Chemical Dominoes
Video:
For our first project of second semester, we made a second Rube Goldberg Project, but this time, we utilized chemistry to power our machine. Our machine had few steps, but each were very difficult to assemble and refine to consistently perform their specified function.
To light our Bunsen burner, we decided to use a fiery explosion to light a fuse leading to it. Once it was lit, the Bunsen burner heated a beaker creating gas to blow up a balloon. This raised our lever to pour our acid, burning through the aluminum. Resulting in a broken circuit, a light bulb would turn on, signaling success.
To light our Bunsen burner, we decided to use a fiery explosion to light a fuse leading to it. Once it was lit, the Bunsen burner heated a beaker creating gas to blow up a balloon. This raised our lever to pour our acid, burning through the aluminum. Resulting in a broken circuit, a light bulb would turn on, signaling success.
Concepts:
Explosion - Combustion Reaction
14KMnO4 + 4C3H5(OH)3 -> 7K2CO3 + 7Mn2O3 +5CO2 +16H2O
Instead of lighting our burner with standard matches, our group sprung for a more innovative chemical reaction: potassium permanganate and glycerin. When combined, the two undergo an exothermic reaction which lit our fuse, in turn lighting our burner. This is also a combustion reaction as it utilizes oxygen and its products are carbon dioxide and water.
Balloon Inflation - Decomposition Reaction
CaCO3 -> CO2 + CaO
To inflate our balloon, we heated an Erlenmeyer containing calcium carbonate to produce carbon dioxide. This gas build up forced the balloon to become filled, raising our lever which in turn, spilled our copper chloride. This is known as a decomposition reaction because our substance reacts to form two new substances.
Dissolving Metal - Single Replacement Reaction
Al(s) + CuCl2(aq) -> Cu(s) + AlCl3 (aq)
Our circuit was setup with one strip of aluminium. When this strip become torn, the circuit would turn on a light bulb. We accomplished by submerging the strip in spilled copper chloride. A single-displacement reaction took place causing the aluminium strip to seemingly dissolve. In its weakened state, the strip fell apart, turning on the light bulb.
REflection:
Overall, I thought this project went very well and with little road bumps As we picked a pretty difficult idea, we expected our machine to be a failure immediately. However, our group managed to work through any obstacles we faced quickly and with ease. Two issues in this project we encountered were our initial Bunsen burner lighting and getting our aluminium to dissolve. When the burner wouldn't light, we substituted our fuse for an alcohol-soaked string which fixed the problem quickly while adding some flare (Nothing like a pun, right?) The other problem was our aluminium not dissolving which we solved by swapping hydrochloric acid with copper chloride --problem solved. For the future to bypass these problems, I will try to pick interesting ideas, but keep them more reasonable, as well as refer to my lab notebook more instead of memory.