Yeast Beast in Action Lab Investigation

In the Yeast Beast in Action lab, we had to figure out if yeast's ability to produce gas would be affected by pH levels.  My hypothesis was that the neutral level on the pH scale would least affect the yeast.  This means that the acid and base materials would cause less gas to be produced.  The way we tested this was by having three test tubes labeled "acid", "neutral" , "base" in that order.  After that, we set up the Vernier program labeled Yeast Beast in Action.  This program measured the gas pressure.  Next, we filled each tube with 3mL of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).  Then, we filled each with 3mL of each material corresponding with the label.  The materials for each one were: acid-diet soda, neutral-milk, base-antacid.
              The first time we attempted this lab, we did the measurements incorrectly.  This caused the plug that was used to measure the gas pressure to pop off the test tube.  This caused all the pressure to be released and ruin our graph.  We then realized that we added to much yeast, and started over.
              When we started over, we began with the acid test tube and measured the gas pressure for two minutes.  The highest point was measured at 101kPa.  Then next tube that was tested, was the neutral tube and this was the milk.  The actual milk slightly rose when the yeast was introduced.  The pressure, slowly rose and the highest point was 105.37kPa.  After the neutral was measured, we measured the base, or antacid.  This stayed the same physically.  The highest pressure was measured at 101.6kPa.  This is what the setup looked like while measuring the base test tube:

As you can see, all the labels were measured and the black plug is what measured the gas pressure.  The Diet Coke is what was used as the acid.  You can see this in the top left corner.  This is what our graph looked like at the end of all three tests:



The blue line represents neutral.  The green is base and the red is acid.  Since neutral was the highest i accepted my hypothesis and the lab was a success.

Chemical Reactions and Heat Lab Investigation

In this lab we had to figure out how how heat would affect chemical reactions.  The chemical reaction that was used in this lab was alka-seltzer and water.  Once the alka-seltzer is mixed with water it begins to bubble and dissolve.  Our stages of temperature to preform the chemical reactions in were hot which was about fifty degrees Celsius, room temperature which was about 24.3 degrees Celsius, and then cold which was about three degrees celsius.
        When we preformed the chemical reaction in hot water it seemed to end fairly fast.  The reaction ended in a bout twenty three seconds.  This seemed like a fast reaction, because in past history I have used alka-seltzer.
        Next, we did the room temperature test.  The room temperature water was about twenty-four degrees Celsius.  When we dropped in the alka-seltzer tablet we realized that this was a slower reaction.  The time was about thirty-nine seconds.
        The last test, was the cold temperature test.  The water was roughly three degrees Celsius.  The way we made the temperature of the water colder was by putting ice cubes in it.  We made the temperature even out by stirring the water for about sixty seconds.  The reaction was the slowest out of the tests.  It took about one minute and fifty-seven seconds.
      









The temperature over the course of the whole lab is shown below:

Conservation of Mass Lab Investigation

In this lab we had to figure out what was going to take place between two different reactions.  We also had to see if the mass of the materials would still be the same after changing the state of matter to gas.  We measured how much gas was given off by using a balloon. One of the two different reactions was pop rocks and soda and the other one was vinegar and baking soda.  To figure out if the mass has changed, we measured the vinegar before and after the experiment.  Ours was roughly the same at 50mL.  My hypothesis was that the vinegar and baking soda would give off more gas than the pop rocks and soda.  This was true because the vinegar and baking soda balloon was about double the size of the pop rocks and soda balloon.  This is shown in the picture below:

The vinegar and baking soda is the clear and more empty bottle.  The balloon is bigger than the blue balloon because it gave off more gas.  It is a large amount of gas because this is what a regular empty balloon looked like before inflating:

This was the vinegar and baking soda balloon before inflating.  What I learned from this lab was how both reaction released CO2.  One difference, was how one was a chemical reaction and the other was a physical reaction.  The pop rocks and soda was a physical reaction because both materials used were made with CO2.  This means that CO2 was only released because it was made in the product.  The vinegar and baking soda CO2 was released by breaking bonds.  The pop rocks were made with high pressure bubbles of CO2 inside and touching liquid caused it to release.  This applies to everyday life because soda and pop rocks are used everyday.  Also chemical and physical reactions are happening constantly also.  These were all common household materials and they all caused reactions.

