Acid Rain Lab Formation of Sulfuric Acid Materials

Acid Rain Lab

Formation of Sulfuric Acid Materials: Gas Collecting Bottle, Metal microladle, sulfur, aluminum foil, water, universal indicator, propane burner. 1. Fill the bottle ¼ full with water and add drops of universal indicator to give a medium amount of color. 2. Scoop up some yellow sulfur in the long handled microladle. 3. Use the burner to heat the sulfur until it burns with its own flame. 4. Hold the burning sulfur inside the bottle above the water and wrap the top with foil to cut off the oxygen supply. 5. Observe the color change of the liquid. 6. Write the chemical equations for the reactions that formed sulfuric acid in the experiment. 7. Rinse the liquid down the sink.

Formation of Nitric Acid Materials: ziploc bag, multi-well test plate, copper wire, wire cutter, micro-pipettes, concentrated nitric acid, universal indicator. 1. In one well add a squirt of universal indicator. 2. In another well add a snip of copper wire. 3. Place the multi-well plate in the ziploc bag. 4. Squirt nitric acid on the copper wire & immediately seal the ziploc bag. 5. Observe the reaction that occurs and the color change in the universal indicator. 6. Leave in the fume hood for the instructor to dispose of. 7. The reaction between nitric acid and copper produce nitrogen dioxide gas, NO 2. Write the reaction for NO 2 combining with water in the universal indicator to produce nitric acid, HNO 3.

Formation of Carbonic Acid Materials: large test tube, test tube rack, water, universal indicator, straw 1. Fill the test tube ½ full with water and place in rack. 2. Add a couple drops of universal indicator to give a medium color. 3. Breathe bubble into the liquid until the color stops changing. Record your observations 4. Write the reaction of carbon dioxide from your breath with water to form carbonic acid.