Shefali+&+Kofi

SOME METALS ARE MORE REACTIVE THAN OTHERS

The aim of this lab is to see which metal is more reactive among Iron, Aluminium, Copper, Magnesium and Zinc when added to hydrochloric acid. Then to compare the reaction of the metals and list them from the most reactive to the least reactive..
 * Aim:**


 * Variables Table:**


 * Type || What? || How? ||
 * Independent Variable || The five types of metal that are going to be mixed with Hydrochloric acid. || The five different metals that are going to be mixed with Hydrochloric acid are Aluminum, Magnesium, Copper, Iron and Zinc. ||
 * Dependent Variable || Reactivity of the five metals when they are mixed with Hydrochloric acid. || The gas released by the solution are going to be measured by covering the test tube with a balloon. The larger the balloon gets, the more gas these metals produce when mixed with the solvent. Also, photos and recording will be taken of the reactivity of these metals. Also, the chemical reactions that the solution produced will be recorded and later compared. ||
 * Controlled Variable || Amount of Solid || The same amount of solid which is 0.5gms is going to be used throughout the experiment for all the different kind of metals. ||
 * ^  || Amount of Liquid (Hydrochloric acid) || The same amount of liquid (Hydrochloric acid) which is 5ml is going to be used throughout the experiment for all the five different kind of metals. ||
 * ^  || Role of the person || The same person who is Kofi is going to do the recording of the experiment and the same person who is Shefali is going to record the chemical observations on the observation table. Also, Kofi is going to measure the Hydrochloric acid and Shefali is going to measure the amount of the solid for the 5 metals. ||


 * Hypothesis:**

If the five different metals are mixed with Hydrochloric acid then Magnesium is going to be the most reactive and Aluminum is going to be the least reactive because the outer shell of Magnesium has fewer valence electrons than Aluminum causing the element to be more reactive as it can bonds with other elements in order to be stable.


 * Equipment List:**
 * 5 Test tubes
 * 25 ml of Hydrochloric acid
 * 5 balloons
 * Powdery substance of Zinc, Aluminum, Copper, Iron and Magnesium
 * Camera
 * Ruler
 * Petri dish
 * Graduated cylinder
 * Scale
 * Pippette
 * Test tube rack
 * Beaker


 * Method:**
 * 1) First gather all the materials needed for the experiment and put on the safety gear which is the goggles and lab coat.
 * 2) Collect the beaker that contains hydrochloric acid and put 5 ml of hydrochloric acid in each of the test tube.
 * 3) Then weigh the powdery substance of the 5 metals and make sure that they all weigh 0.5gms.
 * 4) After that, put zinc in the test tube that contains hydrochloric acid.
 * 5) Then, quickly cover the top of the test tube with a balloon.
 * 6) Then take photos of the reaction of the metal and also record the reaction.
 * 7) Then observe the chemical reactions that are given off by the metal.
 * 8) Record down the observations in the Observation table.
 * 9) Repeat steps 4-8 for Aluminum, Copper, Magnesium and Iron.


 * Diagram of Apparatus:**

-Took some time to react -The test tube was warm but colder than Iron and Magnesium || -The balloon had some air -Did not inflate much ||  || -Reacted much quicker than Copper and Zinc || - Balloon had inflated a little but again deflated ||  || -Bubbles were given off in a smaller amount -The bubbles were comparatively big and the particles did not mix with the acid but turned into big bubbles. -The color of the acid changed to a brownish color || -The balloon did not contain any gas ||  || -Takes a lot of time to react -Bubbles were given off but in a very small amount and were not clearly visible -The acid changed into a grayish color || The balloon did not inflate or contained any air || || - Reacted a lot faster than any of the other metals -The test tube was very hot -Steam was given off -There were so many small bubbles that the acid changed into white color || -The balloon was not quickly covered on the test tube and therefore some of the gas was lost.
 * Observation Table: Result on the Reactivity of the 5 different Metals when added to Hydrochloric acid **
 * **Metals** || **Chemical Reaction of the Metals to the Hydrochloric acid** || **Observations on the Balloon** || **Pictures on the reactivity of Metals when added to Hydrochloric acid** ||
 * **Zinc** || -Bubbles were given off
 * **Iron** || -A lot of bubbles were given off
 * **Copper** || -Took some time to react but was more quicker than Aluminum
 * ** Aluminum** || -Least reactive comparing to the other metals
 * **Magnesium** || -Most reactive among all the metals

