juice to a few milliliters

of ammonia. What is the color of the cabbage juice indicator in
a base?
Add a few drops of the indicator to some tap water. What
is the color of the indicator in a neutral solution?
Repeat the experiment using the berry juice extract. What is
the color of the berry juice indicator in an acid? What is the color
of the berry juice indicator in a base? In a neutral solution?
Using litmus paper, berry juice, and cabbage juice, test the
following substances to determine whether each is an acid, a
base, or neutral: lemon juice, apple juice, grapefruit juice, rub-
bing alcohol, powdered cleanser (in water), salt and sugar
solutions, crushed aspirin dissolved in water, wood ashes mixed
with water, solutions of baking soda and baking powder, lime
(calcium oxide) in water, citric acid or Kool-Aid or Tang drink
mix crystals dissolved in water, milk of magnesia, washing soda
dissolved in water, ginger ale, tonic water, seltzer water, pickle
juice, and the juice from a jar of olives.
Which of these substances are acids? Which are bases?
Which are neutral?
Which natural indicator juice, berry or cabbage, do you
prefer? Why do you prefer one over the other?
112
G
Turmeric, a common spice, can also be used as an
acid-base indicator. Prepare an extract of turmeric by
1 1
mixing /4 teaspoon of turmeric with a /4 cup of rub-
bing alcohol. Add a few drops of the turmeric indicator
to acids, bases, and neutral substances. How does it
compare with other indicators you have tried?
G
Investigate other common indicators that can be found in
many science rooms or obtained from a science supply
company. These include phenolphthalein, methyl orange,
methyl red, bromthymol blue, congo red, indigo carmine,
and alizarin yellow. Other than color, how do they differ?
G
Read the label on a bottle of vitamin C tablets. Crush one
of the tablets into a powder and dissolve it in water.
(Depending on the type of tablet, the mixture may be
cloudy because some of the ingredients may not be sol-
uble.) Divide the solution into three parts. Predict the
color of litmus paper, drops of cabbage juice, and drops
of berry juice when added to a solution of vitamin C.
G
Prepare a cup of hot tea. Then add a few drops of lemon
juice to the tea. What evidence do you have to suggest
that tea is an acid-base indicator?
113
Experiment 5.3
Indicator Papers and Sticks

Materials
scissors grapefruit juice, rubbing
ruler alcohol, powdered
cleanser, salt and sugar
white construction
solutions, aspirin, wood
paper, coffee filters, or
ashes, baking soda,
filter paper
baking powder, lime
berry and cabbage (calcium oxide), citric
extracts from previous acid or Kool-Aid or
experiments Tang drink mix crystals,
paper towels milk of magnesia,
extra containers washing soda, ginger
ale, tonic water, seltzer
vinegar
water, pickle juice,
ammonia olive juice
substances for testing:
lemon juice, apple juice,
You can prepare indicator papers similar to litmus paper using

the berry and cabbage extracts you prepared in the previous
experiment. Use scissors to cut rectangular strips about 5 cm
(2 in) long and 1 cm (1/2 in) wide from white construction
paper, coffee filters, or filter paper. Dip the strips in the berry
or cabbage extracts and place them on paper towels to dry. Be
sure to keep the two types of indicator papers separate.
114
If you prefer, you can divide each of your two indicator

papers to give them two different colors, like litmus paper.
Divide the berry and cabbage extracts in half. Add a few drops
of vinegar to half of the cabbage extract. This will color the cab-
bage juice red and give you red strips when you dip the papers
into it. To the second half of the cabbage extract, add a few
drops of ammonia. This will turn the cabbage juice green and
give you green strips when you dip the papers into it. Repeat
the process for the berry juice and you will have two sets of
paper strips for each indicator. You can use them just as you
use red and blue litmus paper.
Use your cabbage and berry extract paper indicators to test
the same substances you tested in the previous experiment.
If you could use only one natural indicator, which one
would you choose? Why? Do you prefer paper strips or drops
as indicators? Why?
Experiment 5.4
Neutralization
Materials
teaspoon cabbage juice extract
from Experiment 5.2
milk of magnesia
eyedropper
saucer lemon juice
water sink
115
One characteristic of acids and bases is their ability to neutralize

