Observations and Inferences The Acid Lab
What is an Observation? An Observation is the act of perceiving (seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling) and/or recording something with instruments. – Qualitative – uses senses, can be supported by others – Quantitative- uses numbers
What is an Inference? An inference is an explanation that is based on available evidence but is NOT a direct observation. - your effort to “connect the dots”
What do YOU see? What Observations Can you make? What Inferences can you make?
Observe… The three trays in front of you contain – Baking Soda: a chemical compound composed of Sodium and Carbonate (CO 3 ) – Halite: a mineral composed of Sodium (Na) and Clorine (Cl) – Calcite: a mineral composed of Calcium (Ca) and Carbonate You also have a small dropper containing a dilute solution of hydrochloric acid(HCl). Now listen to your teacher as they explain how to safely handle HCl.
Step 1 Turn to the page in your ISN that your teacher directs you to. Make a copy of the data table below » Reactivity of a Mineral Sample to Acid SampleEffervesce (Yes or No) Baking Soda Halite Calcite
Step 2 Place 2 drops (and 2 drops only) in the center of the baking soda sample. Record your observations in your data table.
Step 3 Repeat step 2 by dropping 2 drops of acid onto the mineral sample of Halite and recording your observations. And then the same for Calcite. Step 4 When you are done follow your teachers instructions for clean-up.
What Happened? Observations we made?Inferences we made?