This afternoon we witnessed three demonstrations regarding combustion. To begin, we saw how heat reacted with ethanol. What our teacher, Miss Leland, did was to put roughly 20ml of ethanol into a two liter soda bottle, and mixed it around so the ethanol coated the bottle, and the rest of the ethanol became a gas. After a while, she opened the lid and poured out the excess ethanol, and set the cup back down on a table. She proceeded to light a flame over the lip of the bottle. Suddenly, a flame lept about the inside of the bottle, consuming the ethanol instantly. After the combustion, several tablespoons of water were left over. This was a prime example of an exothermic reaction, which is when heat is generated off of the bottle. This reaction was one that separated the water, from the carbon dioxide.
She also conducted a test containing baking soda and vinegar. When placed together in a flask, they immediately start to foam. The top was quickly covered, as to contain the gas inside the flask. After removing the cover, she put the mouth of the flask towards two lit candles, and they blew out immediately. This was due to the carbon monoxide that was created had stifled the oxygen around the flame, and a flame needs oxygen to survive.
The last test was using pool acid. When pool acid and since were added to a beaker, and a flame was placed near it, the mixture would combust, and stay alive for roughly ten seconds, before our instructor added even more zinc, which caused the flame to leap up again for a short while. This experiment lasted the longest of all of our tests, and in my opinion, was the most amusing. Something about the zinc and pool acid caused a flame to be sustained for a short while. This shows how certain chemicals react with heat in different ways.
She also conducted a test containing baking soda and vinegar. When placed together in a flask, they immediately start to foam. The top was quickly covered, as to contain the gas inside the flask. After removing the cover, she put the mouth of the flask towards two lit candles, and they blew out immediately. This was due to the carbon monoxide that was created had stifled the oxygen around the flame, and a flame needs oxygen to survive.
The last test was using pool acid. When pool acid and since were added to a beaker, and a flame was placed near it, the mixture would combust, and stay alive for roughly ten seconds, before our instructor added even more zinc, which caused the flame to leap up again for a short while. This experiment lasted the longest of all of our tests, and in my opinion, was the most amusing. Something about the zinc and pool acid caused a flame to be sustained for a short while. This shows how certain chemicals react with heat in different ways.
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