Introduction
A chemical reaction is a process in which one or more substances as the reactants are converted to one or more different substances as the products. A chemical reaction repositions the constituent atoms of the reactants to generate different elements as products (Encyclopdia Britannica, 2017) Reactions take place when particles collide with a certain amount of energy. The minimum amount of energy needed for the particles to react is called activation energy and is different for each reaction (The free Dictionary By Farlex, 2017). There are many factors that can change the rate of reaction and they include temperature, concentration and the Surface Area. The temperature changes as the higher it is, the faster the rate of reaction. At a higher temperature, particles gain more energy. This causes them to move faster and is more likely to collide with others (The Physics Classroom, 2017). While the higher the concentration of a dissolved reactant, the rate of reaction becomes faster. This also the more particles in a higher concentration creates more collisions. (Jim Clark, 2002). Any type of reaction that involves a solid only takes place at the surface of the solid. If the solid is split into several pieces, the surface area increases meaning that there is a bigger range for reactant particles to collide with (BBC, 2014). The aim of this task was to design and conduct an experimental investigation of the surface area that impacts the rate at which a chemical reaction proceeds. It is hypothesised that if two bath bombs are used while one of them is crushed and the other one is not that the crushed one will react first because the gas has been released from the bath bomb allowing it to liquefy quicker.
Materials and Methods In this experimental investigation the goggles, 2x bath bombs, beaker, pestle bowl, crusher, stop watch and 2x ice-cream containers were collected. The 2 ice-cream containers were then filled with 2800ml of water by using the beaker. One of the bath bombs were then put in the pestle bowl and crushed. The crushed bath bomb and full bath bomb were then dropped into a container at the same time while the stop watch then started.
Results
The result of the experiment was that the crushed bath bomb started to bubble and overloaded in the container while the full bath bomb slowly started to bubble. The crushed bath bomb fully dissolved within 17 seconds and 60 milliseconds while the full bath bomb lasted 31 minutes 22 seconds and 74 milliseconds.
Test 1
Minutes
Seconds
Milliseconds
Full Bath Bomb
31
22
74
Crushed Bath bomb
17
60
Discussion
The hypothesis was found to be correct by looking back at the results which showed that the crushed bath bomb finished earlier than the full bath bomb. The results and photos proved that the crushed bath bomb reacted quicker and was more effective as the gases from inside the bath bomb have been released and the gas inside the full bath bomb was not. T...
