Kylie Reynolds Hae Sol Kim Science Fair December 14, 2011 DISAPPEARING SALT

ABSTRACT Calcium chloride is the salt that is used on roads to melt ice during the freezing cold winter months. The fact that calcium chloride is effective is easily proved, but the extent to which the salt is effective is not so easy to conclude. Could it be possible that the purity of the ice on the roads would affect the results the salt would produce? What about the remaining salt on the road that could risk the integrity of the pavement? By dissolving calcium chloride in water with different purities (tap water and distilled water), the answers to these questions were addressed. Converting the dissolved amount of calcium chloride from grams to moles and calculating the Molarity of the solutions allowed for the results to be measureable and comparable. The hypothesis that pure distilled water would dissolve more calcium chloride than impure tap water was supported by the results when it was observed that in every trial the distilled water was at least 0.2 M higher than the tap water, meaning that more salt was dissolved in the distilled water. The results of this experiment could be practical in life when taking into account ice on the road. Since the water in the ice over roads is obviously contaminated by foreign objects, a smaller amount could be used to make sure everything is dissolved and not too much is left over to endanger the integrity of the pavement.

TABLE OF C ONTENTS QUESTION, VARIABLES, HYPOTHESIS , AND BACKGROUND RESEARCH MATERIALS AND PROCEDURE DATA ANALYSIS CONCLUSION AND EVALUATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND WORKS CITED 4 5 7 9 11

QUESTION How does the purity of water affect the solubility of calcium chloride? VARIABLES Independent variable:Purity of water (tap vs. distilled) Dependent variable: Solubility of calcium chloride Controlled variables: A. Amount of calcium chloride B. Filtering technique and materials C. Amount and temperature of distilled water D. Amount and temperature of tap water HYPOTHESIS Since impurities in water are known to decrease the amount of solute that is dissolved, it is logical to assume that the solubility of calcium chloride in distilled water which is free of impurities is going to be higher than the solubility of calcium chloride in tap water which has various substances contaminating it. BACKGROUND RESEARCH Calcium chloride, while seemingly harmless has dangerous side effects. Acute exposure to calcium chloride may cause irritation if ingested or nausea and diarrhea if large amounts are ingested. Skin contact with calcium chloride may result in irritation or dermatitis. If in contact with the eye, calcium chloride could cause mild eye irritation.1

Cited: Hoskin, Sam. "Material Safety Data Sheet Calcium Chloride." Midland Tool and Supply. MSDS Central Database, 7 Sept. 1995. 20 Nov. 2011. <http://www.midlandtool.com/MSDS/Calcium%20Chloride.pdf>

MATERIALS Tap water Distilled water Two 30 mL Beakers Glass Funnel Calcium chloride (CaCl2) Stop watch

Digital Balance with weigh boats Coffee filter/filter paper with cup PROCEDURE

1. Label the two beakers as beaker A and beaker B. Place beaker A on the right side and beaker B on the left side of a table. 2. Using the graduated cylinder, carefully measure 10 mL of distilled water. Pour the distilled water into beaker A. 3. Using the graduated cylinder, carefully measure 10 mL of tap water. Pour the tap water into beaker B. 4. Place one weigh boat on the digital balance. Zero out the weigh boat and carefully measure 8.0 grams of calcium chloride into the weigh boat. Repeat that process so that there are two weigh boats containing 8.0 grams of calcium chloride. 5. Prepare two filters by placing coffee filters (or filter paper) inside of glass funnels. Sit the glass funnels on top of cups to prevent messes. Be sure to measure each dry filter paper to calculate mass of undissolved calcium chloride later on. 6. Empty the contents of one weigh boat into beaker A. 7. Time ninety seconds. 8. After the time has passed, empty the contents of beaker A into one of the filters. The coffee filter should catch all of the undissolved calcium chloride while allowing the rest of the solution to pass through into the cup.
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9. Set filter aside to dry so that excess water does not affect final weight of undissolved calcium chloride. 10. After allowing time to dry, place the filter on the digital balance. Subtract the weight of the dry filter from the given mass to get the amount of undissolved calcium chloride. 11. Repeat steps six to ten using beaker B in place of beaker A. 12. Repeat all steps four more times to achieve a total of five trials.

