Acid and Base Yeast Lab

Our test today involved yeast (REALLY starting to hate this smell), hydrogen peroxide, Diet Coke, stomach antacid, and skim milk. We also needed a gas pressure sensor. So, here's the low down on what we did:

First,

we filled each tube with three mL of hydrogen peroxide (six squirts from the eyedropper). We were given three strips of sticky notes to which we wrote "A" (for acid) on one, "N" (for neutral) on another, and "B" (for base) on the last before placing the sticky notes under the first, second and third tube. Then we added three mL of Diet coke to the first tube, three mL of skim milk to the second tube, and three mL of antacid to the third tube.

Now

that the set-up was done, we created the "Yeast Suspension." Why it is called "Yeast Suspension," I am not sure considering the yeast wasn't at any point suspended in the air or halted at any point (I hope that doesn't mean we did it incorrectly). The way we created this (whether it be right or wrong) was by filling 20 mL of water into the graduated cylinder then pouring that into the beaker. Dean added half a teaspoon of yeast to the water which we then stirred to mix it all up. That was our "Yeast Suspension."

Lastly

we filled up the eye dropper with our watery yeast from the "Yeast Suspension." In the first test tube, Tube A, we dripped in two drops of yeast. Then using the black stopper from the gas pressure sensor (the tubing of the pressure sensor was disconnected form the stopper at this point). We gave the tube a quick couple of good swirls before setting it back in the rack and attaching the the rest of the pressure sensor to the stopper before clicking "Collect." For two minutes it sat there and collected. Once it was finished, we clicked "Stop" then clicked "Store Latest Run" before moving onto the next tube.

One thing we noticed was that the yeast looked really good (like yummy good, despite the awful-smell). It resembled kids coffee (which is something we have in our family that is basically 1/4 coffee with 3/4 milk) which is one of my favorite breakfast drinks. Good thing the smell made me want to gag otherwise I might have accidentally mistook it for my drink. Another thing was that with the soda, by the end of hte run, it had turned a lighter shade of brown. The milk was interesting in the fact that it had about two or three centimeters of bubbles on the top. Antacid also had bubbles, but it was more like a centimeter of bubbles. The milk easily had three to four times more.

Our results were this:

A (Acid):

Pressure at the beginning of the test--101.31.

Pressure at the end of the test--106.23

(Acids--Red)

N (Neutral):

Pressure at the beginning of the test--99.48

Pressure at the end of the test--104.1

(Acids--Red; Neutral--Blue)

B (Base):

Pressure at the beginning of the test--99.89

Pressure at the end of the test--106.73

(Acids--Red; Neutral--Blue; Bases--Green)

(Note: You cannot see the acids in the last picture because acids and bases had a similar incline)

So from our tests, we concluded that bases BARELY had the most pressure build up, with acids less than a unit off. Neutral trailed behind some, but had the most bubbles. I think that is because perhaps there was sugar in the milk that the yeast ate, but the soda has sugar also which didn't have as many bubbles. So we are not sure how to conclude that fact.

Conservation of Mass Investigation

Our experiment involves vinegar (hmmm?), baking soda (ah), balloons (back to hmmm?), soda (tasty), and Pop Rocks (YUM!). Interesting, I'd say so.

Your missions, should you choose to accept it, is this: place Pop Rocks in soda and baking soda in vinegar and find out which produces more gases. Also, James Bond, you must discover whether or not Pop Rocks and soda is a chemical reaction.

Ok, well, we fail as James Bond. -_-' Our test started with the Pop Rocks and Soda. We were supposed to fill a balloon with Pop Rocks then seal the balloon over the soda and pour in the Pop Rocks. However, we failed and broke the balloon so there was a tear in it when we tried to place it over the soda bottle lip. We called in back-up (Mrs. Leland) to help take it off, and the whole lip of the balloon tore off. Dang. So, we improvised by placing the rest of balloon over the bottle. The drawback: the balloon won't fill up to a size bigger than a peanut (a tad exaggeration right there, but it was fairly small: walnut size, maybe). If we squeezed the bottle, the rest of the gas that was in the bottle would be pushed into the balloon. But that's sorta illusional victory, it's like getting a ton of money from Monopoly: you have a million dollars, but you can't buy anything but tiny, plastic houses. You can't even buy a house on boardwalk!

