Yesterday, we performed our second lab of chemistry class. This time, we got to play around with dry ice. We were basically trying to compare the distance between molecules in solids and gases.
For our experiment, we started by breaking off a small piece of dry ice that was around 1 cm in diameter. We put it inside a balloon and tied it off so that none of the gas could escape. The dry ice would begin to sublimate, turning for a solid into a gas. We found that the balloon started to inflate more as the dry ice continued turning into gas. Until finally the piece of dry ice fully sublimated.
The piece of dry ice we put into the balloon had a diameter of 1 cm. When it fully sublimated, the balloon had a diameter of around 14 cm. We then calculated the volume of the balloon by dividing the diameter to get a radius of 7 cm. We then plugged the radius into the equation V=4/3πr^3. This would mean that the volume of our balloon was 1436.76 cm^3. The volume of the original piece of dry ice would be 0.52 cm^3. We divided the volume of the balloon with the volume of the piece and found that the balloon is 2763 times larger. Which means that dry ice in a gas state is 2763 times larger than dry ice in a gas state. On a molecular scale, the distance between each atom in the solid state is increased 2763 times when sublimated into the gas state.
For our experiment, we started by breaking off a small piece of dry ice that was around 1 cm in diameter. We put it inside a balloon and tied it off so that none of the gas could escape. The dry ice would begin to sublimate, turning for a solid into a gas. We found that the balloon started to inflate more as the dry ice continued turning into gas. Until finally the piece of dry ice fully sublimated.
The piece of dry ice we put into the balloon had a diameter of 1 cm. When it fully sublimated, the balloon had a diameter of around 14 cm. We then calculated the volume of the balloon by dividing the diameter to get a radius of 7 cm. We then plugged the radius into the equation V=4/3πr^3. This would mean that the volume of our balloon was 1436.76 cm^3. The volume of the original piece of dry ice would be 0.52 cm^3. We divided the volume of the balloon with the volume of the piece and found that the balloon is 2763 times larger. Which means that dry ice in a gas state is 2763 times larger than dry ice in a gas state. On a molecular scale, the distance between each atom in the solid state is increased 2763 times when sublimated into the gas state.