Clean It Up - Project Blog

Summary:

In the process of neutralization, a substance that is either acidic or basic becomes neutral. This is called "neutralization." Acids and bases are like "opposites." Some properties of acids are that they are sour, and when put to a litmus paper test, the paper will turn red, meaning the substance is acidic. Properties of bases are that they are slippery, and they will turn litmus paper blue. Litmus paper is used to determine how acidic or basic a substance is.

If we are trying to neutralize an acid, we could do this using a base. Universal indicator can be used to determine when the substance has become neutral. We can do this by comparing it to the pH scale. On the pH scale, there are 14 numbers. If a substance is from 0-7, it is acidic. The colors for acidity on the pH scale are red, orange, and yellow. If the substance is from 7-14, this means that it is a base. The colors for bases on the pH scale are blue, dark green, and purple. If a substance is exactly 7, this means it is neutral, which would appear as light green on the pH scale.

An example of neutralization would be by using baking soda solution as your base, and vinegar as your acid. Using indicator to show when the substance is neutral would also help when attempting to determine how much of a base it takes to neutralize an acid. As you add different amounts of baking soda solution to vinegar, you will see that the color changes, and so does the number on the pH scale. Adding indicator does not cause a substance to become more or less basic or acidic because indicator and litmus paper are neutral.

Backward-Looking

What process did you go through to produce this piece?

To produce this piece, there were two parts that we needed to complete and turn in. In the first submission, we created an infographic about a specific chemical that was in our "spill." Our spill was warheads sour candy, so for our chemical, we chose to talk about malic acid. In the first part of the project, we also created a news story of how our spill came to happen. This could be creative, or something that would realistically happen. In the second portion of the project, we created an experimental planning worksheet or lab report page where we prepared what we would do in our experiment, as well as the conclusions of the experiment. After, we also created a newscast or a news report which tells us everything that we did in the project, including our efforts to clean the spill.

Inward-Looking

How do you feel about this piece of work? What parts of it do you particularly like? Dislike? Why? What did/do you enjoy about this piece or work?

I feel good about this piece of work because we took a lot of time in school and at home to complete it to our best effort. I particularly enjoyed when we were creating our news articles because we got to be creative and make it look realistic. I enjoy how we were allowed to plan and create our own experiment and conduct it however we thought we were going to clean up the spill because we learned how to plan and carry out an investigation. One thing that I did not like the most about our piece of work is that we were rushing towards the due date because we did not plan our time as well as we could have.

Outward-Looking

Did you do your work the way other people did theirs? In what ways did you do it differently? In what ways was your work or process similar?

Our work was different from the way other groups did theirs because we all had different techniques to clean up the spill. We also had different materials and neutralization solutions. Since each group planned their own investigation, each group did theirs a little differently. Some ways that our process was similar was that some other groups were also trying to neutralize their spill, and other groups also used Tide detergent as their base or neutralization solution.

Forward-Looking

What would you change if you had a chance to do this piece over again?

If I had a chance to do this piece over again, I would plan our time and due dates for when we would complete various different parts of the project because we were really rushing on the last day to work on the project. If we planned our time better, we would have been able to add more components to our project and complete it to our best effort. Another thing I would do is ask about other groups' techniques and what their experiment is so that we could get inspiration on what to do and how other teams are completing the assignment.