Teacher Sheet 1

LAB ACTIVITY: GETTING TO KNOW CO2

OBJECTIVE: Students will become familiar with the basic properties

of carbon dioxide through a series of simple
demonstrations.

1: PROPERTIES OF CO2

MATERIALS:

Beaker
Measuring spoon
Glass test tube
Baking soda
Wooden splints
Matches
Vinegar
Cork stopper

PROCEDURE:

1. Use the background information provided to discuss the science behind

greenhouse gases, global warming and how correct levels of both carbon
dioxide and oxygen are vital to a healthy planet.
2. Explain that in this activity you will demonstrate how to produce
pure carbon dioxide using baking soda and vinegar.
3. Place 1 teaspoon of baking soda into a re-sealable bag and ensure the soda falls
to the bottom.
4. Using the beaker, measure and pour 200mm of vinegar into the test
tube and seal as quickly as possible with the cork stopper.

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Teacher Sheet 2

5. Explain to the students that the vinegar is reacting with the chemicals
in the baking soda which makes it produce carbon dioxide. Allow the
students to move in closer to watch as the mixture in the test tube
begins to bubble. Being an endothermic reaction, it should be quite
cool to the touch.

6.Next, light the end of a wooden splint and allow it to burn for a few
seconds. Explain to the students that if there is pure carbon dioxide in
the bag, the splint will immediately extinguish because there is no
oxygen, which is necessary for fire.

7. Remove the cork from the test tube and slowly insert the splint; it should
extinguish immediately

8. Students should record all observations and answer the questions in the
ANALYSIS section that pertain to DEMO 1.

2: ANIMALS AND CARBON DIOXIDE MATERIALS:

lime water (lime powder and water)

glass test tube
filter paper
funnel

straw

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Teacher Sheet 3

PROCEDURE:

1. Prepare the limewater to use as the indicator for CO2.

Mix 1 teaspoon of lime powder with 1 cup of water.

Fix the filter in the funnel and set in the jar to filter
the mixture.
The lime water in the jar should be clear.

2. Fill the jar half full with limewater.

Cap the jar and shake it vigorously so that the air bubbles through the
limewater. The liquid should still be quite clear; the room air is only
about 0.03% CO.

3. Blow through the straw into the limewater.

The water should cloud up quickly indicating that CO2

has been added. The air animals breathe out is about
0.04% CO2 which is formed by the breakdown of sugars
in our cells.

5. Students should be recording what they see happen in

their lab notebooks and then complete the questions in the
ANALYSIS section that pertain to this demonstration.

3: DECOMPOSERS AND CO2

A vital part of all food chains in any ecosystem are the decomposers.
Because they have no chlorophyll, fungi and bacteria get their energy
by breaking down the dead plant and animal tissue. In the process,
large amounts of CO2 are
produced. Decomposition is occurring all the time on the floor of a forest,
at the bottom of the ocean, in the soil of the prairie, and in the mud of a
marsh. It is a normal and necessary process.
When human upset the balance in these communities by cutting down trees or plowing
the land, for example, decomposition occurs at faster rate, adding even more CO2 to
the atmosphere.

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Teacher Sheet 4

OBJECTIVE: To produce, collect and detect CO2 from

decomposition;

MATERIALS:

1 package of dry yeast

sugar
water
measuring cup
Empty plastic pop bottle (clear) 1
large balloon

PROCEDURE:

1. Dissolve 2 cups of sugar in ½ pop bottle of warm water. (Not

boiling!)
2. Add a teaspoonful of yeast to the liquid and shake vigorously.

NOTE: Yeast is a fungus that feeds on sugar. Even though the package
appears to contain nothing but a dry powder, the powder is really living,
one- celled plants that are alive but in a dormant stage. They become active
breakdown the sugar in alcohol and release CO2.