one another. To see the neutralization process, you can add an
acid to a base or a base to an acid.
Pour about 1/2 teaspoon of milk of magnesia [Mg(OH)2]
into a saucer. Add about two teaspoons of water and stir. Add
several drops of the cabbage juice extract from Experiment 5.2
and stir the mixture to obtain a uniform color. Using an eye-
dropper, add lemon juice (citric acid) drop by drop. Observe
the color of the solution at the place where the drops of acid
land. Stir the liquid as you add the drops until you see a dis-
tinct color change. What has happened?
Now go the other way. Rinse your eyedropper and use it to
add drops of milk of magnesia to the solution. Do this slowly.
Notice the effect of one drop on the color of the solution. Can
you see an intermediate color (purple) just before the solution
changes from acid to base or base to acid? Remember, cabbage
juice is purple in a neutral substance. If you can see the indica-
tor turn purple, you are witnessing the exact point at which
neutralization occurs.
What happens to the color of the neutral solution if you
add a drop or two of lemon juice? A drop or two of milk of
magnesia?
116
ntacids, which come as tablets or liquids, are used to

neutralize stomach acid. Design and carry out, under
adult supervision, an experiment to test various antacids
for their capacity to neutralize acids. Based on the ingredi-
ents in the antacid, try to determine how the antacid
neutralizes the acid.
STRONG AND WEAK ACIDS AND BASES

If you had tested vinegar or ammonia for conductivity in
Experiment 5.1, the bulb would not have lit. However, you
would have seen small bubbles of gas collecting at the elec-
trodes. The bubbles show that some electricity is passing
through the solution, even though there is not enough electric
current to light the bulb. Had you used hydrochloric acid or
sodium hydroxide, the bulb would have glowed.
Acids such as vinegar (acetic acid) are weak acids; they pro-
vide relatively few hydrogen ions (H+) in solution. Similarly,
weak bases, such as ammonia, provide few hydroxide ions
(OH−) in solution. On the other hand, strong acids and bases,
such as hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide, provide an
abundance of hydrogen or hydroxide ions in solution.
117
The strength of an acid can be determined by its pH,

which measures the concentration of hydrogen ions. Neutral
substances have a pH of 7. Substances with a pH less than 7
are acidic; substances with a pH greater than 7 are basic. A
solution with a pH of 1 is very acidic; one with a pH of 5 is
mildly acidic. A solution with a pH of 14 is very basic; one
with a pH of 9 is mildly basic.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
strong weak neutral weak strong
acid acid base base
The pH of a substance can be discovered by using pH

paper. This is a paper that has been soaked in many different
acid-base indicators. Litmus paper changes from one color to
another at the neutralization point—a pH of 7. Other indica-
tors change color at different degrees of acidity, or pH.
In the next experiment, you will have a chance to test the
pH of a number of substances.
118
Experiment 5.5
pH, a Measure of Hydrogen

Ion Concentration
Materials
an adult baking soda (in water)
pH paper with color scale lemon juice
vinegar grape juice
small jars or beakers washing soda (in water)
water graduated cylinder or
household ammonia measuring cup
powdered cleanser hydrochloric acid solution
(in water) sodium hydroxide solution
You can measure the pH of various substances using pH

paper. You can probably borrow some pH paper and the color
scale that goes with it from your school’s science department,
or you can buy some from a science supply company (see the
appendix), a hobby shop, or a pool supply company (pH
paper is used to measure the acidity of swimming pool water).
Prepare small samples of the following substances in small
jars or beakers: vinegar, water, household ammonia, powdered
cleanser (dissolved in water), baking soda (dissolved in water),
lemon juice, grape juice, and washing soda (dissolved in
119
water). Use pH paper and the color scale to determine the

acidity (pH) of the substances.
The pH of water may not have been 7. Did that surprise
you? Most water, including rainwater, is slightly acidic.
What happens to the pH of vinegar if you dilute it by
adding 10 mL of the vinegar to 90 mL of water? What hap-
pens to the pH of the vinegar if you continue diluting it 1:10
with water? What happens to the pH of ammonia if you dilute
it in the same way with water?
Ask your science teacher or other knowledgeable
adult to help you find the pH of dilute (1.0 molar) hydrochlo-
ric acid and dilute (1.0 molar) sodium hydroxide. What is the
pH of this strong acid and strong base?
Reexamine the data you collected in Experiment 3.1. Does
pH (acidity or alkalinity) have any effect on the rate at which
iron rusts?
G
Use pH paper to measure the acidity of rainwater. Is the
pH of rainwater affected by the season? For example, is
summer rain more acidic than winter rain? What is the
pH of snow? (You can let the snow melt and then find its
120
pH.) Over a long-lasting snowstorm, does the pH of the

first snow differ from the pH of the last? If it does, how
can you explain the difference?
G
How does limestone (CaCO3) affect the pH of water? Will
the pH of water change if limestone is added to it? If it
does change, how can you explain it?
ELECTRICITY FROM CHEMICALS

