On Wednesday, we had a lab that involved hydrogen and atoms. Beforehand though, of course we had a short introduction to atoms. Atoms are made of three main subatomic particles, protons (p+), neutrons (n0), and electrons (e-). The neutrons and protons reside in the nucleus, or center, of the atom. The electrons orbit the nucleus at certain distances, staying within their shells. Neutrons and protons both have significant mass in an atom, meaning that an atoms weight mostly depends on the amount of protons and neutrons. We learned how when two atoms that have differing elections in their outermost shell are brought together, ones with less are more likely to react and give their electrons to those with more. In our lab we were looking to see how reactive hydrogen is.
For the actual experiment, we placed strips of magnesium in a volumetric flask then added some citric acid and water. The reaction was very quick so we placed a balloon over the flask to see the hydrogen build up in it. When the water came into contact with the magnesium and citric acid, it began to fizz, the glass started to heat up as I assume the hydrogen was being released from the reaction. After the magnesium was gone, we tied off the balloon and watched as it floated gently skywards. For stage two, we attached these balloons to meter sticks and placed the over a small candle while staying a ways back (about a meter away!). When the balloon came into contact with the flame a large explosion was all that was left of the balloon.
From what we had previously learned, I assumed that the glass was getting hot because of the energy being released from the reaction. The balloon began to fill up with hydrogen that was being released from mixing the compounds. In the mixing I suppose that the hydrogen found in both citric acid and water was let go of when they came into contact with the magnesium. Because of hydrogen's high reactivity, when it the balloon began to heat up, it expanded very quickly, causing the explosion and was then burned up by the fire, explaining the left over (for lack of a better word) fire imprint.
This was a very interesting experiment and I would love to do some more reactions in the future involving hydrogen. I say hydrogen because I know how reactive it is, so there must be a lot that we can do with it to. I was as surprised as everyone else when we were doing the exploding balloons, I figured it would pop, but I didn't expect it would be so loud/deep. It showed me how strong just a bit of hydrogen is when introduced to heat.
For the actual experiment, we placed strips of magnesium in a volumetric flask then added some citric acid and water. The reaction was very quick so we placed a balloon over the flask to see the hydrogen build up in it. When the water came into contact with the magnesium and citric acid, it began to fizz, the glass started to heat up as I assume the hydrogen was being released from the reaction. After the magnesium was gone, we tied off the balloon and watched as it floated gently skywards. For stage two, we attached these balloons to meter sticks and placed the over a small candle while staying a ways back (about a meter away!). When the balloon came into contact with the flame a large explosion was all that was left of the balloon.
From what we had previously learned, I assumed that the glass was getting hot because of the energy being released from the reaction. The balloon began to fill up with hydrogen that was being released from mixing the compounds. In the mixing I suppose that the hydrogen found in both citric acid and water was let go of when they came into contact with the magnesium. Because of hydrogen's high reactivity, when it the balloon began to heat up, it expanded very quickly, causing the explosion and was then burned up by the fire, explaining the left over (for lack of a better word) fire imprint.
This was a very interesting experiment and I would love to do some more reactions in the future involving hydrogen. I say hydrogen because I know how reactive it is, so there must be a lot that we can do with it to. I was as surprised as everyone else when we were doing the exploding balloons, I figured it would pop, but I didn't expect it would be so loud/deep. It showed me how strong just a bit of hydrogen is when introduced to heat.