3. Fit the balloon over the mouth of the bottle.

4. Students should observe and record what happens.

5. Students should answer the questions that pertain to this demo in the
ANALYSIS section.

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Teacher Sheet 5
4: PLANTS and CARBON DIOXIDE

Since the Earth’s atmosphere formed, it seems to have always contained carbon dioxide in
varying amounts. Carbon exchange with the atmosphere mostly happens through
photosynthesis and respiration. During the growing season leaves take up carbon dioxide.
Carbon is stored in the living biomass. Humans, as all life on Earth, have always been part of
the carbon cycle, but now the large scale burning of oil, coal and natural gas, along with
deforestation, is leading to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. This in turn is
related to an enhanced greenhouse effect and consequent climatic change. An understanding
of the factors affecting global warming leads to an understanding of the measures required to
reduce their impact. This can link into economic and political debates on the subject.

MATERIALS:

3 test tubes

A drinking straw
Boiled water

Phenol red indicator (which is red and goes yellow in the presence
of carbon dioxide)

A sprig of Elodea

Bright light

PROCEDURE:
1. Pour about 2-3 cm depth of water into each test tube (same depth in
each).
2. Add a few drops of indicator to each.
3. Breathe out gently through the straw into two of the tubes until the
indicator color changes to yellow.
4. Put the sprig of Elodea into one tube.

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Teacher Sheet 6

5. Place all three in bright light and leave them for about 40 minutes.

6. Go back and observe what has happened to the three tubes.

7. Students should record their observations and answer the
ANALYSIS questions which pertain to this demo.

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 Carbon Dioxide Concentrations

In this experiment, students will use bromothymol blue to compare the relative carbon dioxide
concentrations of various gases, including the exhaust of different vehicle types. Bromothymol blue is an
acid-base indicator that turns yellow in acidic solutions and blue in alkaline solutions. Carbon dioxide
bubbled into water forms carbonic acid. Thus, the more carbon dioxide in a gas sample, the more acidic
and yellow the bromothymol blue solution becomes.
Problem:
Student compares the relative carbon dioxide concentrations of various gases, including different types
of vehicle emissions.
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Materials:

 10-20 10-inch balloons

 10-20 drinking straws
 10-20 twist-ties
 Measuring tape
 Baking soda
 Vinegar
 Bicycle pump

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  File folder or funnel
 Bromothymol blue solution (acid-base indicator available for purchase online) 0.04% (Aqueous),
1 L Bottle (1-2 bottles)
 Vase, flask, or other thin-necked vessel
 10 clear glasses or cups of the same size (small clear plastic party cups work well)
 Permanent marker

Procedure:

1. Find three to five vehicles of different types to test for carbon dioxide concentrations. Examples:
car, truck, SUV, ATV or four-wheeler, lawn mower, etc. Create a hypothesis to explain which
gas will contain the most carbon dioxide and why: human breath, air, or one of the vehicles you
will test.
2. Collect the gas samples. Make sure to fill each balloon with its sample to a volume such that the
balloon measures 4 inches in circumference (use the measuring tape). Seal each balloon with a
twist-tie; do not tie the balloon in a knot. Write the sample name on the balloon with a permanent
marker.
3. Human breath: Breathe into a balloon to fill it to the correct volume and seal with twist-tie.
4. Air: Use a bicycle pump to fill the balloon to the correct volume and seal it with a twist-tie.
5. Pure Carbon Dioxide: Place several spoonfuls of baking soda into a vase or flask. Pour a half cup
of vinegar onto the baking soda. The chemical reaction between the baking soda and vinegar will
produce pure carbon dioxide. Pull a balloon around the top of the vase or flask to collect the
carbon dioxide. Repeat if necessary to fill the balloon to the correct volume and seal with a twist-
tie.
6. Vehicles: Seek adult help. For each vehicle you wish to test, start the vehicle. Quickly and
carefully fit a funnel around the tailpipe. If you do not have a funnel or it does not fit properly,
you can make one from a file folder shaped into a cone. Take care to avoid breathing the exhaust
or burning yourself on the pipe. Quickly fill a balloon to the correct volume and seal it will the
twist-tie. Repeat for all vehicles you wish to test.
7. Pour equal amounts (about 1 cup) of bromothymol blue into each of the cups you will use to test
the gases (1 cup per gas tested). If you do not have enough solution, you may dilute it with a little
water. Just be sure to use distilled water and dilute the entire supply only slightly. Write the name
of the gas to be tested on each cup. For each gas-filled balloon: Fit the drinking straw into the
opening of the balloon without untying the twist-tie. Seal the balloon over the straw with tape.
Make sure that the gas you are testing matches the one written on the cup and the balloon.
Carefully place the other end of the straw into the cup of solution. When everything is in place,
untwist the twist-tie to allow the gas to escape the balloon and bubble into the bromothymol blue
solution. Note the color of the solution and put the sample aside to compare to the others later.
Repeat until each gas sample has been tested. Compare the color of the solutions. The closer the
color is to yellow, the more carbon dioxide present. Arrange the solutions from most yellow to
most blue. Write down the order and their colors. Create a continuum line (like a time line, but
based on color) of the gases.
8. Draw your conclusion by comparing your hypothesis to the results. Which gases had the most
carbon dioxide? Which had the least?

