Chemical Dominoes
Our Project
Our class was assigned to design and build a board game for ages 10 and up that would display the chemical reactions we have learned about in class. The reactions we had to include were single displacement, double displacement, production of gas, and the lighting of a LED light. We had to create a blueprint, playing instructions/setup, safety precautions for the reactions, and explanations for the reactions as well.
We decided to base our project off of the classic game "Operation." Players were to extract the playing pieces from holes in the game board "body" without touching the board, or else the lights would go off and your turn would end. To alter this game for the purpose of chemistry, we decided to use chemicals as the playing pieces to be extracted. These chemicals would then be placed into the corresponding beaker to create a reaction. Our point system was based on cards that were drawn to indicate which hole needed to be operated on. The player who successfully collected the most cards would win.
Evidence of Work
Below shows an overview of our game board, which we decided to make Christmas themed because it is December.
This shows the blue print of our design in the planning stages.
This shows the lights lit up and the circuit beneath the board.
This is a close-up of our gas-emission reaction, which has sodium bicarbonate and acetic acid reacting to produce carbon dioxide, water, and sodium acetate.
These were our playing cards (front and back) showing players where to extract and explaining what reaction it would show.
Concepts
Double Displacement
When one compound combines with another compound, and one of the elements in each compound swap places. Ex: AB + CD → AD + CB
In Chemical Operation, potassium iodide and lead nitrate reacted to produce potassium nitrate and lead iodide.
2KI + Pb(NO3)2 → 2KNO3 + PbI2
Lighting an LED
We were able to light up LED lights through a linear circuit. We used a coin cell battery to power the system, copper tape throughout to serve as the trigger for the holes, and standard wire and an aligator clip to connect the tweezers to the battery. When the tweezers hit the copper tape in any one of the holes, the LEDs would light at the bottom of the elf's trousers.
Single Displacement
An element that is not bonded to any other takes the place of an element that is bonded to something. Ex: A + BC →B + AC.
In our game, magnesium reacted with copper chloride to produce copper and magnesium chloride.
Mg + CuCl2 → Cu + MgCl2
Synthesis
Two elements or two compounds combine to form a larger compound. Ex: A + B → AB
An example of a synthesis reaction is sodium and chlorine reacting to produce sodium chloride.
2Na + Cl2 → 2NaCl
Combustion
A substance reacts with oxygen and gives off heat. Ex: CH4+O2 → CO2+H2O
Our example of this was when sodium bicarbonate reacted with acetic acid to produce carbon dioxide, water, and sodium acetate. This is a combustion reaction as well as a double displacement.
NaHCO3 + HCH3COO → CO2 + H2O + NaCH3COO
Decomposition
One reactant breaks down into two or more products. Ex: AB → A+B
An example of this is the decomposition of carbonic acid in soft drinks.
H2CO3 → H2O + CO2
Reactant
A substance present at the start of a chemical reaction. It is shown on the left side of the arrow in the formula equation.
Subscripts
Subscripts under elements in a formula equation indicate how many atoms of that kind are in each compound. They are used to balance an equation. For example H2O represents a compound with 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom.
Product
A substance present at the end of a chemical reaction. It is shown on the right side of the arrow in the formula equation.
Coefficient
A coefficient represents how many of each molecule are in a given chemical formula.
Symbols in Chemical Reactions
Symbols under elements in chemical reactions indicate the form that the element is in. They could be solid, liquid, gas, or dissolved.
Word Equation vs. Formula Equation
A word equation in terms of a chemical reaction tells us the name of each compound in words for the reaction. A formula equation uses the symbols for each element and their corresponding numbers for the reaction.
For example. our single displacement reaction from the game in words is:
Magnesium reacts with copper chloride to produce copper and magnesium chloride.
This same reaction in a formula equation is:
Mg + CuCl2 → Cu + MgCl2
Activity Series
A list of elements decreasing in order of their reactivity. Metals and nonmetals have separate activity series because metals can only replace metals and nonmetals can only replace nonmetals. Elements higher on the list will have more reactivity in comparison to elements lower.
Solubility Guidelines
A chart used to identify which ions form a precipitate and which ions remain in solution (aqueous). The top half shows that ionic compounds containing these anions are soluble (aq), unless they fall under exceptions where they would be insoluble (ppt) instead. The bottom half shows that ionic compounds containing these anions are insoluble, unless they correspond with the exceptions where they would become soluble.
Reflection
I really enjoyed this project overall. Although it was definitely stressful trying to complete the project in time for presentation night, luckily we were able to pull it off and run through the game with four different rounds of players. My group was able to really focus up in the last week and produce a good project. My group collaborated really well together and we all wanted to contribute to the end result. It consisted of Regan, Lindsey, Logan, and me.
Two things I excelled at in this project were being a critical thinker and good collaborator. One way I was a critical thinker was when we had to figure out how to incorporate LEDs into our project. No one in our group knew how to complete a circuit to get working LEDs, so I took it upon myself to figure it out. With a lot of help from Ms. Vogl and a lot of trial and error, I was able to pull it off and get the lights to correspond with the functions of our game. I was also a good collaborator in this sense because I knew that to accomplish this task I would need to ask for help and hold myself accountable to actually get it done. I made sure to carry my weight in the project and assist my teammates whenever they needed it.
Two things I could have done better are being more productive in the early days of the project and planning out the project prior to actually building it. When we were first assigned this project, my group and I did not spend a lot of time working on it because we were caught up in other assignments and did not see the need to begin right away. In the future, I will try to get a start on projects when they are assigned to avoid the chaos my group felt in the final few days of building. Additionally, my group did not create a specific blueprint before beginning to build, also due to the lack of focus early on. While we had created a plan for how the game would run and how the chemicals would be incorporated, when it came to things like how we would incase each chemical and line each hole, we did not have an existing plan. In the future, I will try to write out the logistics of the project to make sure it runs smoothly all the way through.