(Soda & Pop Rocks--Dubbed: "Peanut")

The baking soda and vinegar were a bit more successful. One, our balloon lip didn't break. Two, we didn't have to content our selves with chimera. And three, our balloon was bigger than anything in the nut family. The cliche baking soda and vinegar reacted as was expected with a FWOOSH! The balloon was the size about the size of the snow-globe on Mrs. Leland's desk. About four to six inch diameter. However, when we removed the balloon, we found that not all of the baking soda had gone into the empty bottle and had in fact stuck to the rim of the inside of the bottle (it still had a bit of water in it). I don't think it would've affected our experiment greatly because we used 1 teaspoon of baking soda while a lot of other groups used 1/2 because the top said 1 teaspoon while the bottom said 1/2. }:) Aren't we lucky?

(Baking Soda & Vinegar--Dubbed "Monster)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVTHziF9yWE

(A Video of "Monster" and "Peanut")

Good job, Bond. You came back . . . alive. What did you find? We found that vinegar and baking soda yielded more of a reaction by observing those on the same mission. Also, I have concluded that Pop Rocks and Soda are not chemical reactions. My fellow assassins . . . I mean assistants . . . betrayed me and said it was a chemical reaction. However, truth prevailed and I, of course, was proved correct. The Pop Rocks were only releasing the carbon dioxide already in the soda as well as the soda dissolved the Pop Rocks therefore releasing the carbon dioxide trapped within the candy. And should you worry that the dissolving is a chemical reaction, it is not; the dissolving of the candy is a physical reaction. Mission complete.

Chemical Reactions and Temperature Lab

Our test today was to see in what temperatures did alka-seltzer dissolve the quickest; the options were: cold water, room temperature, or hot water. * Dramatic Game-Show Host Voice * Amber, Katie, what temperature do you two pick? Door Number One, Door Number Two, or Door Number Three? * Amber and Katie in Our Squeaky Girl Voices * Door Number Three! * Voice from the Gingerbread Man's Executioner from Shrek * Pick three, m'lord. * The Executioner Holds Up Two Fingers * We picked three.

Cold Water Test: In actuality, we did the Hot Water Test first, but to keep with a dramatic theme with keeping our test at the very last, I'm choosing to present the information with the last test we executed being written first. We filled the beaker to 133 mL (that was on our second fill because I had to trash our first try 'cause I accidentally filled it to 166 mL the first time 'round) then Mrs. Leland added a couple handfuls of ice cubes to the beaker. The instructions had said to add 2-3 ice cubes; I don't know what planet these people come from where 2-3 ice cubes brings the volume to 266 (perhaps Plant Giant Ice Cubes?), but our beaker was filled to about 266 mL using more ice cubes. We stirred for 60 seconds to "even out the temperature" then placed the thermometer in. The temperature dropped instantly and was at 1.9˚ celsius by the time we dropped the alka-seltzer in. That alka-seltzer took its sweet time dissolving and only finished after one minute, 58.9 seconds had past. And interesting note: the alka-seltzer plunked to the bottom and stayed there until it had dissolved to this tiny circle and floated up as close to the surface as it could (the ice sorta blocked it from actually reaching the surface). It just happened that I had taken a cursory glance at the temperature (or was it Amber who noticed?) and saw that the temperature had dropped to .3˚ degrees celsius by the end of the alka-seltzer.

Untitled from Amber M.S on Vimeo.

(A video of the Cold Water Test)

Room Temperature: This test was a fairly uneventful test. We filled it to 266 mL of water then waited a minute to allow it to adjust to room temperature before putting in the thermometer. After that, we dropped in the alka-seltzer and watched it dissolved. The temperature was 23.8˚ celsius and dissolved in 36 seconds. An interesting note: the alka-seltzer sank to the bottom, but "danced" in a way that one side of the alka-seltzer would pop up while the other end would stay firmly attached to the bottom of the beaker.

