Science Neutralizing Lakes Essay Example for Free

Science Neutralizing Lakes Essay Part 1 – Design a strategy for neutralizing Fish Lake What do I know? (What do I remember about the neutralization reaction) Neutralization is when an acid and base are mixed together to me an ionic compound or which are 7 on the pH scale or pure water, it is also when a base and acid are mixed to make it in a neutral state. What am I wondering? (What are your rough ideas to fix an acidified lake?) I will be finding a base that will work the most effective way, also I will find a base that can fix a large amount of acidified lake water with a base that can neutralize it with less then the acidified lake water, I will also look for a base that can make sulfuric acid neutral As a class we got options to what we will conduct this experiment with the base I choose is Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and for the indicator to show that this will make it neutral is the Universal Indictor I choose that indicator because it has a wide color spectrum when being neutralized. Predictions How much base do you think do you think it will take to neutralize 5mL of acidified lake water? Why? I believe that it will take a little less then 5mL to neutralize it because it will rapidly dissolve and neutralize it. I also know because sodium hydroxide is very responsive once added it will take effect. Balanced Chemical Formula for Sodium hydroxide and Sulfuric Acid (Acidic Lake water) NaOH + H2SO4 - NaHSO4 + H2O How will you know when you have added the correct amount of base and why? I will be using the universal indicator when first added it will first be red, orange, and yellow thus meaning it’s an acid. I will know when it’s fully neutralized when it turns green, blue, and violet. I choose this indicator because it has a wide spectrum of colors, which can help me indicate if I have added the right amount of base. Experimental Set-up and procedure 1. First get all safety equipment needed (safety goggles, and glasses) 2. Receive a test tube 3. Add about 10 drops of acidified lake water to the test tube (10 drops = 5mL) 4. Receive your Indictor (universal indictor) 5. Add about 2 drops of the universal indictor to the acidified lake water 6. Acidified lake water turned orange which meant it was a acid 7. Then I received sodium hydroxide (NaOH) 8. I filled a dropper with NaOH 9. I dropped NaOH into the acidified lake water I seen drastic changes right away with the indictor it started to change right away 10. I added NaOH to the acidified lake water until the indictor turned into a color which was recognized as a base or neutral 11. It took about 9 drops which is less then 5mL to fully neutralize the acid in the water 12. I then recorded all my data to a piece of paper to keep for future references 13. At the end of this experiment I also conducted a next one all the previous steps above were followed but the base was changed to get a comparison 14. To complete my second experiment I used calcium carbonate (CaCo3) 15. I followed previous steps above 16. I added calcium carbonate (CaCo3) to the acidified lake water 17. It took about 15 – 20 drops of (Caco3) to neutralize the acid from the water 18. At the end of these experiments all equipment that I used was cleaned up and stored away to its proper location Record Lake water Acid | Indicator | Base | Observations| What volume of acidic lake water did you neutralize ?I used 10 drops of acidic lake water which is = to 5mL.| What indictor did you choose?Universal indicator I choose that because there is a wide color spectrum so you will see the neutralization when it’s happening.| What base did you choose?I choose sodium hydroxide because it can get the job done and rapidly neutralize acidic water. | How much base was needed to neutralize the acid? What else did you observe?It took about 9 drops of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) which is less then 5mL, I also noticed when adding NaOH the water started to neutralize right away you were able to see the indictor turning purple due to the fact that it was turning into a base.| Reflect Make conclusion by referring to your predictions from step 1. Did your data support these predictions? Why or why not? If not how has your thinking changed? My predictions were correct, my data did support these predictions I say that because when I conducted this experiment I did in fact use less then 5mL I used 9 drops of sodium hydroxide, which is about 4.8 mL. when I conducted this experiment I did have a worry it might be over 5mL because I was not sure my research prior to this lab. I also did know I added the right amount of indicator because when conducting this lab/experiment the indictor turned fully purple thus meaning it was neutralized. When using the universal indicator it has a wide color spectrum, which means it has different colors. When it’s an acid the color will be red, orange, and yellow. When it’s a base it will be green, blue, and violet. MSDS I kept this in mind when using these chemicals in this experiment In large amounts of NaOH is very harmful to human health also other life, I did keep that in mind but I did further research, when I did my research it did state when adding small amounts gradually it will dissolve with out a problem when adding large amounts will cause a problem to wild life and also human life. Small amounts will dissolve over time then add in more once dissolved. Suggest one way in which you could improve your experimental procedure. One way I could of improved in this experimental procedure is to get different bases to get a different observation, which will be a better base. It will be more effective because we have a wider range of bases, which could lead to better solutions.