Carbonate Solubility Lab One concern connected to global warming is that as atmospheric CO 2 levels rise, the amount of CO2

absorbed into the oceans will also rise. CO2 is very soluble in water. Dissolving CO2 in water forms carbonic acid (H2CO3 . !he level of acid affects the pH of the water (the higher the concentration of acid, the "O#$% the pH . &s pH drops, the solubility of calcium carbonate increases. !his is a problem, because many marine organisms e'tract calcium carbonate from sea water to form their shells. (f the pH gets too low, their shells may redissolve. (n this e'periment, you will observe the effect of increasing acid concentration on the solubility of calcium carbonate in seashells. &lthough the problem acid for sea organisms is carbonic acid, other acids have the same effect on the solubility of calcium carbonate. Here we will use vinegar, a )* solution (by mass of acetic acid (HC2H3O2 .

Day 1: +, Label two clean +--,m" bea.ers with the numbers + and 2 and your initials, so you can identify them later. /ass a clean dry piece of seashell to the nearest -.--+g. ( Make sure your shell is at least 5 grams.) Record observations of the shell and place it in bea.er 0+. (/a.e sure most of the shell is below the )-,ml mar. on the bea.er. 2, 1repare a sample of acid. $ach lab group will ma.e a different concentration, and we will pool class results. 2ou will be assigned a volume of acid between - and 3- ml. /easure this amount into a clean dry )-,m" graduated cylinder, then add enough distilled water to ma.e the total volume of li4uid in the cylinder )- ml. 1our the acid solution over the shell in bea.er 0+. Let the shell sit in the acid solution overnight.

Day : 3, 5sing twee6ers remove the shell from the solution and rinse well. DO 7O! D(8C&%D !H$ 8O"5!(O7. 1at your seashell dry on a paper towel, and place it on a labeled watch glass to dry in the oven. Record any observations o! the shell. 3, (n your empty +--,ml bea.er 02 ma.e a solution identical to the one in your first bea.er (same ratio of vinegar to water . !o $&CH of your bea.ers add a volume of +.- / 7aOH solution e4ual to the volume of acetic acid in the bea.er. 8ince 7aOH is a base, it will neutrali6e the acetic acid and raise the pH. Record any observation o! your t"o beakers, then compare your results to other groups9 results. ), %emove the seashell from the oven, let cool, and mass your dry piece of seashell. !hen calculate the mass o! it that dissolved. #rite your data on the board !or the class.

$nalysis: +, /a.e a graph of amount of acid vs. mass of shell that dissolved. :e sure that your graph has a title, labeled a'es (including units , is done in "ogger1ro or fathom, and includes the actual relation (hand drawn curve , not ;ust your data points. 2, Describe what the graph indicates about the effect of acid levels (pH on solubility of shells. 3, $'plain what happened when you added the 7aOH solution to your bea.er that had contained the seashell. (Don9t ;ust describe it, %&'L$() it.) 3, #hat was the purpose of the second acid mi'ture that never contained the seashell< ), !he acid you used was )* acetic acid (HC 2H3O2 by mass. &ssume the density of vinegar is +.-- g=m". Calculate how many grams and how many moles of acid you added to the solution. >, !he shell is composed primarily of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 . Calculate how many moles of calcium carbonate dissolved. ?, #rite a possible balanced e4uation for the reaction of acetic acid with calcium carbonate. #hat .ind of reaction is this< #hat are the coefficients for acetic acid and for calcium carbonate< @, Compare you answers to ), >, and ?. Do they seem reasonable< How can you e'plain your results<

Lab re*ort: !his is a A5"" reportB (nclude: !itle, 1urpose, :ac.ground, Hypothesis, 1icture and summary of the procedure, Data (including, but not limited to, your graph, include the class data , &nalysis (including, but not limited to, answers to the above , Discussion=conclusion. Re!er to the lab re*ort guidelines !or detailed notes about "hat to include.