My Science Inquiry by Mason Bennett https://padlet.com/m_bennett1/uizola2xk3m By: Mason Bennett en-us 2019-02-15 17:09:33 UTC 2026-01-04 13:37:04 UTC hello@padlet.com Forming a Question or hypothesis m_bennett1 https://padlet.com/m_bennett1/uizola2xk3m/wish/332806257 I have been interested in Alka-Seltzer ever since I was introduced to it as a medicine, mostly because it looked a lot more interesting than pills or liquids.  With a simple plop plop into some water and all of a sudden it seem to be boiling!  So, last year I did a science inquiry that involved Alka-Seltzer tablets and the pressure that is created from the CO2 produced.  This year I'm working with Alka-seltzer again but the project is different because I'm testing to explore how fast the tablet will dissolve in different temperatures of water.  Normally, when matter is heated, the molecules or atoms vibrate more quickly. When this occurs, the space between the molecules or atoms increases. The change in motion can cause spacing differences in relation to the particles which in turn determines the state of the matter of the substance.  Solids, liquids and gases will all expand when enough  heat is added.  To explore this chemical reaction, with Alka-Seltzer which I already know how it reacts with normal room temperature water, I'm going to need Alka-seltzer, water[hot, cold, and room temperature], a beaker, and ice [to make the water cold].  In a chemical reaction, bonds between atoms are broken and rearranged to form new bonds.  So in this chemical reaction the acids in the Alka-seltzer are mixed with bicarbonates, which will causes bubbles or carbon dioxide to be released.  My suspicion based on this concept, is that the Alka-Seltzer will devolve or react much more quickly in hotter temperatures.

Hypothesis
If I drastically change the temperature of water, that I'm adding an Alka-Seltzer tablet to, the resulting chemical reaction will occur much more swiftly in hotter temperatures and much slower in colder temperatures.  ]]> 2019-02-19 17:15:45 UTC https://padlet.com/m_bennett1/uizola2xk3m/wish/332806257 Designing the Investigation m_bennett1 https://padlet.com/m_bennett1/uizola2xk3m/wish/334507705 1. Get all supplies.[Alka-Seltzer,  water[hot, cold/ice water, and room temp], beaker, and stopwatch].
2. Fill the beaker with 250 ml's of the control, room temp water.  
3. Take the stop watch and get it ready to time.  
4. Open the Alka-Seltzer packet and take one tablet from it.  
5. Take the Alka-Seltzer tablet and drop it in the water while at the same time start the stopwatch.  
6. Record observations.  
7. After the tablet stops dissolving stop the stop watch and record the time.  
8. Empty and clean the beaker for the next test.  
9. Repeat 2-8 steps 2 more times
10. After you have done the science experiment 2 more times repeat 2-9 but with the first variable hot water instead of room temp.  
11. After you have done the science experiment with hot water repeat 2-9 but with the second variable ice water.  
12. After done with the experiments clean up your mess and put your supplies away.  ]]> 2019-02-24 02:27:35 UTC https://padlet.com/m_bennett1/uizola2xk3m/wish/334507705 Data Tablet and Graph m_bennett1 https://padlet.com/m_bennett1/uizola2xk3m/wish/334647834 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1skf_BYdFQaJFZtwfxYstcSdWaR4fZAG0PoYGzInGUOM/edit?usp=sharing]]> 2019-02-24 23:51:08 UTC https://padlet.com/m_bennett1/uizola2xk3m/wish/334647834 Written Observation m_bennett1 https://padlet.com/m_bennett1/uizola2xk3m/wish/334651591 Control: Room Temp
  • Alka-Seltzer is on it's side at the bottom of the beaker.  
  • After about 10 seconds the tablet went to the top.  
  • Bubbles covering the whole top.  
  • Orange [Because of the type of tablet]
  • Looks like cream soda.  

Variable 1: Hot water 
  • Tablet stayed on the top.  
  • Smells good.  
  • Bubbles on top/lot more fiercely.  
  • Lots of bubbles at once.  (molecules separating rapidly) 
  • See through bubbles on the bottom.  

Variable 2:Cold ice water
  • slowly bubbling.  (molecules separating slowly)
  • Alka-Seltzer sank to the bottom.  
  • Kept turning/ flipping.  (very slowly reacting)
  • Fizzy.  
  • The last trial the Alka-Seltzer got stuck on the ice.   
]]> 2019-02-25 00:23:02 UTC https://padlet.com/m_bennett1/uizola2xk3m/wish/334651591 Conclusion m_bennett1 https://padlet.com/m_bennett1/uizola2xk3m/wish/334705565 In this experiment I set up a way to determine if the temperature of water (solvent) affected how fast an Alka-Seltzer tablet would dissolve.  In my hypothesis, I said that the reaction rate would increase in hot and decrease in cold because of how heat affects the molecules in relation to how fast they move apart.  The experiment showed me that I was correct in my hypothesis, the higher the temperature of the solvent, the faster the reaction. However, while the ice water was as expected very slow taking minutes to dissolve the Alka-Seltzer (reactants), surprisingly the hot water was only slightly faster than warm water, (approximately 9 seconds as seen on the graph). I had expected to see more of a drastic separation here than just less than ten seconds.   Molecules are still separating chemically due to the addition of the H2O, however the reaction is slowed greatly by cold water. The Atoms separate faster in warmer water, but the time elapsed for the physical change is less drastic between warm and hot than warm and cold water. 
In my experiment there were 2 faults.  There was one in the room temperature trial and one with the ice water trail.  In the room temperature trail,  someone accidentally crushed the tablet in half and for the cold water trail, the tablet got stuck on top of the ice but eventually sunk to the bottom.  I did not feel that either of these mistakes affected the results much if any.  Obviously, physically separating the tablet will speed up the process of dissolution, but the physical separation was only very minor and the corresponding results were also minimal.
In this experiment I learned about how the temperature of molecules can change objects, and that the faster the molecules move the more space is created between them thus causing a swifter change int the physical properties of an object.  Besides the Alka-Seltzer breaking down faster, I can also think of two other similar examples that I have experienced in my everyday life. Like how high a ball bounces when left out on a summer day. Or how fast the trunk on the car opens when it is hot out.  Both have to do with the molecules and their spacing. A ball left in the sun will expand and as the temperature decreases at night it will deflate.  The hydraulics of the cars trunk lift the trunk door quickly in heat and sometimes not at all in cold temperatures. 
Another idea I had while doing the cold experiment is if the tablets would dissolve entirely if the water was very close to the freezing point (32 degrees). I also wondered what effect boiling water would have on the tablets. ]]> 2019-02-25 05:30:55 UTC https://padlet.com/m_bennett1/uizola2xk3m/wish/334705565