       Our group had no problems while completing this lab.  I accepted my hypothesis and so did my group.  We all figured that since baking soda and vinegar are more simple and have no additives that it would have a easy more clean reaction.  This was correct since the balloon was so much bigger than the soda and pop rocks balloon.  We also figured since the pop rocks and soda had so many additives in them, that it would mess up the reaction.  This is also an extra picture of the soda and pop rocks reaction right after it finished:

As you can see this is a smaller balloon because it gave off less CO2.

How to Corrode a Polymer Lab Investigation

In the corroding a polymer lab we needed to separate all the monomers that created a polymer.  We did this by adding corrosive materials.  The materials that we added into our four polymers were nail polish remover or Acetone, lemon juice, and ethyl.  The polymers that were created was a mixture of water, borax (hydrated sodium borate), and white glue (polyvinyl acetate.)  The polymers that were freshly created looked like this:  

This was the size of all four polymers.  Once we molded them more into a ball shape we put them in individual beakers.  They were label: "Control", "Acetone", "Lemon Juice", "Ethyl."  We did not mix anything with the control polymer.  With the Acetone labeled polymer, we added the nail polish remover.  With the "Lemon Juice" polymer we poured freshly-squeezed lemon juice into it.  The "Ethyl" polymer was mixed with ethyl alcohol.  

          We stirred slowly while we poured the corrosive materials into the polymer beakers.  After that we stirred about ten second every minute for three minutes.  At the first stirring no results were shown.  By the second, the lemon juice polymer was shrinking at a pretty rapid rate.  The Acetone polymer was wrinkling up along with the ethyl alcohol polymer.  This is what the Acetone polymer looked like by the third stir:   

  The only difference between the Acetone polymer and ethyl was how the ethyl polymer was slightly bubbling by the third stir.  The Acetone and ethyl polymers pretty much stayed the same size.  The lemon juice polymer was shrinking and shrinking.  It shrunk about 80% by the end of the experiment:

I partially accepted my hypothesis.  This is because only one of our corrosive materials actually dissolved the polymer.

         

Chemthink; Chemical Reactions

1. The starting materials in a reaction are called reactants.
2. The ending materials in a chemical reaction are called products.
3. The arrow indicates a chemical reaction has taken place.
4. All reaction have one thing in common: there is a rearrangement of chemical bonds.
5. Chemical reactions always involve breaking old bonds, forming new bonds, or both.
6. In all reaction we still have all of the atoms at the end that we had at the start.
7. In every reaction there can never be any missing atoms or new atoms.
8. Chemical reactions only rearrange the bonds in the atoms that are already there.
9. If we use only atoms shown, we’d have 2 atoms of H and 2 atoms of O as reactants.  This would make 1 molecule of H2O, but we’d have 1 atom of O leftover. However, this reaction only makes H2O.
10. 1 H2 + 1 O2 = 1 H2O

Which is the same as:

# of atoms               # of atoms

in Reactants              in Products

2                     H                         2

2                     O                         1

11. This idea is called the Law of Conservation of Mass.
12. There must be the same type of atoms and the same number of atoms before the reaction and after the reaction.
13. The balanced equation for this reaction is: 2 Cu + 1 O2 = 2 CuO
14.  In the unbalanced equation there are:
15. Reactants:            Products:
    Cu atoms 1                Cu atoms 1
    O atoms   2                O atoms   1
16. 15.  To balance the equation, we have to add 1 molecule to the products, because this reaction doesn’t make lone O atoms to the reactants.
    16.  When we added a molecule of CuO, now the number lf O atoms is balanced but the number of  Cu atoms don’t match.  Now we have to add more Cu atoms to the reactants.
    17.  The balanced equation for this reaction is:
    2 Cu + 1 O2 = 2 CuO
      This is the same thing as saying:
                Reactants                        Products
                Cu atoms 2                        Cu atoms  2
                O atoms   2                        O atoms    2
          18. The balanced equation for this reaction is:
                 1 CH4 + 2 O2 = 2 H2O + 1 CO2
    
