Today we experimented with magnesium, citric acid, and water to create hydrogen. The purpose of this lab was to develop a better understanding of atoms and their structure. Atoms, in the simplest definition, are the smallest unit of an element. They are made up of three subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons. After learning about the basic structure of an atom, we learned about the periodic table. The periodic table helps to learn how many electrons, protons, neutrons, and the atomic mass in each element. I learned that the number of electrons and protons is the atomic number and the amount of neutrons is the atomic mass minus the amount of protons. After becoming more educated about elements, my group and I were reading to start the experiment.
For this lab, we were given strips of magnesium, a beaker of citric acid, a beaker of water, a small balloon, and a volumetric flask to hold the chemicals. My group and I first rolled the magnesium strips, dropped it into the flask and then added citric acid. Then one person poured the water into the flask and another quickly put the balloon over the opening of the flask. Over time, the magnesium started to react with the citric acid and created a gas that started to fill the balloon. This gas was hydrogen. The flask even started to warm up to hot temperatures. When the balloon was filled with enough hydrogen, we took the balloon, tied off the end of it, and cut close to the knot. As I was holding the balloon, it was noticeably light and easy to let go of. When releasing the balloon, it would float to the ceiling fairly quickly. Hydrogen acts like helium, but weighs lighter.
After playing with the balloon for a while, we set the balloon on fire. For safety precautions, we tied the balloon to a yard stick with a piece of tape and used candles as the source of fire. When the balloon made contact with the fire, it instantly created a mini fire explosion. The fire explosion was the hydrogen reacting to the flames and that's why the fire "clouds" appeared. Since hydrogen is highly reactive to fire, that's why it didn't take much to create an explosion.
I really enjoyed this lab. It was a great way to learn more about atom structure and how certain elements can create other elements. I didn't really understand when my chemistry teacher told us that air actually has a weight until I played with the hydrogen and compared it to balloons filled with helium. For this lab, I voluntarily went to work with a group outside of my immediate friend group and had a good time. Collaborating and successfully completing this lab with them was very rewarding.