Cameron Johnson Gas Law Investigation

The extent of the experiment was to determine the precise quantities of acetic acid (vinegar) and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) that would completely fill a plastic bag with carbon dioxide. To obtain an equation of the hypothetical ideal gas of C02 that would fill the bag, the ideal gas equation was used. To determine the relative quantities of the reactants and products in the chemical reaction, stoichiometry was used. The temperature and air pressure data that were used in the equation were recorded the day of the experiment. The materials used to perform the experiment are as followed: baking soda, 5% of acetic acid (vinegar), a zip-lock bag, a balance, a graduated cylinder, and the recordings of the temperature and air pressure of the current day. A chemical formula was created to predict the product of the reactants which would produce carbon dioxide, water, and sodium acetate. This equation showed that carbon dioxide would not be the only product filling the bag. In general CO2s molar mass is 44g, but to determine how much CO2 would fit in a bag with a volume of .94L the ideal gas equation was used which estimated the molar mass of C02 to be .043mol. To follow this, stoichiometry was used to determine a very close estimate of how much mass of each product (baking soda and acetic acid) would be needed to create .043 mol of CO2. On the day of the experiment, the final variables of temperature and air pressure needed for both

equations were obtained and the quantities of the products needed came to be 3.36g of baking soda and 2.4g of acetic acid. However, there is only 5% true vinegar in acetic acid and vinegar is needed to react with baking soda to produce CO2, so the 2.4g of acetic acid was converted to milliliters since it was being measured in a graduated cylinder and then 5% was taken from that sum which equaled to 48g/mL of acetic acid which is how much acetic acid was needed to produce 5% vinegar. The baking soda and vinegar were then placed in the bag, tightly sealed, and then shaken not stirred to produce CO2 which filled the bag completely. The results were produced from the equations which were later applied in the experiment. The temperature of the day was 22.2C which was converted to Kelvin (295K) and the air pressure was 30.23in which was converted to millimeters in mercury (800mm Hg) then was divided by 760 torr (1.11atm). The formula in number 1 shows the products from the reactants. The equation in number 2 shows the estimated molar mass in the plastic bag. The equations in number 3 show the amount needed of each reactant to produce the CO2 in the bag. 1. Chemical Formula for the reaction of baking soda and acetic acid HC2H3O2 + NaHCO3 2. Ideal gas equation CO2 + H2O + NaC2H3O2

PV = nRT; (1.11atm)(.94L) = n(.0821)(295K); n = .043mol CO2 3. a) Stoichiometry for baking soda .04mol CO2 X 1mol NaHCO3/1mol CO2 X 84g NaHCO3/1mol NaHCO3 = 3.36g NaHCO3 b) Stoichometry for acetic acid .04mol C02 X 1mol HC2H3O2/1mol CO2 X 60g HC2H3O2/1mol HC2H3O2 = 2.4g HC2H3O2 1) Converting to 5% vinegar 5g/100mL = 2.4/X; X = 48g/mL HC2H3O2 At the conclusion of the experiment, the plastic bag was filled completely with CO2 gas using baking soda and vinegar as reactants. A possible experimental error may have been incorrectly measuring the quantities of baking soda on the balance and acetic acid in the graduated cylinder.