Fundamentals of Experimental Design: Before Mix After

Fundamentals of Experimental Design
What is measured during a controlled experiment?
Why?
Working in the science lab can be a lot of fun. Mixing random chemicals and burning stuff just to see
what happens can be entertaining (and possibly dangerous), but it doesn’t lead to anything helpful to the
scientific community. In order to be helpful to the community, a researcher’s work in the lab must be sys-
tematic. A researcher usually asks a question and then designs an experiment to investigate that question.
In this activity you will identify different types of variables that will help you design controlled experi-
ments.
Model 1 – Alka-Seltzer® and Vinegar

Before Mix After
Alka-Seltzer
100.0 mL 100.0 mL
vinegar solution
84 kPa 23.5 °C 84 kPa Changing °C 84 kPa 22.6 °C
Room Pressure Temperature Room Pressure Temperature Room Pressure Temperature
1. Briefly describe the reaction illustrated in Model 1 in one or more complete sentences.
2. Did the room pressure change as the reaction occurred? If yes, was there an increase or decrease?
3. What two pieces of evidence observed during the “mix” phase of the reaction suggest that a
chemical change is taking place?
4. Did the solution temperature increase or decrease during the reaction?
Fundamentals of Experimental Design 1

Model 2 – Results of Alka-Seltzer® Experiment
Number of Volume of Room
Initial Temp (°C) Final Temp. (°C)
Alka-Seltzer Vinegar Pressure
(Vinegar Solution) (Final Mixture)
Tablets (mL) (kPa)
Trial 1 1 100.0 84 23.5 22.6
Trial 2 2 100.0 84 23.5 21.5
Trial 3 3 100.0 84 23.5 20.4
Trial 4 4 100.0 84 23.5 19.2
Trial 5 5 100.0 84 23.5 18.1
5. Which trial in the Model 2 data table corresponds to the reaction illustrated in Model 1?
6. Consider the five trials that produced the data in Model 2.

a. What variable was purposefully changed in the experiment?
b. What variable changed as a result of changing the variable listed in part a?
7. What variable(s) shown in the Model 2 data table remained constant among all the trials?
Model 3 – Boiling Points of Alcohols

Alcohol Number of Volume of Boiling Point Room
Formula
Name Carbons Alcohol (mL) (°C) Pressure (kPa)
Methanol CH3OH 1 75 64.7 101
Ethanol CH3CH2OH 2 75 78.4 101
Propanol CH3CH2CH2OH 3 75 97.1 101
Butanol CH3CH2CH2CH2OH 4 75 117.7 101
Pentanol CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2OH 5 75 137.9 101
8. Describe the similarities and differences in the five alcohols used in the Model 3 experiment.
9. Consider the experiment that produced the data in Model 3.

a. What variable was purposefully changed in the experiment?
b. What variable changed as a result of changing the variable listed in part a?
10. What variable(s) in the Model 3 data table remained constant among all the trials?
2 POGIL™ Activities for High School Chemistry

Read This!
When designing an experiment, you need to consider three types of variables. The independent variable
is changed by the experimenter by design. This variable is sometimes called the “manipulated variable.”
The dependent variable is what changes as a result of the change in the independent variable. This
variable is sometimes called the “responding variable.” In some cases more than one dependent variable
is considered. The third category involves controlled variables. These are variables that you think might
change the outcome of the experiment, but since you are not studying them, you need to keep them
constant in each trial.
11. Identify the independent, dependent, and controlled variables for the experiments that produced
the data shown in Model 2 and Model 3.
Variables
Model Experiment
Independent Dependent Controlled
Alka-Seltzer® and Vinegar
Boiling Points of Alcohols
Read This!
A well-written research question states the independent and dependent variables for an experiment. For
example, a student investigated the effect of the deicer, magnesium chloride, on vegetation on the sides of
highways. Her research question was, “What is the effect of magnesium chloride solution concentration
on the growth of rye grass?”
12. Write a research question, using the format suggested in the Read This! box, for the experiments
in Models 2 and 3.
Alka-Seltzer® and Vinegar —
Boiling Points of Alcohols —
13. A student wonders, “Will changing the volume of alcohol in a boiling point experiment
change the boiling point of the liquid?” Identify the variables that should be considered in this
experiment.
Independent Dependent Controlled
Fundamentals of Experimental Design 3

Extension Questions
14. Many experiments designed to investigate the reaction of Mentos® with Diet Coke® have been
documented on YouTube. Design and write an experiment that uses the knowledge gained in
this activity to investigate this reaction. Include a research question; the independent, dependent
and controlled variables; and a simple procedure.
15. Scientists may design an experiment with a control group, which is a set of organisms or sam-
ples that do NOT receive the treatment (the independent variable) that is being tested. Scientists
can then compare normal changes in organisms or samples with those that might have occurred
because of the treatment. The idea of a “control group” is not the same as a “controlled variable.”
Suppose a scientist is doing an experiment to determine the effect of a cancer drug on mice with
lymphoma.
a. What are some of the variables the scientist should control in the experiment?
b. Describe the control group for this experiment.
4 POGIL™ Activities for High School Chemistry

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Fundamentals of Experimental Design

What is measured during a controlled experiment?

Model 1 – Alka-Seltzer® and Vinegar

4. Did the solution temperature increase or decrease during the reaction?

Fundamentals of Experimental Design 1

6. Consider the five trials that produced the data in Model 2.

b. What variable changed as a result of changing the variable listed in part a?

Model 3 – Boiling Points of Alcohols

9. Consider the experiment that produced the data in Model 3.

b. What variable changed as a result of changing the variable listed in part a?

2 POGIL™ Activities for High School Chemistry

Alka-Seltzer® and Vinegar

Boiling Points of Alcohols

Boiling Points of Alcohols —

Fundamentals of Experimental Design 3

b. Describe the control group for this experiment.

4 POGIL™ Activities for High School Chemistry

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