Introduction:
A. Background
This particular experiment consists of a purpose of finding out the effect of various temperatures on the rate of reaction of the Alka-Seltzer tablets. Alka-Seltzer is a medical drug that acts as a pain reliever or an antacid, which helps neutralize stomach acidity, such as heartburn. Alka-Seltzer is a form of a baking soda which is also known as sodium bicarbonate, (NaHCO₃). When sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃) comes in contact with water (H2O), the compound dissociates into two different ions: sodium (Na+) and bicarbonate (HCO₃-) ions. The bicarbonate ions (HCO₃-) react with hydrogen ions (H+) that are in the water, causing a production of a carbon dioxide …show more content…
It was accurately impossible to start the timer concurrently with Alka-Seltzer contacting water, therefore the timing of the rate of reaction were slightly off. Next time when this lab is performed, there should be an automatic timer which starts automatically as soon as the Alka-Seltzer contacts the water so that the rate of reaction is accurate. Second error consisted of human error. After the beaker was taken off from the hot plate when the beaker reached the certain specific temperature that was to be tested, the temperatures were not exact as the testing temperature because as soon as the beaker was lifted form the hot plate, and placed on to a colder surface, the heat transferred, causing the temperature to decrease and not be exact. Next time when this lab is performed the beaker should not be lifted from the hot plate and instead try to maintain the certain temperature of the water on the hot pate, and then drop the Alka- Seltzer. Lastly the error was made when stopping the stop watch. This is an error that effected the results of the lab because the complete dissolvent of the Alka-Seltzer was unclear, and caused the timer to stop at a random stopping point, when it “seemed” like the reaction was over. Next time when this lab is conducted, the timer should be stopped when there are no single fizz noises and bubbles left in the beaker. Other than these three mistakes the data is confident and accurate in