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 REACTION OF CARBON DIOXIDE WITH WATER

Equipment

Apparatus

 Eye protection

 Conical flask, 250 cm3, x2

 Indicator bottles with dropping pipettes, x3

Chemicals

 Ethanol (IDA – Industrial Denatured Alcohol) (HIGHLY FLAMMABLE, HARMFUL)

 Thymolphthalein indicator solution (HIGHLY FLAMMABLE), access to small bottle with dropper

 Phenol red indicator solution (HIGHLY FLAMMABLE), access to small bottle with dropper

 Sodium hydroxide solution, 0.4 M (IRRITANT), small bottle with dropper

 Distilled (or deionised) water, 125 cm3, x2

Procedure

Source: Royal Society of Chemistry

Activity 1

1. Place about 125 cm3 of water in a 250 cm3 conical flask.

2. Add five or six drops of thymolphthalein indicator to the water.

3. Add just enough sodium hydroxide solution (about two or three drops) to produce a blue colour.

4. Talk or blow gently into the flask – ie add the carbon dioxide.

5. Continue adding the carbon dioxide until a colour change is observed.

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 Activity 2

1. Place about 125 cm3 of water in a 250 cm3 conical flask.

2. Add one or two drops of phenol red to the water.

3. Add two drops of sodium hydroxide solution to produce a red solution.

4. Talk or blow gently into the flask – ie add carbon dioxide.

5. Continue adding the carbon dioxide until a colour change is observed.

Questions for the class

1. Why does the colour change not occur instantly?

2. What is the reason for adding a few drops of sodium hydroxide solution (NaOH) before each
experiment?

Answers to questions

1. The amount of carbon dioxide in each breath is small, so it takes a lot of breaths to react with the alkali.

2. To ensure the solution is slightly alkaline at the beginning and to neutralise any CO2 or any other acid
initially present.

Teaching notes

Straws are not necessary for blowing exhaled air into the flask; simply breathing or speaking into the
flask is sufficient to cause the indicator to change colour.

Phenol red indicator changes from yellow to red over the pH range 6.8–8.4. Thymolphthalein (the
alternative bromothymol blue could also be used) changes from blue (alkaline) to colourless (acid) over
the pH range 9.3–10.5. See CLEAPSS Recipe Book RB000, which also covers bicarbonate indicator
solution.

Eventually sufficient carbon dioxide from the students’ breath dissolves and produces enough acid in the
solution to change the colour of the indicator:

CO2(aq) + H2O(l) ⇌ H+(aq) + HCO3–(aq)

CO2 also reacts with NaOH. This reaction produces the less alkaline Na2CO3:

2NaOH(aq) + CO2(g) → Na2CO3(aq) + H2O(l)

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The equilibrium between carbon dioxide and water can be reversed by heating the weakly acidic solution
to just below boiling. The solubility of carbon dioxide in water decreases as the temperature is raised,
and it is driven off into the atmosphere. The concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide therefore drops,
causing the equilibrium to shift to the left and the indicator colour to change back to red. On cooling the
solution and blowing exhaled breath into the flask again, the sequence can be repeated.

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