Class response

Recently in class we have started a lab where we have to shoot a cork out of a test tube and hit the window 3 times in a row. To do this we must put vinegar and baking-soda in the test tube and cork it. As the pressure builds up the CO2 expands, it will grow too great and shoot the cork out the end. To hit the wall you have to aim the test tube correctly and have enough pressure to shoot the cork as far as the window is. We are doing this lab so that we can learn about chemical reactions between different chemicals and chemical change, which is when an objects chemical properties or chemical makeup change such as when you burn wood and the ash is left. We are also learning about physical change, which is when an objects physical properties change but no new chemicals are formed, such as when you boil water its still there but in a different phase and no new chemicals have formed. It is still H2O. I think that this is helpful because it helps us learn about chemical reactions and it will be a gateway to new aspects of science and will help us in the future in science class and when people build future vehicles. Two pieces of other information relating to this topic are other experiments relating to baking soda and vinegar: on the Arm and Hammer website their is a project where you put baking soda in one tube and vinegar and dishwasher soap in the other and mix the tubes and the ball rides to the top of the one tube. Another experiment is where you take a film canister and put the inside cap on the ground and fill tightly with baking soda. Than put vinegar in the main part of the film canister. Finally put the main part on tight and step back and you'll have a film canister rocket.

TV Show EXTRA CREDIT

 Two days ago I was watching Myth-busters, and I noticed something interesting that I saw. When they shot the hot water heater they said their estimates of the hight and speed of the rocket. The rocket went about 500-ft. and when it came down the whole bottom was shot off like the cork shooting out of a test tube lab, except the cork stays behind (the bottom of the water heater is the cork the rest is the test tube). Also the chemical reaction was just the expanding of pressure instead of the CO2 pressure created by mixing baking soda and vinegar. They tested the this in California. I think this is good because this could be a real danger if you plug up all the pressure release valves on your water heater or they fail. also it proved that the heater could go through two-stories plus a roof so if this hit you bye bye. You get a free ride about 500-ft up but you probably will not make it. In conclusion many people can use this advice to help make safer water heaters that just burst lightly outward so that only the water is released and not shooting the heater upward.