Investigation 3

Particles

Goal
In Particles, students investigate the
macroscopic properties of gas and develop a
particulate model to explain the invisible
interactions that account for observable
behaviors of gas

Objectives~Content

Matter is made of particles

Every substance is defined by a unique particle
Gas is matter it has mass and occupies space
Gases are composed of widely spaced individual
particles in constant motion
There is nothing between gas particles except space
Gas compresses when force is applied; gas expands
when force is withdrawn
During compression and expansion, the number
and character of particles in a sample of gas do not
change; the space between the particles changes

Objectives~Investigations
Use standardized procedures to determine the
volume of gas produced in a reaction
Use syringes to observe the effects of pressure on
gases

Objectives~Explanations
Explain the composition of gas in terms of
individual particles in constant motion
Use drawings and words to explain gas
compression and expansion

Vocabulary Terms
Particle: the smallest piece of a substance that
is still that substance
Phase: the physical appearance of a sample of
matter based on the kinetic energy of its
particles. Common phases include solid, liquid,
and gas.
Solid: a phase of matter that has definite
volume and shape. The particles of a solid are
tightly bonded and cannot move around.

Vocabulary Terms
Liquid: a phase of matter that has definite
volume but no definite shape. Particles of liquid
are loosely bonded, but can flow over and
around on another.
Gas: a phase of matter that has no definite
volume or shape. Particles of gas fly
independently through space
Compression: reduced in volume as a result
in applied pressure
Expansion: an increase in volume as a result
of pressure being withdrawn

Mystery Mixture
Recall that the mystery mixture had citric acid
(C6H8O6) and baking soda (NaHCO3). If I take
just the baking soda and add water to it, what
will happen?
If I take just the citric acid and add water to it,
what will happen?
Now that I have these two substances mixed
with water, what will happen when I mix the two
together?

Mystery Mixture
Did a reaction occur?
Yes

What is your evidence?

It fizzed and bubbled

What caused that to happen?

Gas, a new product, was produced, and the gas came
out of the liquid in bubbles

Where is the gas?

It is invisible. It escaped into the air and disappeared.

Mystery Mixture
If we wanted to study the gas in greater detail to
find out, for instance, how much is produced by
the reaction, what would you suggest?

Capturing Gas
Lets use a bottle and balloon system. Lets see if
this will help.
What do we know about the gas now that we
didnt know before this?
Approximately how much gas the reaction
produced

What are the limitations of this method of

capturing the gas?
Some might escape before we could put the
balloon on
Not accurate

Capturing Gas
Open lab
binders to page
22 How Much
Gas?
Close
attention to
detail and
precise
measurement
s are
extremely
important

Materials

100 mL of water
1 glass jar
1 rubber stopper
1 syringe
1 jar of citric acid
1 jar of baking soda
1 plastic cup
2 spoons
1 popsicle stick

Group
1
2

Results

3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Average Results (mL)

How Much Gas

Turn to page 23. Complete all questions with
your partner.

Results
What caused the syringe plunger to go up during
the reaction between citric acid and sodium
bicarbonate?
The gas being produced

Why is a syringe more useful than a balloon to

conduct this experiment?
Much more accurate to determine amount
produced

Results
What do you think might happen if you doubled the
amount of citric acid solution? Why do you think
so?
What do you think might happen if you doubled the
amount of sodium bicarbonate solution? Why do
you think so?

Air as Matter
Turn to page 24 in your lab binder
We studied the periodic table and became
familiar with the elements from which all matter
is made. The gas that formed must be made from
the elements present in the reactants. What
could the gas be?
Work on all questions on page 24 with your
partner.

Gases

Elements in Mystery Mixture

What elements could be in the gas that formed
as a result of the reaction between citric acid and
sodium bicarbonate?

Na
H
C
O

What gas might be in the bubbles?

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

The carbon dioxide we produced in our reaction
bottles is just one of a large number of gases.
Where is carbon dioxide found?
Where would you go to find some CO2 in the
natural world?

Air
What is air?
A mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and other gases

How do you know when something is a gas?

What is gas made of?
How do you know when something is matter?
Is gas matter?
How can you demonstrate that gas is matter?

Does Air Have Mass?

Recall our experiment to determine whether or
not air has mass. What did we do?

Does Air Take up Space?

Recall our experiment to determine whether or
not air takes up space. What did we do?

Compression and Expansion

Recall that air is composed of tiny particles of
different gases.
These particles have space between them, but
there is nothing in that space.
Particles are always in motion, so they are
bumping into each other all the time

Compression and Expansion

In our experiment to determine if air takes up
space, what was inside the syringe?
Air

What is that air made up of?

Particles, mostly nitrogen and oxygen

What happened to the air particles in the syringe

when we pushed on the plunger?
They got forced closer together compressed

What happened to the air particles in the syringe

when we pulled on the plunger?
They got further apart expanded

Compression and Expansion

Are there more air particles in the syringe when
it is compressed or expanded?
Neither, the number of particles didnt change

What is between air particles?

Nothing

What happened to the air particles when the

volume of air is compressed?
They got closer together (volume decreases)

What happened to the air particles when the

volume of air expands?
They got farther apart (volume increases)

Page 26
Turn your binders to page 26
Air in a Syringe.
Put a box around the bottom
two sections of Syringe A. How
many particles are there?
20

Draw the particles in Syringe

B-E
Compete questions on page 27

Air in a Syringe
Why did you draw the particles in syringe B the
way you did?
Nothing changed, so there are 20 particles in the
syringe evenly spaced

Why did you draw the particles in syringe C the

way you did?
The syringe was clamped shut, nothing else
happened, so there are still 20 particles in the
syringe evenly spaced.