    
    19. The balanced equation for this reaction is:
           1 N2 + 3 H2 = 2 NH3
    
    
    20. The balanced equation for this reaction is:
           2 KCIO3 = 2 KCI + 3 O2
    
    
    21.  The balanced equation for this reaction is:
    4 AI + 3 O2 = 2 AI2O3
    
    
    Summary
    
    
    1. Chemical reactions always involve breaking bonds, making bonds, or both.
    2. The Law of Conservation of Mass says that the same atoms must be present before and after the reaction.
    3. To balance a chemical equation, you change the coefficients in front of each substance until there are the same number of each type of atom in both reactants and products.

Sodium Silicate Polymer Lab Interpretation

The Sodium Silicate Polymer Lab allowed us to make a polymer that acted as a spherical rubber bouncy ball.  We created the ball by mixing sodium silicate and ethyl alcohol in a beaker.  This is what it looked like when it was first becoming a solid:

  Our polymer was very crumbly when we first finished mixing.  After rolling it around in a ball in the palm of my hand and apply pressure to it we finally managed to make the shape of a spherical polymer. This is what our polymer looked like when it was finally made into the shape of a ball:

 When the excess moisture dried it left a white powdery residue on my hands.  You can barely see this in the bottom right of the picture above.  This went away with a simple washing of my hands.  After we got the shape of our round polymer we did "The Rebound Test."  We took our ball and dropped it from a height of thirty centimeters.  We then measured the height after the polymer's first bounce.  After we averaged out our three bounce heights we put the ball in the fridge to cool down and dry.  When we took it out after ten minutes we did the rebound test once more.  Our average heights were pretty much the same at about twenty centimeters both times.  Although they bounced the same the chilled polymer seemed to be more stable then when it was warm.  Even though the warm one wasn't as stable, even when it was warm or cold it was always harder and more bouncy then the polymer on Tuesday.
             I accepted my hypothesis of saying when the sodium silicate and when the ethyl alcohol mixed it would make a bouncy moldable polymer.
        
            The similarities between the two types of polymers we made were how they both had a bounce attribute.  They both could be molded to some extent also.  Some differences were how the polymer made on Tuesday seemed to be more unstable.  If say out it would eventually turn into a puddle.  The polymer made today held the same characteristics as a regular bouncy ball it would bounce high and it was also hard.

            Carbon and silicon are alike in many ways.  This is why they polymerize the same because of this reason.  Silicon is also the eight most common element.

            There are similarities between plastic polymers and the silicone polymer.  The most obvious one is how the silicone polymer looks like a clear plastic.  They both can serve the same purpose too.

            I knew a chemical reaction took place because the two chemicals to start with ended up being a solid.  They also turned from a clear to a more white color.




        

The Science of Addiction

The science of addiction occurs in the brain which in turn affects the rest of the body.

Pathways:
There are pathways in the brain which is like a power source connecting to parts of the brain.  This is made up of neurons connecting from one region to the next.  There are dopamine pathways which is used in the reward pathway.  There is also serotonin pathways which is involved in the use of many drugs.  This includes cocaine, amphetamines, LSD, and alcohol.  Serotonin is able to go almost everywhere in the brain due to Raphe nuclei.

Killing Potential:
Some drugs have the ability to mock other important chemicals like dopamine and serotonin.  This causes the pleasure pathway to feel a source of pleasure.  What we do not realize is the fact that drugs have toxic substances in them.  This can kill.  Since it is on the pleasure pathway this can cause the addiction.

Stimulants:
Stimulants can kill in three ways.  This is brain damage, heart attacks, and overheating.  The brain damage can occur because there is increased blood pressure from the stimulant and narrowing of blood vessels around the brain which causes less blood flow around the brain.  Heart attacks can happen because the heart demands more oxygen from the increased activity from the drug.  There is also less blood supply which can lead to a deadly heart attack.  Overheating can kill because dopamine controls body temperature and when the stimulant is taken this affects the levels of dopamine.  The increase in body temperature can lead to organ failure and death.