Until Michael Faraday discovered that electricity could be gen-
erated by changing the magnetic field through a coil of wire, all
electricity came from batteries. We still use batteries, but bat-
teries cannot provide the large amounts of power needed to
operate most household appliances. On the other hand, flash-
lights, personal audio players, and pocket radios are useless
without batteries. All automobiles have battery-powered elec-
trical systems, and electric cars are powered by batteries
instead of gasoline. However, the batteries in such cars have to
be connected to an electrical outlet frequently for recharging.
Hybrid cars are powered by both gasoline and batteries. The
batteries in hybrid cars are charged by generators that are acti-
vated when the car brakes or decelerates.
Batteries, such as those in cars, consist of two or more elec-
tric cells. Electric cells have one thing in common: They are all
made from chemicals. A D cell, for example, consists of a zinc
container (the negative terminal) which surrounds a dark,
121
moist mixture of manganese dioxide, powdered carbon, and

ammonium chloride. A solid carbon rod runs through the cen-
ter of the cell and serves as the positive terminal. A storage
battery, such as the kind found in automobiles, has several
cells. Each cell has lead electrodes immersed in a solution of
sulfuric acid.
The chemicals found in most electric cells are quite com-
mon. In fact, you can easily build an electric cell yourself.
Experiment 5.6
Building an Electric Cell

Materials
All these materials are generally found
in a school science room or lab
copper and zinc plates copper nitrate solution:
about 3.5 cm × 10 cm dissolve 24 g of copper
(1.5 in × 4 in) nitrate [Cu(NO3)2 •
steel wool 3H2O] in 200 mL of
distilled water
2 drinking glasses or
250-mL beakers ammeter (0–5 amps)
zinc nitrate solution: insulated wires with
dissolve 29 g of zinc alligator clips
nitrate [Zn(NO3)2 • paper towels
6H2O] in 200 mL of voltmeter (0–3 volts)
distilled water
122
Prepare a strip of copper and a strip of zinc—the strips should

be about 3.5 cm × 10 cm (1.5 in × 4 in)—by polishing with
steel wool. Put the zinc strip in a glass or beaker that contains
200 mL of a zinc nitrate solution. Put the copper strip in a glass
or beaker that contains 200 mL of a copper nitrate solution.
Using insulated wires with alligator clips, as shown in Figure
19, connect the zinc strip and copper strip to an ammeter
wires
paper towel copper

zinc
Zn(NO3)2
Cu(NO3)2
ammeter
Figure 19.
This electric cell uses zinc and copper as electrodes. The
electrodes are immersed in electrolytes (zinc nitrate and
copper nitrate solutions).
123
(a device that measures electric current in amperes, or amps). Is

