gas laws

As our Gas Laws unit was coming to an end, it was time to create the test.

In an effort to better understand my high school students' knowledge of what is happening during phase changes, heating curve calculations, and the ever popular can crush demo, I run them through a series of activities.

Chemical Connections to Climate Change

In Chemical Mystery #6, I used chemistry to crush a metal can. To do so, concentrated sodium hydroxide solution (about 35% NaOH by weight) was added to a can that was almost completely filled with carbon dioxide gas. The can was then sealed. The carbon dioxide gas in the can reacted with the added sodium hydroxide:

For my students and me, the AP Chemistry exam does not mark the end of the school year. Once the AP exam is over, my students are exhausted but our class continues to meet for three more weeks. Each year we complete a qualitative analysis lab, but this year we finished earlier than I anticipated. For the first time all year, I have the luxury of time.

Did any of you guess what was going on in Chemical Mystery #4:  The Case of the Misbehaving Balloon?  In this experiment, several balloons were placed in liquid nitrogen.  Most of these balloons shrunk tremendously – to almost zero volume – when cooled

The nail bottle demonstration¹ is one that many of us have conducted in our classes. To perform this demonstration, 2 – 3 mL of ethanol is placed into a plastic bottle that has two nails punctured into opposite sides of the bottle. After stoppering the bottle, a Tesla coil is touched to one of the nails.