Quantitative experiments for high school chemistry

Abstract

Scope and Nature of Report: The purpose of this report was to prepare a collection of quantitative experiments for high school chemistry that are interesting, capable of being done with simple readily available apparatus, and involve important concepts of chemistry. A check of laboratory manuals or high school chemistry shows an almost complete lack of quantitative experiments. A major difficulty has been the finding of experiments that are both reliable and capable of being done with simple equipment in a class period. The experiments were developed with a goal of causing the students to look for cause-effect relationships in situations in which there are several variables to be controlled.

Findings and Results: Twelve experiments were developed. Several of them are open ended in that they raise other questions that the class or individuals may wish to pursue further. The experiments deal with the following topics: size of a molecule, cannon ion effect on solubility, heat of reaction, determination of molecular weight by freezing point depression, determination of simplest formula, ionization of a weak acid effect of concentration on rate of reaction, vitamin 6 content of fruit juices, determination of molecular weight of a volatile liquid, combining volumes of gases, and effect of amount of catalyst on reaction rate.