Name:______Date:______Period:______

Steel Wool & Vinegar Reaction

Steel wool contains iron, when iron is exposed to oxygen what can occur?______

Remember rust is a chemical change so a chemical reaction has to take place with iron and oxygen. Soak steel wool in vinegar and watch what happens as the iron in the steel begins to react with the oxygen around it. We will use a thermometer to measure this change.

Materials:

  • Steel Wool
  • Vinegar
  • Two beakers
  • Paper or a lid (something to cover the beaker to keep the heat in)
  • Thermometer
  • Plastic gloves

Procedure:

  1. Place the steel wool in a beaker.
  2. Pour vinegar on to the steel wool and allow it to soak in the vinegar for around one minute. Record your observations in Table I.
  3. Remove the steel wool and drain any excess vinegar.
  4. Wrap the steel wool around the base of the thermometer and place them both in the second beaker.
  5. Cover the beaker with paper or a lid to keep the heat in (make sure you can still read the temperature on the thermometer, having a small hole in the paper or lid for the thermometer to go through is a good idea).
  6. Check the initial temperature and then monitor it for around five minutes.

Identify the independent and dependent variables in this experiment.

Independent variable:______

Dependent variable:______

Note: Your teacher will set up a control where the steel wool is in a covered container with a thermometer. The initial temperature will be checked and then monitored for 5 minutes.

Hypothesis:______

What do you think?

Why is a thermometer needed?______

What changes do you think we are going to measure?______

Table I. Observations and Conclusions: Record your temperature and observations every minute in the data table.

Time
(min) / Temperature:
Steel wool soaked in vinegar
(°F) / Observations / Temperature:
Control
Steel wool soaked in water / Is the temperature increasing, decreasing or same?
0
(initial temp.)
1
2
3
4
5

Graph: Make a line graph of the data. You will be plotting two lines on your graph, the steel wool soaked in vinegar and the control data.

Analysis:

  1. How did the temperature change?
  2. What do you think caused the temperature to change?
  3. Do you think vinegar is a reactant or product? Why?
  1. When you placed the steel wool in the beaker did a chemical reaction take place? How do you know?
  2. Did an endothermic or exothermic process occur?
  3. When you were taking the temperature of the steel wool for 5 minutes, what did you notice about the temperature?
  4. Does your data reflect an endothermic or exothermic reaction?
  5. What was initially produced then released in this experiment?

What's happening?

The temperature inside the beaker should gradually rise, you might even notice the beaker getting foggy. When you soak the steel wool in vinegar it removes the protective coating of the steel wool and allows the iron in the steel to rust. Rusting (or oxidation) is a chemical reaction between iron and oxygen, this chemical reaction creates heat energy which increases the temperature inside the beaker. This experiment is an example of an exothermic reaction, a chemical reaction that releases energy in the form of heat.