- However, the balloon did contain some air and inflated a little. || ||

1.By looking at the results on the reactivity of the metals, the list from the most reactive to the least reactive goes from Magnesium, Iron, Zinc, Cop per and Aluminum. 2.By looking at the observation table, the data shows that Magnesium was the most reactive and Aluminum was the least reactive which was mentioned in the hypotheses. So, the results do support hypotheses.
 * Conclusion: **

3. The results that we found in this experiment don't completely match with the result in the other published data. For this experiment, the result for the most reactive to the least reactive was Magnesium, Iron, Zinc, Copper and Aluminum. However, the result in other publish data states that Zinc is more reactive than Iron in hydrochloric acid. "The reactivity series is Magnesium being the mostreactive followed by Zinc, Iron, Copper and Aluminum"(Wikipedia, Reactivity Series). 4.In the experiment, Magnesium was the most reactive and Aluminum was the least reactive. This is because as Magnesium is more towards the left of the periodic table and also it has only 2 valence electron, it can highly react with other atoms and also it is more closer in being stable. As there are fewer electrons in the outer shell, it can bond easily with the other atoms as it has to only lose 2 electrons and is closer in being stable. "Magnesium loses 2 electrons from its outer shell making it highly reactive with oxygen, steam and acid" (Clark, Jim). However, Aluminum is in column 3 making 3+ ions which means it needs to lose 3 valence electrons in the outer shell. Therefore, it cannot react that highly like Magnesium with the hydrochloric acid and takes time in mixing and giving gas. Zinc, Copper and Iron are in Row 3 and are assumed that they make 2+ ion. Therefore, they can also bond quicker and easily than Aluminum and they have more number of energy levels which makes them more reactive as the valence electron is further away from the neutron.

With our experiment, Zinc did not reacted that well as Iron because less amount of zinc was poured into the hydrochloric acid and it was not well covered as Iron and the other metals. Therefore, there are few chances that Zinc might have reacted with oxygen and therefore it was not as reactive as it should have been. Overall, Magnesium was the most reactive and the Aluminum was the least reactive.


 * Evaluation:**

1. The data is somewhat reliable. This is because the sample size was not accurate as the experiment was not repeated more than once which lowers the chances of having accurate results. Also, the data was not completely accurate because when it was compared with other published data, the results were not accurate. For example: the published data showed zinc as the second most reactive as in the results from our experimen was

2. The method is somewhat valid because the correct variables were chosen but not all of them were kept controlled throughout the experiment. Also, the independent variable which was the type of metal was the only one that was changed. The dependant variable which is the reactivity of the metals was correctly measure throughout the experiment. Another reason why the method is valid because by looking at the instructions given in the method, the experiment can be completed. Thus, the method is valid. 4. This experiment was a Fair Test because the Independant variable which is the type of metal was the only one that was changed throughout the experiment. Also, the dependant variable which is the reactivity of the metals was all measured in the same way. include component="comments" page="Shefali & Kofi" limit="10" __Works Cited__
 * **__Weaknesses__** || **__Improvements__** ||
 * < In this experiment, the reactivity of the metal was observed for different length of time. This caused some of the data to be inaccurate because each metal reacted for different amount of time so we could have been observing one metal for few minutes and the other metal for more minutes. || To improve this experiment, a stop watch could have been used so that each of the metals could have observed at the same time and the time that the metal takes to react with the acid could have also been included in the data. ||
 * During the experiment, while pouring the aluminum in the test tube, some of it was spilled on the table. This also happened with Zinc as some of the powder was stuck to the petri dish. Due to this weakness, one of the controlled variables which was the Amount of Solid was not controlled because not all of the test tube contained the same amount of metal. || Next time, we could have been more careful and organized by one of us pouring the metal carefully while other holding the test tube. ||
 * While the experiment, Kofi had record the reactivity of the metals in the Camera. However, the recording was lost and this caused the data to be not completely reliable because we were not able to compare the reactivity of these metals later. || To improve this weakness, another camera could have been used to record the reactivity of the metals. ||
 * While doing the experiment for Magnesium, the balloon was not quickly covered on the test tube and therefore some of the gas that it had released was lost and could not be measured. || To quicken this process, one of us should have hold the baloon while other one could have hold the test tube. ||

Clark, Jim. //Reaction of the Group 2//. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2009. <[].> (Clark, Jim)

Wikipedia, Reactivity Series. //Reactivity Series//. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2009. <[].> (Wikipedia, Reactivity Series)