SBA #5 Planning and Designing 1
Date:
Topic : Structure and Bonding
Title: Distinguishing Ionic and Covalent Substances
Problem Statement: The labels of the granulated sugar and the table salt bottles were mischievously
removed by Janes’s younger brother. Plan and design an experiment to verify the identity of the solid in
bottle A and bottle B, suggest without tasting.
Hypothesis: (linked to problem statement and is testable)
Aim: (linked to hypothesis)
Method: (linked to hypothesis and in present tense)
Apparatus/Materials: (list all essential apparatus)
Variables:
Manipulated:
Controlled:
Responding:
Data to be collected: (empty outline for data to be collected)
Expected Results:
Interpretation of Results:
Source of Error/Assumption/Precaution: (state any one of the three)
SUGGESTED APPROACH:
1. Classify sugar and salt as either an ionic or a covalent substance.
2. Choose an appropriate experiment to distinguish between the solids in bottles A and bottles B.
Ionic and covalent substances can easily be distinguished based on differences in their
solubility, conductivity or melting point
Use one of the properties to verify the identity of the solids in the bottles. Either solubility test,
melting point or conductivity
3. Use the investigation below to help plan your experiment.
SBA #6 - Investigation
PART 1
Proposal (Planning and Design)
Problem Statement: Vitamin C(Ascorbic acid) is found in fruits and vegetables. This vitamin is essential
in a healthy diet and a shortage of it can lead to scurvy, the deficiency disease. It was said that exposure
to heat may lead to destruction of vitamin C. Plan and design an experiment to test the truth of this
claim using a named fruit.
Hypothesis
Aim
Materials and Apparatus
Method (in present tense)
Variables
Manipulated
Controlled
responding
Expected Results
Assumptions, Precautions/ Limitations
PART 2
Implementation (Analysis and Interpretation)
Method (in past tense)
Results
Discussion
Limitation
Reflection
Conclusion
SUGGESTED APPROACH
Vitamin C is reacted with iodine solution using starch as indicator in a redox reaction.
Use the information below to plan an experiment based on problem statement given above
Source 1: [Link]
Source 2: [Link]
Source 3:
SAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION LAB (taken from CSEC syllabus, use this an example to guide your write-up)
Part A THE PROPOSAL
Observation/Problem Statement
Whenever an uncovered carbonated beverage is left exposed at room temperature the beverage
goes ‘flat’ (that is, loses its fizz) within a few hours but when an uncovered carbonated beverage is
stored in a refrigerator it remains fizzy for much longer.
Hypothesis: The higher the temperature of an uncovered carbonated drink the faster the drink will
lose carbon dioxide gas.
Aim: To determine if increasing the temperature causes an uncovered carbonated beverage to lose
carbon dioxide gas at a higher rate.
Materials/Apparatus: A sealed bottle of a carbonated beverage, cold water, 3 boiling tubes, 3
Water-bath, 3 thermometers, three measuring cylinder, three retort stands with clamps, 3 graduated
syringes anda timing device.
Method
1. All apparatus will be cleaned and dried before beginning the experiment.
2. Label each boiling tube as follows: R- for room temperature, C- for cold and H- for hot.
Measure 20 cm3 of the carbonated beverage and pour slowly into each boiling tube.
3. Leave the uncovered boiling tube labeled R on the counter at room temperature. Place the
uncovered tube labeled C into an ice-bath and the uncovered tube labeled H ŝŶƚŽ Ă ςϬȗ
water bath. Record the temperature of each beverage in a table and leave each tube
undisturbed for 30 minutes.
4. After the 30 minutes has passed for each beverage, securely fit the tube with a rubber bung
and delivery tube. Keep the shaking of the tube to a minimum during this set-up process.
The open end of the delivery tube will be attached to a graduated syringe and the boiling
tube shaken for two minutes. Record the volume reached by the gas in a suitable table.
Repeat the same procedure for each tube.
Expected Results
It is expected that the carbonated beverage labeled H will produce the least volume of gas,
beverage R will produce more gas than H but less than C and beverage C will produce the highest
volume of gas.
Precaution: Carbonated beverage was poured slowly down the sides of the boiling tube to minimise
loss of gas.
PART B- THE IMPLEMENTATION
Introduction
Whenever an uncovered carbonated beverage is left exposed at room temperature the beverage
goes ‘flat’ (that is, loses its fizz) within a few hours but when an uncovered carbonated beverage is
stored in a refrigerator it remains fizzy for much longer.
The gas responsible for the fizz of a carbonated drink is carbon dioxide and the lower the carbon
dioxide content of a drink the ‘flatter’ the drink will be.
In this experiment the relationship between the temperature and the carbon dioxide content of a
carbonated drink will be explored so as to offer an explanation to the observation made.
Method
1. All apparatus was cleaned and dried before beginning the experiment.
2. Each boiling tube was labeled as follows: R- for room temperature, C- for cold and H- for
hot.
3. 20 cm3of the carbonated beverage was measured and poured slowly into each boiling tube.
4. The uncovered boiling tube labeled R was left on the counter at room temperature, the
uncovered tube labeled C was placed into an ice-bath and the uncovered tube labeled H was was
placed in a water bath and each tube was left undisturbed for 30 minutes.
5. After 30 minutes had passed for each beverage, the tube was securely fitted with a rubber
bung and delivery tube. Shaking of the tube was kept to a minimum during this set-up
process. The open end of the delivery tube was attached to a graduated syringe and the
boiling tube was shaken for two minutes. The volume reached by the gas was recorded in a
suitable table. The same procedure was repeated for each tube.
Results
TABLE SHOWING THE VOLUME OF CARBON DIOXIDE GAS COLLECTED AT VARIOUS
TEMPERATURES
Boiling Tube Temperature/oC Volume of carbon dioxide gas/cm3
R 30
H 60
C 2
Discussion
From this experiment, it was determined that as the temperature increased the carbon dioxide
content of the drink decreased. The drink which was kept at the highest temperature lost the most
gas in the allotted time period.
When a carbonated drink is left uncovered, the decrease in pressure causes the gas particles to
leave the solution at the surface faster. Also, increasing the temperature gives the gas particles to leave
the solution at a faster rate.
Particles possess more kinetic energy at higher temperatures than at lower temperatures. Hence,
more gaseous particles will leave the surface of a drink at room temperature than at a lower
temperature.
Therefore it is clear that when the carbonated drink was left at room temperature the loss of CO2
would have occurred more readily than if the same drink was kept in a refrigerator and as a result
the drink at room temperature would become flat much sooner than one stored at colder
temperatures.
Limitations
Every effort was made to reduce experimental error as much as possible. Shaking of the beverage
during measuring was minimized and the temperatures were monitored strictly. However, the
following situations may have contributed to experimental error:
1. Loss of gas as an undetermined amount of gas was lost during the pouring of the beverage into the
measuring cylinder.
2. Loss of gas occurred during the assembling of the delivery tube to the graduated syringe.
Reflections
Whenever an uncovered carbonated beverage is left exposed at room temperature, the beverage
goes flat (it loses its fizz) within a few hours but when an uncovered carbonated beverage is stored
in a refrigerator it remains fizzy for much longer.
From the experiment, I have learnt that the reason carbonated drinks go flat faster at room
temperature is because of the higher temperature which gives the gas particles enough energy to
leave the drink’s surface faster. Therefore, based on scientific fact it is better to store a carbonated
drink at low temperatures as this will preserve its CO2 content for much longer.
This experiment was carried out as designed in the plan.
Conclusion
Increasing the temperature of an uncovered carbonated drink causes the drink to lose carbon
dioxide faster.
