Hydrogen-Oxygen Reaction Lab
Students experiment with chemical reactionsCopyright https://www.flickr.com/photos/92416586@N05/12188601914
This lab exercise exposes students to a potentially new alternative energy source—hydrogen gas. Student teams are given a hydrogen generator and an oxygen generator. They balance the chemical equation for the combustion of hydrogen gas in the presence of oxygen. Then they analyze what the equation really means. Two hypotheses are given, based on what one might predict upon analyzing the chemical equation. Once students have thought about the process, they are walked through the experiment and shown how to collect the gas in different ratios. By trial and error, students determine the ideal combustion ratio. For both volume of explosion and kick generated by explosion, they qualitatively record results on a 0-4 scale. Then, students evaluate their collected results to see if the hypotheses were correct and how their results match the theoretical equation. Students learn that while hydrogen will most commonly be used for fuel cells (no combustion situation), it has been used in rocket engines (for which a tremendous combustion occurs).
Many engineered systems have chemical components that react to create new products, release energy or change the state of materials. Engineers who design combustion engines, fuel cells, batteries, medicines, cosmetics, processed foods and many other products, calculate and control chemical reactions as part of their work. As part of their design efforts, chemical engineers, materials engineers, environmental engineers, food engineers, and others, perform chemical reaction calculations and test their correctness in the lab.
Oxygen and hydrogen combine to produce water as well as release energy. Engineers apply this energy-releasing reaction concept to solve real-life problems, such as hydrogen-fueled rockets and fuel cells that generate electrical power for vehicles and homes. Unlike traditional hydrocarbon fuels, hydrogen and oxygen do not produce any polluting byproducts, making it an alternative renewable source of energy. Many engineers are developing technologies to efficiently exploit the potential of hydrogen energy.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Balance chemical equations.
- Safely follow instructions and correctly use laboratory equipment.
- Use qualitative data to explain the validity of a given hypothesis.
- Explain relationships between the tested variables and observed results.
- Explain the importance of following strict laboratory procedures to obtain desired results and keep everyone safe.