7.+Questioning+and+Posing+Problems

Questioning and Posing Problems

In the kinetics unit, my lab partner and I conducted a lab meant to measure the rate of a reaction. During this lab, we posed the problem: What is a reaction that we could use? We had to come up with a reaction that would happen fast enough so that there would be a significant change in short period of time. Soon, after coming up with this problem, we decided on using HCl and magnesium strips. Using high concentrations of HCl, the magnesiums strips would dissolve quickly enough for noticeable changes to occur. Using the question that we asked as our strategy, we then decided to measure the rate of reaction through measuring the change in mass.

My strength in regards to this habit of mind is that I was able to quickly come up with a problem that, if solved, could lead to useful strategies. However, one mistake that I made in the lab is the error in believing that there will be a significant change in mass. It turned out that the mass did not noticeably change until we go to very high concentrations of HCl.