Hot Water: We placed the hot plate to medium and put a beaker filled with 266 mL of water on it with a temperature probe stuck in the beaker. In three . . . two . . . one PLOP! In fell the alka-seltzer, up went some water droplets, FWOOSH went the water in the beaker. The moment that alka-seltzer hit the 50˚ celsius water, it began to fizz up immediately and cloud up the whole beaker. The fizz lasted 21.09 seconds before the alka-seltzer was no more. Interesting note: the alka-seltzer shot straight up to the top of the beaker and floated around there.

So were we right? Heck, yeah, we were! Hot water is da bomb diggity! (Not really, I never say that phrase) But we were right in the fact that hot water dissolved the alka-seltzer the quickest. We attributed this swiftness to the fact that heat is energy which we figured would speed up the ionization (I'm in acid and base, I feel so special that I know what's going on rather than just "look! It's fizz!" * Dramatic Game-Show Host Voice * Amber and Katie, you have won the grand prize! * Amber and Katie in Our Squeaky Girl Voices * What is it?!?! * Dramatic Game-Show Host Voice * A job well done! How's it feel? * Amber and Katie in our Squeaky Girl Voices * Good so long as we get to keep that special ice cube. (Note: Must listen to video to understand--I'm right, by the way: it's the alka-seltzer, not a special fizzy ice cube).

ChemThink; Chemical Reactions

1. Starting materials in a chemical reaction are called REACTANTS
2. The ending materials in a chemical reaction are called PRODUCTS
3. The arrow indicates a CHEMICAL CHANGE has taken place.
4. All reactions have one thing in common: there is a REARRANGEMENT of chemical bonds.
5. Chemical reactions always involve BREAKING old bonds, FORMING new bonds, or both.
6. In all reactions we still have all of the ATOMS at the end that we had at the start.
7. In every reaction there can never be any MISSING atoms or NEW ATOMS.
8. Chemical reactions only REARRANGE THE BONDS in the atoms that are already there.
9. Let’s represent a reaction on paper. For example, hydrogen gas (H2) reacts with oxygen gas (O2) to form water
(H2O): H2 + O2=H2O
If we use only the atoms shown, we’d have 1 atoms of H and 2 atoms of O as reactants. This would
make WATER molecule of H2O, but we’d have 1 atom of O leftover. However, this reaction only makes H2O.
Remember: reactions are not limited to 1 molecule each of reactants. We can use as many as we need to balance the chemical equation. A balanced chemical reaction shows:
a) What atoms are present before (in the reactants) and after (in the products)
b) How many of each reactant and product is present before and after. 10. So to make H2O from oxygen gas and hydrogen gas, the balanced equation would be:
2 H2 + 4 O2 = 2 H2O Which is the same as:
11. This idea is called the LAW OF THE CONSERVATION OF MASS
12. There must be the same ATOMS and the same number of MASS before the reaction (in the reactants) and after the reaction (in the products).
13. What is the balanced equation for this reaction? TWO Cu + FOUR O2 = 2 CuO
14. In the unbalanced equation there are:
-->Reactants Cu atoms ONE O atoms TWO
-->Products Cu atoms TWO O atoms TWO
15. To balance this equation, we have to add Cu molecules to the products, because this reaction doesn’t make lone Cu atoms.
16. When we added a molecule of CuO, now the number of OXYGEN atoms is balanced but the number of Cu atoms don’t match. Now we have to add more Cu atoms to the reactants.
17. The balanced equation for this reaction is:
TWO Cu + TWO O2  TWO CuO
-->Reactants: Cu atoms TWO O atoms TWO
-->Product:s Cu atoms TWO O atoms TWO
18. What is the balanced equation for this reaction? (Use the table to keep track of the atoms on each side.)
ONE CH4 + TWO O2 = TWO H2O + ONE CO2
19. What is the balanced equation for this reaction? (Use the table to keep track of the atoms on each side.)
ONE N2 + THREE H2 = TWO NH3
20. What is the balanced equation for this reaction? (Use the table to keep track of the atoms on each side.)
TWO KClO3 = TWO KCl + THREE O2
21. What is the balanced equation for this reaction? (Use the table to keep track of the atoms on each side.)
FOUR Al + THREE O2 = TWO Al2O3

SUMMARY
Chemical reactions always involve: Breaking bonds, creating bonds, or both.
The Law of Conservation of Mass says that the same atoms must be That chemical reactions rearrange bounds but the same atoms must be there before and after the chemical reaction.
To balance a chemical equation, you change the Coefficients in front of each substance until there are the same number of each type of atom in both reactants and products

Polymer Lab Group Investigation

FAIL!!! WE FAIL!!! At least, so we think.

