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- December 22nd, 2010
Chemistry Open-Ended Question Christmas Challenge!
- nqscience
- Comments: 1 Comment
OK Chemistry Teachers - here’s a little Christmas challenge to get you in the mood for teaching ‘open-ended questions’ in the new CfE-inspired Higher Chemistry!
All you have to do is to watch the video-clip above from a ‘CSI:Miami’ episode entitled ‘Dissolved’ (you’ll soon see why it got that name!) and then try to answer the open-ended question below! Remember that there are many correct answers, and the purpose is to get you to exercise your thinking skills! Have fun!
An internet discussion board on ‘Bad Chemistry’ has an entry referring to the TV drama ‘CSI: Miami’.
‘Last night’s episode showed the deceased victim floating in a swimming pool contaminated with sodium hydroxide. The concentration was high enough to eat through glass. When the CSI guys realised it was an alkali, they needed to neutralise it to retrieve the body, so they sent one of the team to the local grocery store for vinegar. They proceeded to pour the vinegar from four litre jugs into the pool, dropping the pH from 13 to exactly 7.0 – all within a few seconds, and without any stirring!’
Using your knowledge of chemistry, comment on whether the events described in CSI: Miami could take place.
Categories Higher Chemistry, Higher Sciences, Open-Ended Questions, Scottish National Qualifications, Uncategorized
The resulting solution would be slightly alkaline as the neutralisation involves a strong alkali and a weak acid which will produce an alkaline salt.
The time taken for the end point of the reaction would be more than several seconds as the acid is a weak acid and is therefore not fully dissociated. In order for all the the acid to have taken part in the reaction the H+ ions will have to dissociate as product is removed to reach equilibrium and this slows the rate of reaction down.