In this lab, the main question is, what is the ideal ratio of Alka-Seltzer to water that will produce the longest canister flight time? In the first experiment, we asked, what amount of water will produce the longest canister flight time? In the second experiment, the question was, what amount of Alka-Seltzer will produce the longest canister flight time? The main reason this lab was split into two parts was because there can only be one independent variable per lab, therefore, the water and Alka-Seltzer testing had to be done separately. In the canister, the Alka Seltzer contains Citric Acid and Sodium Bicarbonate. Then, when triggered with water, this transferred into Water, Carbon Dioxide, and Sodium Citrate. This forms the chemical equation
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This consequently is because the water triggers the reaction of the Alka-Seltzer and too much water causes premature release of the capsule as well as extra weight to be carried after launch. Moreover, the trend can be seen through the data where the trials all show that the smaller the amount of water, the higher the canister flight time. Also, ½ a tablet of Alka- Seltzer is enough for the water to react without having a lot of excess. This ratio works when increasing the amount because the amount of ‘trigger’ is sufficient for the Alka-Seltzer. My first hypothesis was incorrect because the water wasn’t known before to trigger the reaction, but as one of the reactants. The new knowledge that was presented rejected this claim. However, increasing the amount of Alka-Seltzer does give more chemicals into the reaction, allowing for more ‘boom’ proving the second hypothesis correct. The main inaccuracy of the results would be caused by the visual and audio ‘lag time’ between the actual occurrence and the reaction of the mind to start the timer. We could change the experiment to use a weight based timer or by taking more testing time to explore finer amounts of water and Alka-Seltzer. This could also be improved by a more accurate way to split the tablets to make sure each piece was the actual designated
This consequently is because the water triggers the reaction of the Alka-Seltzer and too much water causes premature release of the capsule as well as extra weight to be carried after launch. Moreover, the trend can be seen through the data where the trials all show that the smaller the amount of water, the higher the canister flight time. Also, ½ a tablet of Alka- Seltzer is enough for the water to react without having a lot of excess. This ratio works when increasing the amount because the amount of ‘trigger’ is sufficient for the Alka-Seltzer. My first hypothesis was incorrect because the water wasn’t known before to trigger the reaction, but as one of the reactants. The new knowledge that was presented rejected this claim. However, increasing the amount of Alka-Seltzer does give more chemicals into the reaction, allowing for more ‘boom’ proving the second hypothesis correct. The main inaccuracy of the results would be caused by the visual and audio ‘lag time’ between the actual occurrence and the reaction of the mind to start the timer. We could change the experiment to use a weight based timer or by taking more testing time to explore finer amounts of water and Alka-Seltzer. This could also be improved by a more accurate way to split the tablets to make sure each piece was the actual designated