MAKE A PLASTIC
Hypothesis: We’re using nail polish remover which is diluted acetone, so we’re hoping that the Styrofoam will still dissolve. However, we’re afraid that it won’t, and that we can’t let the rest of the liquid evaporate out of the nail polish remover and leave more concentrated acetone behind because we’ve found from our research that acetone evaporates fairly quickly. To be honest, we think the Styrofoam (even if we break it up into tiny, little balls) will just float around at the top. * sigh * However, if it works, we don’t want to wait 12 hours for it to harden, so we’ve found that chilling a polymer makes it more brittle, and because brittle things are not malleable, we think that by chilling it (and risking shattering) that it will harden faster.

Results: We took a styrofoam ball that was the flakey styrofoam vs. the connected-balls styrofoam and crumbled it into even smaller flakes which we dropped into the nail polish remover. Ok, so I had added the dye while the styrofoam was hopefully dissolving, but because of that, it was harder to see the already-hard-to-tell-if-it-was-dissolving styrofoam! If it was dissolving, it was too slow to watch or notice; it was one of those things that you look back every now and then to see if you note a change. In the end, we crumbled the rest of the small, styrofoam ball into the nail polish, left it to sit overnight, and crossed our fingers. * Crosses fingers * Will it make be alright? We'll know in the morning.

The Next Morning: We just checked our "plastic" and all it is looking like is disgusting, green, melted slushy. We THINK that maybe SOME of the TINY pieces MAY have dissolved, but even if that were true, more than 12 hours have passed and the plastic should have "cured" or hardened. Oh, well, maybe it was a good thing it didn't actually work because if it did, we hadn't a plan on how to get the plastic out of the jar if it had solidified in the jar and possibly to the jar.

BOUNCY BALL
Hypothesis: If we add cornstarch to a lab we have already preformed, the What is a Polymer Lab, then the ball will be bouncier then the first. We think that the cornstarch will act as a tighter bonding agent. The borax will first bond the monomers, then the cornstarch will act like a strengthener to the borax. Making the bond between the monomers stronger and tighter giving more of a bounce.

Results: FAIL! FAILFAILFAIL! We FAIL! We did this TWICE, and still we did not get the results we wanted! The first time, it turned out to be dry, wouldn't stick to itself, and when we tried dipping it into the Borax solution again, it did bupkis. When we tried running it under water to moisten it or soften it, the water made it even more dry! We guessed the problem might have been due to one of two things: 1.) we added the dye after the Borax solution was mixed with the glue and cornstarch instead of to the Borax solution. 2.) We hadn't let the Borax solution mixed with the glue and cornstarch sit for 10-15 seconds. We had ten more minutes left of testing, so we decided to repeat the experiment. Cramming a retest in ten minutes = BAD IDEA! Time was running out and we had to clean everything out. So while Amber was cleaning _____, I was re-making the Borax solution (adding the dye this time!). We added the glue and the cornstarch and, for being in a rush, we were doing pretty good! But then I was in a bit of a tizzy over time, I accidentally read "add 1 tsp. Borax to the Ball Mixture" so I had added Borax. Truth was, it told me to add 1 tsp. of Borax SOLUTION! We tried to shake out as much as we could, and we got most of it out, but the Borax had fallen on the glue and (because glue is adhesive) some of the Borax stuck. Shocker. We really didn't have time to be doing our second test, anyway, so there was no way in heck we would have time for a third test, so we continued on with our second. We waited 15 seconds after adding the Borax solution. Our second test (despite my mess-up) turned out better than our first test. It was stickier (and more evenly green) and more malleable and would stay in a ball-shape. However, that is not to say that our test was a success. The test is called BOUNCY ball. Bouncy, our ball was not. I had an extra styrofoam ball that bounced higher than our second test! We hadn't had time for the bounce test, but I'd guesstimate it to be around 5 cm. It was NOT a bouncy ball by my classification! Not by any classification, I think! However, neither of our tests were as messy as Marissa's. Her group hadn't added as much cornstarch as we did, and theirs turned out to be similar to tar (in color and stickiness--it was VERY sticky). So perhaps we should add less cornstarch next time and find a happy medium between Marissa's super-sticky and our dry-doughy and get an acceptable semi-bouncy ball.

