For this independent lab, we decided to answer the question of if we can create flammable ice.
Honestly, I wanted to do this lab only because the name sounded really interesting. The words "flammable ice" almost sound like an oxymoron. Ice is water and water is not something that can get set on fire. I really wanted to see how it could possibly happen.
This lab turned out to be really simple. Finding a pack of ice was harder than actually having to do this lab. All we had to do was pour calcium carbide onto a tray filled with ice and then ignite it with a lighter.
Despite being simple, there were many safety hazards we had to consider. Fire was involved in the reaction, so we made sure to do it outside. We also made sure to wear goggles and gloves.
Here is a video of the reaction:
Honestly, I wanted to do this lab only because the name sounded really interesting. The words "flammable ice" almost sound like an oxymoron. Ice is water and water is not something that can get set on fire. I really wanted to see how it could possibly happen.
This lab turned out to be really simple. Finding a pack of ice was harder than actually having to do this lab. All we had to do was pour calcium carbide onto a tray filled with ice and then ignite it with a lighter.
Despite being simple, there were many safety hazards we had to consider. Fire was involved in the reaction, so we made sure to do it outside. We also made sure to wear goggles and gloves.
Here is a video of the reaction:
Our lab was successful, which is exactly how I thought it would work out. The tray of ice was successfully set on fire just like the name of the lab described it. However, I did expect the fire to last longer than it did. It kept on going out and we had to keep on setting it on fire again. I thought it would have been more interesting to see the fire lasting longer and slowly consuming all of the ice.
The way this works is that when calcium carbide (CaC2) reacts with the ice (H2O) in the tray, it produces a gas called acetylene (C2H2), which is a highly flammable gas. This means that when we are setting fire to the tray of ice, we are actually setting fire to the acetylene that was being produced.
Here is the chemical equation for how calcium carbide reacts with the ice:
CaC2 + 2 H2O -> C2H2 + Ca(OH)2
This type of reaction is called a Double Replacement Reaction. The Calcium trades it's Carbide for the Hydrogen from the water, which produces acetylene. This reaction also produces a compound called Calcium Hydroxide (Ca(OH)2).
As stated before, the results of this lab were successful and desirable. This is because we did everything we were suppose to do correctly with no mistakes. The lab was also sort of hard to fail at because of how simple it was. Most importantly, we followed all of the safety rules to minimize our chances of getting hurt by the fire.
I thought I did really well in this lab. I was the one who wrote the lab's proposal. I also worked efficiently to find all the materials and set everything up. I made sure to learn about everything that was going on in the reaction so I could explain it to my group members if they had questions.
For this lab, I worked with Franky and Angel. We worked really well together. We were able to complete this lab together efficiently and successfully. No arguments took place between our group because we were able to communicate with each other very well.
I am not exactly sure there was anything we could really change about this lab to get better results. Maybe we could have use more calcium carbide or more ice and it would have looks more fantastic. I would want to work with my group again because of how efficient we were in this lab. However, I would not like to continue lab because there are not anyways to really continue it. If there were, I would not really want to honestly.
In this lab, I learned how exactly ice can be set on fire and what is occurring in the reaction. Besides that, I did not honestly learn any new skills or gain any wisdom. I did however improve my skills as a safe and responsible person by practicing all the different safety rules for this lab.