DATA ANALYSIS Raw Data Collected from Experiment Purity of Water (tap Mass of coffee filter vs. distilled) (g) Tap Distilled Tap Distilled Tap Distilled Tap Distilled Tap Distilled 0.9 g 0.8 g 0.9 g 0.9 g 0.7 g 0.8 g 0.9 g 1.0 g 0.9 g 0.9 g

Trial

1 2 3 4 5

Mass of coffee filter with undissolved CaCl2 (g) 3.6 g 3.1 g 5.1 g 4.3 g 4.0 g 3.1 g 4.1 g 4.0 g 4.6 g 4.2 g

Observations When the calcium chloride was dissolved into either type of water the temperature rose rapidly. However, the temperature was not measured as it did not affect the results of what was being tested. The distilled water solutions were easier to filter than the tap water solutions. The pH level was tested for both purities and the pH of the distilled water was 7 while the pH of the tap water was more basic at around 8. Calculations Mass of dissolved CaCl2 (g) = Initial mass of CaCl2 (g) [mass of coffee filter with undissolved CaCl2 (g) mass of coffee filter (g)] Solubility of CaCl2 (in Molarity) = mass of dissolved CaCl2 (mol) / amount of water (L) 1.0 mol CaCl2 = 110.9 g CaCl2 10 mL of water = 0.01 L of water

Trial

1 2 3 4 5 Average

Calculated Data from Raw Data Purity of Water Mass of Mass of (tap vs. distilled) Dissolved CaCl2 Dissolved CaCl2 (in grams) (in moles) Tap 5.3 g 4.8*10-2 mol Distilled 5.7 g 5.1*10-2 mol Tap 3.8 g 3.4*10-2 mol Distilled 4.6 g 4.1*10-2 mol Tap 4.7 g 4.2*10-2 mol Distilled 5.7 g 5.1*10-2 mol Tap 4.8 g 4.3*10-2 mol Distilled 5.0 g 4.5*10-2 mol Tap 4.3 g 3.9*10-2 mol Distilled 4.7 g 4.2*10-2 mol Tap 4.6 g 4.1*10-2 mol Distilled 5.1 g 4.6*10-2 mol

Solubility of CaCl2 (in Molarity) 4.8 M 5.1 M 3.4 M 4.1 M 4.2 M 5.1 M 4.3 M 4.5 M 3.9 M 4.2 M 4.1 M 4.6 M

Solubilty of CaCl2
Distilled Water Tap Water Difference (Distilled - Tap) 6 Solubility of CaCl2 (M) 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 Trial 4 5 Avg Expected Occurence 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0

Solubility of CaCl2
Distilled Water Tap Water

2.6 3.1 3.6 4.1 4.6 5.1 5.6 6.1 Solubility (M)

CONCLUSION Based on the results it is logical to conclude that the solubility of calcium chloride is higher in distilled water than it is in tap water. The hypothesis that the distilled water would dissolve more calcium chloride than the tap water was supported by the data from the experiment since in each of the trials the amount of calcium chloride dissolved in distilled water resulted in a solubility that was at least 0.2 M higher than the solubility of calcium chloride that was produced with the tap water. The averages reinforce that the hypothesis was correct because the average solubility of calcium chloride with distilled water was 0.5 M higher than the average solubility of calcium chloride with tap water. EVALUATION Although the procedures set up minimalized the risk of outside variables affecting the results of the experiment in theory, there were a few elements that could not have been controlled. Two such factors that worked together to adversely affect the results of the experiment were the materials used combined with the time limitations. Even though the coffee filter worked well for the purpose it was needed for, the time limitations did not allow the filter to dry completely. Unfortunately, there was not enough time allotted for more time to dry out the filters so the remaining water was able to affect the final measurements taken on the balance. Another factor that adversely affected the results of the experiment was the limited amount of materials available. The digital balance used was shared between multiple people which, when someone forgot to rinse after use, sometimes resulted in foreign objects remaining on the surface that affected the measurements taken.

In retrospect there were several steps that could have improved the procedures. In order to deal with the remaining wetness on the coffee filters a heat source similar to a hair dryer could have been applied to evaporate the remaining liquid soaked in. To counterbalance the shared use of the digital balance, additional cleansing steps should have been taken. Instead of using the assumption that everyone was cleaning up after themselves, there should have been precautions in case someone did not. Rinsing off the digital balance before every use would have only taken seconds and would have made the results more accurate. Although it did not affect the results of the experiment, the experiment could have greatly benefitted if the purity of the water was tested and more purities were used in a different range.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to give credit to Mr. Vadalia, our IB Chemistry teacher, for providing us with appropriate experimental and safety materials that may have otherwise been hard to attain as well as providing an area to experiment safely. We would also like to give him credit for assisting on a method to utilize for filtering and measuring solubility. WORKS CITED Hoskin, Sam. "Material Safety Data Sheet Calcium Chloride." Midland Tool and Supply. MSDS Central Database, 7 Sept. 1995. 20 Nov. 2011. http://www.midlandtool.com/MSDS/Calcium%20Chloride.pdf. Liakatas, Dr. "Internal Assessment: Guidelines for Writing a Lab Report." IB Chemistry Blog. WordPress, 2011. 20 Nov. 2011. http://liakatas.org/chemblog/wpcontent/uploads/2008/08/guidelines-for-writing-a-lab-report.pdf. "Solubility Product." Purdue University College of Science. Bodner Research Web. 20 Nov. 2011. http://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/topicreview/bp/ch18/ksp.php.

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