Chemical Dominoes
Our chemical dominoes were essentially a chemical Rube Goldberg machine. The goal was to light a light on a circuit board at the end. In order to do so, as you can see in our video, we first combined sodium bicarbonate and acetic acid, which resulted in the balloon filling with carbon dioxide. The inflated balloon nudged the lever, releasing a weight, which yanks the strike pad from the match, igniting it. The match lights the bunsen burner, which burns a string coated in burning salts. The string breaks, releasing a beaker filled with concentrated cupric chloride solution, spilling into a bowl, decomposing the aluminum which is attached to the alligator clips, severing the connection and allowing the light bulb to light.
Reflection:
Our project went rather smoothly. We ran into a few obstacles, such as a precarious weight (we tied it down) and inadequate string material (we tried three different kinds), but we eventually solved all through trial and error. Our ending sequence was identical to our conceptual sketch that we created at the beginning of the project, save for a repositioning of the cup containing aqueous cupric chloride from the ring stand to a separate cup stand. Our group got along very well, we ran into no disputes and we all cooperated well too. We worked hard for the whole project, were very productive. We created an end product which I believe shows our creativity well, and completely fulfills the basis of the assignment. Were I to change anything about the project, I would probably add more steps to the sequence and make it a bit more complicated than it is now, more of a chemical Rube Goldberg machine. We could also have worked on making a more stable, less mobile platform for which to set the project on, to make less of a mess during its performance.
Our project went rather smoothly. We ran into a few obstacles, such as a precarious weight (we tied it down) and inadequate string material (we tried three different kinds), but we eventually solved all through trial and error. Our ending sequence was identical to our conceptual sketch that we created at the beginning of the project, save for a repositioning of the cup containing aqueous cupric chloride from the ring stand to a separate cup stand. Our group got along very well, we ran into no disputes and we all cooperated well too. We worked hard for the whole project, were very productive. We created an end product which I believe shows our creativity well, and completely fulfills the basis of the assignment. Were I to change anything about the project, I would probably add more steps to the sequence and make it a bit more complicated than it is now, more of a chemical Rube Goldberg machine. We could also have worked on making a more stable, less mobile platform for which to set the project on, to make less of a mess during its performance.