(Our two balls.

The first test that we couldn't get to stay in a shape is on top

while the second that wouldn't bouncy to save its life--not that either of them would bounce--is on the bottom)

Sodium Silicate Polymer Lab

(Our Thursday sodium silicate ball)

This Tuesday we made a polymer using Elmer's glue, water, and Borax. It ended up this flubber-y substance was quite mucilaginous. Our first polymer bounced to an average height of about 9 centimeters and 7 centimeters after chilled for 10 minutes. Today (Thursday), we have created a polymer out of Sodium Silicate (commonly known as glass water) and Ethyl alcohol. When we added the 3 mL of ethyl to the 12 mL of sodium silicate, it congealed into this crystalized substance. We ran it under some water to mold it into a ball then dropped it from a height of 30 centimeters with the rebound averaging 19.3 centimeters. We then chilled it for 10 minutes, but when we got to the fridge and found our ball had been swiped, we took the only ball left (smaller, and disgusting ball considering it had unknown hair on it. . . .) and ran the test again with ten drops. We were satisfied that our ball was a different one, but we ended up finding the table that had and took our original ball back. Since our good old ball was warm by that time, we chilled it for ten more minutes and ran the test again, averaging 17.3 centimeters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAyJ-UfZab4
(Click above to see a collage of all the filmed drop tests)

SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES
I'm a personal Doctor Seuss fan (did you know his birthday was yesterday?) so I am dubbing our first ball "Thing One" and our second polymer ball "Thing Two." Both Thing One and Thing Two had a whitish-clear color (at least Thing Two did before Dean showed his apparent ineptitude at catching the ball and let it bounce about the floor a ton of times and turn it gray with who-knows-what), were smooth, and both bounced to a certain degree. But Thing Two bounced higher (by about ten centimeters for each test) and was also a firm solid whereas Thing One was more of this flimsy, mucus-like flubber. Not to mention Thing Two was prone to crumble (note: DO NOT roll a sodium silicate polymer on the table, it WILL fall to pieces) while we couldn't poke a finger through Thing Two because other pieces would tear off first.

WHY DO CARBON & SILICON POLYMERIZE/CARBON & SILICON SIMILARITIES
I'll admit it, I had to Google this question (which, if you were wondering, was "what are the similarities between carbon and silicon that may contribute to their remarkable ability to polymerize?"). Carbon-based polymers are basically the organic ones while the silicon-based ones be the man-made type. From what I can tell, they both have more open, flexible molecular chains and both form covalent bonds. The polymers both create have stronger bonds and more flexible bonds and are resistant to temperatures and outside conditions.

WHEN DID YOU FIRST REALIZE THIS CHEMICAL REACTION?
I'd say we started to figure that the chemical reaction began to take place when the sodium silicate began to turn a filmy white (we couldn't tell if it was the top or bottom or all of it that turned that filmy color. We were for sure of the reaction when we started stirring the mixture and the sodium silicate began to crystalize. That was when we knew for sure.

THE MYSTERIOUS LIQUID
When Amber was forming the ball a clear and thin stream which we figured was the alcohol because it was of a similar scent (word to the wise, do NOT smell ethyl alcohol), color, and density. Had we really wanted to test if our hypothesis was true, we could've burned the liquid because we know (and the directions had warned) that alcohol burns.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST
Well, since we had to stoop so low as to take the disgusting, little ball that was left, things we noted as differences were that 1.) the ball we took had hair! (eww) 2.) Many of the balls were smaller. 3.) The average for the faux, chilled ball was 17.63. 4.) The average difference between chilled and unchilled was about 4 centimeters higher when chilled. Our results (with the real ball) was that we had about 2 centimeters lower when we had cooled it in the fridge.

