Chemical Kinetics Lab Instructions

Part 1: Designing the experiment

  1. Pick which question you will investigate. Question must be approved by Miss Scott. No more than 2 groups on each question.
  2. Write a rough draft of your procedure and materials. You procedure must be specific—make sure it includes all the details of your experiment. Here are some things to think about when writing it:
  3. What safety precautions need to be taken? (Hint: goggles are a must!)
  4. How much of the materials will you use? (General limit will be 20-40 mL of 0.1 M CuCl2 per trial)
  5. What type of measurements will be taken? When will you take them?
  6. What type of data will you be comparing (what trials will you do)?
  7. What variable are you changing? What variables do you need to keep constant throughout the experiment?

Here is a list of the some of the materials available to you. If there are other materials you need, just ask!

  • Aluminum foil
  • Copper chloride solution, various concentrations
  • Most groups will use 0.1 M concentration, 0.5 M and 1.0 M are also available for certain experiments
  • Solid copper chloride
  • Beakers, various sizes
  • Erlenmeyer flasks, various sizes
  • Graduated cylinders, various sizes
  • Pipets
  • Funnels
  • Wash bottles
  • Test tubes
  • Scissors
  • Stirring rods
  • Hot plates
  • Ice
  • Magnetic stirring rods/plates
  • Electronic balance
  • Fume hood

Part 2: Procedure Revisions & Approval

  1. Groups will exchange their procedures with two other groups to get feedback, then revise their procedure and materials list.
  2. Once procedure has been revised, Miss Scott will either approve it or give it back for modifications.

Check the write-up of two other groups …. Should follow the format below:

Question: Here is where you will write what questions your group is trying to answer.

Hypothesis: This should be an “If…then…because…” statement that says what you think will be the outcome of your experiment. “If” is followed by the variable you change, “then” is followed by the outcome you expect to get, and “because” is followed by your explanation of why you should get that result.

Materials: give a bulleted list of materials you will be using in your experiment. Bullet points, not numbers or letters!

Procedure:A numbered list of steps in complete sentences. This should be the procedure you got approved by me in class! Make sure it is clear and detailed!

Data Table: an empty data table that has room for all measurements you will collect, as well as your observations!

Independent variable / Dependent Variable (data)

Part 3: Experiment Day!

  1. With your group, you will perform the experiment you designed and collect all relevant data.
  2. Once you have your data, you will try to explain the results of your experiment.
  3. At the end of class, each group will make a short (1-2 minute) presentation about what they did, what they found, and why they think that happened.