there any current?
Next, connect the two solutions with a paper towel strip, as
shown. What happens when the two solutions diffuse along the
towel and meet? If the ammeter needle moves below zero,
reverse the wire leads to the meter. Which metal is the positive
electrode? Which metal is the negative electrode?
Remove the ammeter and replace it with a voltmeter (a
device that measures energy per charge in volts). What is the
voltage reading across this cell?
G
For an electric cell to work, one electrode must provide
electrons that will flow along a wire to the other elec-
trode, where they are accepted. In the cell you built,
which electrode provided electrons? Which electrode
accepted the electrons? What is the overall chemical
reaction that provides the energy in this cell?
G
What is a Daniell cell? How does it work?
124
SCIENCE SUPPLY COMPANIES
Carolina Biological Supply Company Frey Scientific
2700 York Road 100 Paragon Parkway
Burlington, NC 27215-3398 Mansfield, OH 44903
(800) 334-5551 (800) 225-3739
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Connecticut Valley Biological Supply NASCO-Fort Atkinson
Company 901 Janesville Avenue
82 Valley Road P.O. Box 901
P.O. Box 326 Fort Atkinson, WI 53538-0901
Southampton, MA 01073 (800) 558-9595
(800) 628-7748 http://www.nascofa.com/
http://www.ctvalleybio.com NASCO-Modesto
Delta Education 4825 Stoddard Road
80 Northwest Boulevard P.O. Box 3837
P.O. Box 3000 Modesto, CA 95352-3837
Nashua, NH 03061-3000 (800) 558-9595
(800) 442-5444 http://www.nascofa.com
http://www.delta-education.com Sargent-Welch/VWR Scientific
Edmund Scientifics P.O. Box 5229
60 Pearce Avenue Buffalo Grove, IL 60089-5229
Tonawanda, NY 14150-6711 (800) 727-4386
(800) 728-6999 http://www.sargentwelch.com
http://scientificsonline.com Science Kit & Boreal Laboratories
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362 Main Avenue P.O. Box 5003
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Fisher Science Education Ward’s Natural Science
4500 Turnberry Drive P.O. Box 92912
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(800) 955-1177 (800) 962-2660
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125
Abbgy, Theodore S. Elements and the Periodic Table.
Washington, D.C.: NSTA, 2001.
Bochinski, Julianne Blair. The Complete Handbook of Science
Fair Projects. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
Bombaugh, Ruth. Science Fair Success, Revised and Expanded.
Springfield, N.J.: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1999.
Fleisher, Paul, and Tim Seeley. Matter and Energy: Principles
of Matter and Thermodynamics. New York: John Wiley and
Sons, 2001.
Friedhoffer, Robert. Physics Lab in a Hardware Store.
Danbury, Conn.: Franklin Watts, 1997.
Gardner, Robert. Science Fair Projects: Planning, Presenting,
Succeeding. Springfield, N.J.: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1998.
______. Science Project Ideas About Kitchen Chemistry,
Revised Edition. Berkeley Heights, N.J.: Enslow
Publishers, Inc., 2002.
______. Science Projects About Solids, Liquids, and Gases.
Berkeley Heights, N.J.: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2000.
Boston Museum of Science

http://www.mos.org/sln/Leonardo/InventorsWorkshop.html
Chemistry for Kids
http://www.chem4kids.com/
Exploratorium Home Page
http://www.exploratorium.edu
126
A compounds, 5, 12–13
acids and bases, 108 condensation (boiling) temperature, 33–34
conducting electricity, 109 conservation of matter, 46–58
identifying, 109–113 D
measuring strength and weakness of, Dalton, John, 50
117–118 and the atomic theory, 51
neutralizing, 115–117 density
strong and weak, 117–118 of alcohol, 23
testing with indicators, 114–115 of cooking oil, 24
activation energy, 97–98 identifying liquids using, 21–24
air and percent oxygen, 61–63 identifying solids using, 26–28
alchemy, 11–12 of new and old pennies, 29–30
alkalies, 108 of soda, 25
alloy, 27, 30 of water, 22–23
Arrhenius, Svante, 103–104
atomic theory, 51 E
atoms, 51 electrical conductivity
relative and actual weight of, 51–53 and acids and bases, 109
of salt, 105–107
Avogadro, Amedio, 52
of sugar, 108
B electric cells
batteries, 121 building, 122–124
boiling (condensation) temperature, 33–34 and chemicals, 121–122
of alcohol, 41–42 electrons, 104
of water, 39–42, 83 elements, 12–13
C energy
calories, 79, 81 changes during physical and chemical
catalyst, 65, 71, 95 reactions, 93–95, 100
change of state, 77–78 and change of state, 78
chemical formulas, 54–58 exothermic and endothermic reactions,
chemical reactions 93–95
decomposing hydrogen peroxide, as heat from a burning candle, 97–102
64–66, 68–72 and heat of condensation of water, 88–92
determining percentage of oxygen in air, to boil water, 82–87
61–63 to melt ice, 79–81
factors affecting rate of reaction, 73–76 and reactants and products, 96–100
identifying reactants and products, endothermic reactions, 94, 95
96–100 equation, 69
oxidation, 59–60 exothermic reactions, 94, 95
preparing and testing oxygen, 64–67 F
rusting of iron, 60 factors affecting rate of chemical reactions
chromatography, 18–19 concentration of products, 75
127
concentration of reactants, 74–75 N

