Shooting Corks

During class, we did an extremely interesting, but fun lab. What we had to do was mix any amount of baking soda and vinegar in a test tube. Then, we capped the test tube with the cork. As the vinegar and baking soda mixed, it created a chemical reaction, causing the cork to shoot off. Our goal was to hit the window, and if we hit the window three times in a row, we got and additional ten points added on to our lab. Each groups' cork went a different distance, depending on the amount of vinegar and baking soda they used. There were many different measurements that worked to hit the window, so people hit the window in different ways. It was hard but interesting and fun in the same way.

In my opinion, the lab that we did was a very good lab to conduct because not only was it fun, but we learned an efficient amount about chemical reactions. My group did fairly well as we tried different measurements and got different distances. I learned that baking soda and vinegar really create a large chemical reaction. For example, when one of my group members and I shot the cork, our arms were drenched in vinegar because we capped the cork too late. That incident was extremely funny, however we smelled pretty bad due to the vinegar all over our arms. Either way, the lab was still extremely interesting!

I think that this was one of the best labs so far because it was fun, but also because we learned a large amount about chemical reactions. I hope we do this lab again and I will be looking forward to more labs like this in the future!