Taking+Responsible+Risks

=Taking Responsible Risks=

__Entry One__

During the lab rotations earlier this year, one of the tasks was monitoring the reaction between magnesium and hydrochloric acid. From this, we decided to test what was the gas that was produced. We had a hunch that it was hydrogen, so the way to test for it was to light a splint while building the gas up. When we put the splint at the mouth of the test tube, if the gas ignites violently, then it should be hydrogen.

To get enough gas, we put several strips of magnesium in hydrochloric acid to speed up net production of the gas. Alex put his finger over the mouth to seal the test tube and allow the gas to build up. In the mean time, we prepared matches and a splint. We light the match and burnt the splint so it was glowing. To get enough gas, we waited until Alex couldn't keep his finger on the opening because the internal pressure was too much. When we were ready, we held the splint close to the mouth, about 5 centimeters away. From there, Alex lifted his finger and I quickly put the glowing splint to the mouth of the test tube. What resulted was a very short, quick burst of flame and a loud popping noise. From this, we can conclude that the gas combusted extremely quickly, meaning it was most probably hydrogen. Were it to be oxygen, then the splint would begin glowing very brightly, possibly igniting into a larger flame. The key observation here was the the loud pop and the flame.

At first I was wary of doing this, since I felt there might be a slight risk of burning and other accidents abound. However, you can't fully learn about science without physically experimenting, so going about this experiment was pretty interesting and fun. If I can apply this to other experiments, being willing to go beyond what's required, and exploring unknown things, my learning experience will be more well rounded.

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