What is chemical dominoes?
This project reflected almost the exact same thing with the Rube Goldberg machine we did in Freshman year. the difference was that for this project we incorporated chemical reactions to the project. That would intentionally burn/explode/change color/and expand things eventually getting to the finale or the end chemical reaction.
reactions in our project
Balloon- Lever Experiment:
Here, the reaction of two substances caused the inflation of the balloon: acetic acid (HC2H3O2) and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3). Their more familiar terms are vinegar and baking soda. These two products combine and form three products: Sodium acetate (NaC2H3O2 aq), water (H2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2). The carbon dioxide gas is what causes the balloon to inflate and rise so that it can hit the lever. The reaction is both a double replacement and decomposition reaction.
Formula:
NaHCO3 + HC2H3O2 --> NaC2H3O2 + H20 + CO2
Double Displacement Reaction (clear to yellow):
As can be seen from the title, this reaction was a double displacement reaction, in which the combination of Lead (II) Nitrate and Potassium Iodide results in a bright yellow precipitate, which is formed by the lead iodide formed. In this double displacement reaction, the anions and cations switch partners, forming a solid precipitate.
Formula:
2KI(aq) + Pb(NO3)2 --> PBI2 + 2KNO3 ,
Elephant Toothpaste:
For Elephant Toothpaste, we combined 3% Hydrogen Peroxide, dry yeast, warm water, dish soap, and green food coloring. The reaction is caused by the rapid decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, which leads to the production of steam, oxygen gas, and energy. The free iodine ion produced by the hydrogen peroxide is the catalyst, and because the reaction gives off heat, it is exothermic.
Formula:
2H2O (aq) --> 2H2O (g) + O + energy
Here, the reaction of two substances caused the inflation of the balloon: acetic acid (HC2H3O2) and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3). Their more familiar terms are vinegar and baking soda. These two products combine and form three products: Sodium acetate (NaC2H3O2 aq), water (H2O), and carbon dioxide (CO2). The carbon dioxide gas is what causes the balloon to inflate and rise so that it can hit the lever. The reaction is both a double replacement and decomposition reaction.
Formula:
NaHCO3 + HC2H3O2 --> NaC2H3O2 + H20 + CO2
Double Displacement Reaction (clear to yellow):
As can be seen from the title, this reaction was a double displacement reaction, in which the combination of Lead (II) Nitrate and Potassium Iodide results in a bright yellow precipitate, which is formed by the lead iodide formed. In this double displacement reaction, the anions and cations switch partners, forming a solid precipitate.
Formula:
2KI(aq) + Pb(NO3)2 --> PBI2 + 2KNO3 ,
Elephant Toothpaste:
For Elephant Toothpaste, we combined 3% Hydrogen Peroxide, dry yeast, warm water, dish soap, and green food coloring. The reaction is caused by the rapid decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, which leads to the production of steam, oxygen gas, and energy. The free iodine ion produced by the hydrogen peroxide is the catalyst, and because the reaction gives off heat, it is exothermic.
Formula:
2H2O (aq) --> 2H2O (g) + O + energy
what happened in our experiment
Our chemical dominoes started with a set up of dominoes; smaller ones knocked into medium ones, which knocked into the large ones. When the biggest domino came down, it fell on a lever, which pushed up a balloon. This was our first chemical reaction. The balloon then dropped in vinegar into the beaker, causing a reaction that resulted in the balloon to rise, leading it to push up a lever. This resulted in the large marble going through the marble track we built. As you can see, there is a divide in the track. Because smaller marbles are blocking one of the tracks, the large marble goes down the other one and simultaneously activates the small marbles. The large marble, at the end of the track, pushes some potassium iodide crystals into the lead nitrate liquid in the watch glass, which results in a bright yellow precipitate being formed. The marbles on the other track fall into the cup of the pulley system, which pushes up and tilts the other cup. A ramp holding a yeast mixture is tilted by the rising cup, therefore dropping the mixture into the Erlenmeyer flask, activating the elephant toothpaste reaction.
reflection
In this experiment I worked in a group of three people. The group consisted of Michael Carbonaro, Amritha Somasekar, and I. I thought that our group worked very well together and I would love to work with them again. we started by taking notes on the subject which I have to say was not the most exhilarating experience of the project. Next I started to draw out what we wanted to do and how we wanted to plan