The Science of Addiction

REWARD PATHWAY
Reward pathway gives pleasure for doing a act necessary for survival (eating, drinking, reproduction, etc.). It also connects in with memory so that the person will want to do the beneficial act again when possible. The neurotransmitter sent along the reward pathway is Dopamine.

* DRUGS ALTER THE BRAIN'S REWARD PATHWAY *

THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HIGH
Drugs bypass the five senses step (the five sense stimulating the reward pathway to send out Dopamine) and just go straight for the reward pathway.

THE BRAIN'S COPING MECHANISM
The two way brains tries to compensate for the drug is by reducing the amount of Dopamine receptors at the synapse. By doing so, the has "come down" they will need even more of the drug next time to get the same high. This method is referred to as "tolerance."

Pathways affected by drugs: Reward Pathway, All three Dopamine Pathways, Serotonin Pathways, GABA and Glutamine Pathway

MOUSE PARTY
Types of Drugs: Alcohol (makes GABA receptors even more inhibitory and binds to Glutamine receptors therefore preventing the Glutamine to excite the cell), Anabolic Steroids, Cocaine (clogs the transporters that take dopamine back into the cell and therefore leaves the Dopamine stuck in the synaptic cleft), Dissociative Drugs, Ecstasy (mimics serotonin and causes the serotonin transporters who take serotonin back into the cell after its done its job then starts putting serotonin out and stimulates reward pathway giving it the addictive quality) GHB & Rohypnol, Hallucinogens, Heroin (when the natural opiate is released, dopamine is allowed to be released, Heroin mimics the opiate), Inhalants, LSD (chemically is similar to serotonin and binds to the serotonin receptors. LSD may excite or inhibite serotonin receptors) Marijuana (cannabinoid--aka, anandamide--cannabinoid receptors turn off the inhibitory neurotransmitter, therefore releaseing dopamine; THC--active ingrediant in marijuana--mimics anandamide and binds to the cannabinoid receptors and allowing dopamine to be realsed), MDMA, Mehamphetamine (causes an excess release of Dopamine and overstimulates the cell)

HARDWIRING AN ADDICT
Drug users become drug addicts when areas outside the reward pathway are affected (like memory and judgment) become "hard-wire" and seeking out and taking drugs becomes a habit or even a reflex.

CHANGES LAST LONG AFTER USE
Brain activity of a cocaine addict who has been without the drug for 100 days is far lower (more than half) than that of a normal, drug-free person.

DRUG OVERDOSE FACTS
Most drug deaths occur due to uses of multiple drugs. None of the drugs by itself would be deadly, but its the fact that the user places the drug into their system by syringes that kills them. A dangerous combination is heroin and alcohol because both suppress breathing.

*The majority of deaths occur from an overdose on Heroin because heroin restricts the airways. It increases the inhibitory characteristic of GABA that causes breathing to slow and eventually stop.
*Alcohol. Two main ways to kill:
--Decreased gulatmine causes unconciousness. It can also causes breathing to slow or cease completely
--The body tries to rid itself of unabsorbed alcohol by emptying its stomach. If a person were to purge their stomach while unconscious, their could inhale the contents and drown in their own vomit or inhibit breathing.
*To overdose on nicotine, one would have to have a combination of using nicotine patches or nicotine gum and cigarettes to cause a heart attack or paralyze the muscles that control breathing.
*Cocaine can kill by heart attack, overheating (hyperthermia), and brain damage. Even a low dose of cocaine increase's once chance of a heart attack by 24 times.
*Ecstasy has similar results as cocaine in the fact that it causes heart attacks, overheating, and/or brain damage, only this does so by increasing levels of dopamine and the hormone norepinephrine. And since Ecstasy is often used in clubs where there is a crowd of people dancing together and giving off large amounts of body heat, overheating is often the main killer.