Reaction Car Project

By:Cole Morgan, GJ Mallari, Emily Flock

The Group

The Chemistry

Calcium Carbonate and Hydrochloric Acid

CaCO3 + 2HCl → CO2 + H2O + CaCl2

Theoretical Calculations:

n = PV / RT

P=5.0atm V=.675L R=.08205 atm*L/K*mol T=293K

n = .140387mol

Reactants

14.053g CaCO3 used

25.0 mL HCl used

And The Car

Ready For Takeoff!!!

The design of the car was very simple, make it small and lightweight. The back wheels were wider than the front for more stability. The bottle was pointed up to prevent any spew, and at the base of the bottle was a solid bar so all the force would be put into moving the car, not the bottle.

Test Results

P (atm) Distance (ft)

5.0 18*

5.0 25.5

5.0 12*

5.0 12*

4.75 15*

4.75 20

5.0 26.5

5.0 20.5

P (atm) Distance (ft)

3.5 2.5

4.5 21.0

5.0 24.5

5.0 17.0

5.0 24.5

5.0 21.0

Test results from baking soda and hydrochloric Acid.

Test results from calcium carbonate and hydrochloric acid.

* These trials ran into either the wall or the grass effecting final distance

ConclusionCar made it to the finals with no spew!

One trial made it to 25' 2'' and the rest were consistently short stopping around 21'.

During one trial the car bottle blew up. The simple design of the car was good because it could be rebuilt in a few minutes to continue running more trials. However, the car did not go straight, possibly because the frame did not stay square.

Redesign IdeasAnother cross support could be added to the car to help keep the frame square. This will help the car to go straight, making the car stop close to 25'. Also for the aesthetics we could have decorated our car but we didn't want it to hinder our scientific studies.