Air in a Syringe
Why did you draw the particles in syringe D the
way you did?
The volume was cut in half, so the 20 particles are
now a lot closer together (compressed)

Why did you draw the particles in syringe E the

way you did?
The volume was a lot bigger, so the 20 particles
are now farther apart (expanded)

Air in a Syringe
What happens to the air particles when air
expands?
Nothing happens to the particles, they just fly
farther apart

What happens to the air particles when air is

compressed?
Nothing happens to the particles, they just get
pushed closer together

Reading
Turn to page 14 in your green book (Particles).
Read pages 14-15 and answer questions 1-3 on
page 29 in your lab binder.

Particles
What is a particle?
The smallest piece of a substance that is still that
substance

What is the different between an element and a

particle?
An element is a substance, and a particle is the
smallest piece of a substance (could be made up of
multiple elements)

Particles
How many different kinds of particles are in the
world? Explain your answer
Millions! Elements combine to make substances.
Each different way they combine form a different
particle. There are millions of ways elements can
combine to form substances, so there are millions
of different kinds of particles.

Cube Inquiry
Materials:

Syringe
Plastic tube
Binder clip
Blue cube (closed cell)
Gray cube (open cell)

Cube Inquiry
Put both cubes into the syringe barrel and push
the plunger halfway down
Put the plastic tube on the end and clip it closed
Push down on the plunger to see what happens
Pull up on the plunger to see what happens
Remember what you see

Cube Inquiry
What happened to the two foam cubes when the
air around them was compressed?
The blue cube got smaller, the gray cube stayed
the same

How do you explain the blue cube getting

smaller when the air around it is compressed?
The air outside the cube is compressed. The air
pushes on the cube, and the air in the little
bubbles inside the foam cube is compressed.

Cube Inquiry
Are there more air particles, fewer air particles, or
the same number of air particles inside the closed
cells when the cube is compressed?
The same number. Air particles cant get in or get out
because it is a closed cell.

How do you explain the gray cube staying the same

size when the air around it is compressed?
Because it is an open cell, all the bubbles inside are
connected. This allows air particles to move freely
between the syringe and the bubbles, so there is no
squishing of this cube

Cube Inquiry
Are there more air particles, fewer air particles,
or the same number of air particles inside the
open cells when the cube is compressed?
More particles, because there are more particles in
a smaller space.

Where did those extra particles inside the gray

cube come from?
From inside the syringe

Why werent there any more particles inside the

blue cube?
Because those particles couldnt get inclosed cell

Gases
Gases are composed of individual particles. The
particles are not connected to one another, and
they move through space freely, traveling in
straight lines until they run into something.
When gas particles collide with something, like
the side of a syringe or another gas particle, they
bounce off and keep going in a different
direction, but still in straight lines.

Gases
Air is the name of the mixture of gases that
forms Earths atmosphere. It is mostly nitrogen
particles (78%). The nitrogen gas particle is N2.
That means that there are two nitrogen atoms
bonded together. Mixed in with the nitrogen
particles are a lot of oxygen (O2) particles (21%),
a few argon (Ar) particles, and a few carbon
dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) particles.

Gases
Gas particles are really, really small. A cubic
centimeter of air the volume of about the size
of one of the little blue cubes we worked with
contains 27 million million million particles.
Thats 27 quintillion particles (27 with 18 zeros
behind it).
27,000,000,000,000,000,000

Gases
Particles of gas are fairly far apart. If the air
particles in this room were the size of
basketballs, they would be about 7.5 feet apart
from each other. Any they move pretty fast,
averaging about 670 mph! Every air particle
crashes into another air particle or some other
object an amazing 10 billion times per second!
What is between the particles in air? Nothing.
Void. There is just space between air particles,
no matter at all.

Gases
Because gas particles are pretty far apart, and there is
only space between them, they can be forced closer
together. When force is placed on gas, like pushing
down on the plunger of a syringe, the air particles can
be pushed together. That is called compressed air.
Why cant you push the particles until they tough?
Because the fast-moving particles push back on the
syringe plunger with a force when they hit it. As
particles in gas get pushed together, they hit the
plunger more frequently. The harder you push, the
harder they push back. Pretty soon you reach a limit to
how close together you can push the air particles.

Gases
When you stop applying force to the syringe
plunger, the air particles inside the syringe push
up on the plunger and it moves out of the syringe
barrel. It moves out until the force applied by the
air particles pushing up is equal to the force
applied by the air particles outside pushing the
plunger down.

Gases on Periodic Table

Reading
Turn to page 16 in your green book (Three
Phases of Matter)
Read pages 16-22 and answer questions 1-4 on
page 31 in your binder.

Three Phases of Matter

What crumples a plastic bubble in a syringe
when you apply force to the plunger?
Pushing the plunger reduces the volume and
forces particles together. Because the bubble is
closed, the particles inside have to get closer too

How is the motion of particles in solids, liquids,

and gases different?
Solids are very tightly bonded, so they just vibrate
Liquids are loosely bonded and can move around
Gases are not bonded and fly around quickly

Three Phases of Matter

Why does air feel hard when you push on the plunger of a
closed syringe?
Because the harder you push the syringe, the harder the air
particles push back, and eventually you reach the limit of how
far the plunger can go.

Explain why some foam cubes get smaller in a syringe and

some stay the same
When air is compressed around open-cell foam, more particles
push into the channels inside the foam. The cube doesnt
change shape, but the air inside the cube gets denser. When air
is compressed around closed-cell foam, is just pushed on the
outside. Air cant get into the closed-cell foam, and the air that
is inside gets closer together, making the cells get smaller.
When the cells get smaller, the cube gets smaller.

Assessment
Assessment is