surface area, 74 neutralization, 115–116
temperature, 73–74 neutral substances, 108
Faraday, Michael, 121 Newton, Isaac, 46
freezing (melting) temperature, 33–37 O
H oxidation, 59–60
heat of condensation, 88–92 oxygen
heat of vaporization, 83, 86–87, 92 testing for, 64–67
hybrid cars, 121 P
hydrogen peroxide, 64–67, 68–72, 95 pH
I of acids and bases, 118
ions, 92, 103, 104–108 scale, 118
and electric current, 104–107 of various substances, 119–121
indicators, 114–115 pH paper, 118, 119–120
potential energy, 88, 92
K
products, 96
kinetic energy, 88, 93
L R
reactants, 96
Lagrange, Joseph-Louis, 58
rusting of iron, 60
Lavoisier, Antoine, 46–47
and a chemical law of weight change, S
48–50 safety, 8–10
and the law of conservation of mass, 58 science fairs, 6–7
Lavoisier, Marie Anne Paulze, 58 scientific method, 7–8
law of conservation of energy, 89 solubility, 44–45
law of conservation of mass, 58 substances
law of conservation of matter boiling and condensation points of,
chemical changes and weight, 48–50 33–34, 39–42
defined, 46 identifying by melting, 31–32
illustrated with paper clips and washers, identifying by solubility, 43–45
54–58 melting and freezing points of, 33–39
physical changes and weight 47–49 T
law of constant proportions, 55–56 temperature vs. time graph, 38, 41, 42
law of multiple proportions, 56–58 Thomson, J.J., 104
litmus paper, 110, 114, 115 transmutation, 12
M W
melting (freezing) temperature, 33–37 water
mixtures, 12–13 boiling point, 39–41
separating components of, 14–17 density of, 22–23
separating by paper chromatography, electrolysis of, 51
18–20 melting point, 33–37
molecules, 54 molecular formula, 51
moth flakes, 37–38 weight and freezing, 47–48
128

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What are some of the topics covered in the book?

What are some of the topics covered in the book?

How does the book describe separating mixtures?

How does the book describe separating mixtures?

Robert Gardner

This page intentionally left blank

Using Acids, Bases,

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced by any means

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gardner, Robert, 1929–

Printed in the United States of America

Illustration Credits: Tom LaBaff

Some Chemical Reactions and

Energy in Chemical and

Acids, Bases, Ions, and an Electric Cell . . 103

Appendix: Science Supply Companies . . . 125

friends or adults who enjoy experimenting as much as you do.

to choose a subject that appeals to you. And before you jump

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

scientific method consists of a series of steps. The book may

before you start any project. Whenever doing chemistry

2. Read all instructions carefully before proceeding with a

3. Maintain a serious attitude while conducting experi-

4. Wear approved safety goggles when you are working

5. Do not eat or drink while experimenting.

6. Have a first-aid kit nearby while you are experimenting.

7. Do not put your fingers or any object other than

8. Never let water droplets come in contact with a hot

9. Never experiment with household electricity except

10. Use only alcohol-based thermometers. Some older

arly Greek philosophers believed that all matter was made

alchemists (the people who practiced alchemy) believed they

Most matter exists in mixtures. To find out what substances

Separating the Components

 an adult  drinking glass

In a plastic cup, mix together a teaspoonful of each of the fol-

and stir. Do any components of the mixture dissolve in the

sand and liquid

funnel Fold again

Pull one sheet

There are many ways to separate substances. One of the more

nvestigate the different types of chromatography, such as

Using Density to Identify Liquids

The density of a liquid—its weight per volume—can often be

Once you have exactly 100 mL of water, reweigh the cylinder

Pour a few drops of cooking oil into a glass of water. Does

Substance Density (g/mL or g/cm3) Substance Density (g/cm3)

Using Density to Identify Solids

 ruler  100-mL graduated

Density is also useful in identifying solids. In some cases, the

The Density of Pennies,

 pennies minted before  100-mL graduated

Gather as many pennies as you can. You need a lot of pennies

after 1982. What is the density of these pennies? How does

This experiment should be done under adult super-

Which of the substances you tested melt at temperatures

The Melting and Freezing

Many substances melt and freeze at a particular temperature,

known as its condensation point. For any particular substance,

an adult drinking glass

ruler 100-mL graduated

pennies minted before 100-mL graduated

an adult thermometer with range

hot plate or stove graph paper

teaspoon small amounts of baking

plastic container that marking pen

an adult graduated cylinder

straws sodium iodide (ask an

identical paper clips notebook and pencil

2 pairs of safety vinegar

steel wool pad 2 narrow jars (olive

an adult 3% hydrogen peroxide

an adult 12- or 14-oz Styrofoam