Chemical Reaction & Heat Lab

Right before writing my hypothesis, I realized how heated materials released more energy. This extra energy I believed would add to water's solubility of alka seltzer. Therefore, my hypothesis was that the hotter the water, the quicker the alka seltzer would dissolve, because of the higher amounts of energy.

I feel that the experiment fully supported my hypothesis, showing that the hotter the water, the quicker the reaction will occur. The alka seltzer, at 50 degrees C dissolved in 23 seconds. The alka seltzer at 24 degrees C dissolved in 39 seconds. Finally, the alka seltzer at 3 degrees C dissolved in 116 seconds, or 1:56.

Graph detailing the curve associated with temperature (x-axis) and time to dissolve (y-axis) corrrelation

I created this equation in three steps. First of all, I realized that the scatter plot of the points could assume the position of an exponential, quadratic, or logarithmic equation. Second, I used the x-axis as the temperature of the water before the alka seltzer was dissolved, and the y-axis as the time, in seconds, that it took to dissolve. Finally, I used a handy application on my TI-84 Silver Plus calculator that would accept these points and use them to create an equation. After fiddling with different types of equations, I realized the exponential model was the most effective. The equation is that y=119*(.96^x). Tomorrow in class, I would like to choose a random point on this axis and check my model's accuracy.

The hot beaker's high amounts of alka seltzer being released
The room temperature beaker's average amount of activity

The cold beaker's little activity

Along with the expected addition of the extra energy from the heated water, the alka seltzer, in the hot beaker, constantly shifted positions and was very jittery. Then, the other two alka seltzer's acted expectantly less jittery and full of energy.

I wonder if the makers of alka seltzer have investigated in adverse affects when taking alka seltzer while having a very high fever, like 105 degrees F. I think that this would happen due to the extremely quick release of these bubbles, which might agitate the stomach.