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"Chemistry experiments and an unexpected discovery" - UChicago Essay



RYORAO 2 / 3  
Sep 3, 2011   #1
It's About You Found Something That You Were Looking for.

An Unexpected Discovery

I loved doing chemistry experiments when I was in Grade 9. At that time, I usually did a lot of experiments and had nermous strange and unexpected results.

One day, I planed to produce cupric nitrate by the reaction of copper and dilute nitric acid in the laboratory (the chemical reaction was: 3Cu+8HNO3=3Cu(NO3)2+2NO↑+4H2O) . I put some copper into a test tube. Then I poured enough dilute nitric acid into the test tube. These two chemicals reacted slowly. At first, I could not see any phenomenon. About 5 minutes later, I saw a few transparent bubbles on the surface of the copper. About 18 minutes later, I found the solution turn slightly blue. I thought as time went by, the copper would disappear and the solution would turn completely blue. So I kept the chemicals reacting together in the test tube and left the laboratory.

The next day, to my surprise, I found the solution was GREEN instead of BLUE. I was confused. As I know, copper ions (Cu2+) are blue.

To find out the reason, I think it's important to compare with the "genuine" cupric nitrate solution. So I took some pure cupric nitrate and dissolved it into distilled water. Then, I saw that the solution was blue. Thus, I was sure that something unknown greened the solution.

According to the chemical reaction, I guessed nitric oxide or nitrogen dioxide (Nitric oxide can be easily oxidized in air to form nitrogen dioxide) may made the solution green. So I separately let the nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide go through the blue cupric nitrate solution. Finally I found that nitrogen dioxide turned the solution green.

Instead of producing cupric nitrate, I discovered that nitrogen dioxide could turn the cupric nitrate solution green. What an unexpected discovery it was!

Powerfuldog 5 / 9  
Sep 3, 2011   #2
A solid, creative essay, but there could be more personality. What did you learn from creating/discovering the chemicals you created?
everfor 1 / 2  
Sep 7, 2011   #3
I loved doing chemistry experiments when I was in Grade 9. At that time, I usually did a lot of experiments and had nermous strange and unexpected results.

One day, I planed to produce cupric nitrate by the reaction of copper and dilute nitric acid in the laboratory (the chemical reaction is : 3Cu+8HNO3=3Cu(NO3)2+2NO↑+4H2O) . I put some copper into a test tube. Then I poured enough dilute nitric acid into it . These two chemicals reacted slowly. At first, I could not see any phenomenon. About 5 minutes later, I saw a few transparent bubbles on the surface of the copper. About 18 minutes later (well, repetition can make it sound desperate. See the "about 5 minutes later" you used in the previous sentence), I found the solution turn slightly blue. I thought as time went by, the copper would disappear and the solution would turn completely blue. So I kept the chemicals reacting together in the test tube and left the laboratory.

The next day, to my surprise, I found the solution was GREEN instead of BLUE. I was confused. As I know, copper ions (Cu2+) are blue.

To find out the reason, I think it's important to compare with the "genuine" cupric nitrate solution. So I took some pure cupric nitrate and dissolved it into distilled water. Then, I saw that the solution was blue. Thus, I was sure that something unknown greened the solution.

According to the chemical reaction, I guessed nitric oxide or nitrogen dioxide (Nitric oxide can be easily oxidized in air to form nitrogen dioxide) may made the solution green. So I separately let the nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide go through the blue cupric nitrate solution. Finally I found that nitrogen dioxide turned the solution green.

Instead of producing cupric nitrate, I discovered that nitrogen dioxide could turn the cupric nitrate solution green. What an unexpected discovery it was!

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A solid essay in all, but as Powerfuldog says it lacks certain personality. Try to elaborate on what comes from your unexpected finding and let your personality go through.

Also, try to use some longer sentences to make your essay sound better.

Best luck:)


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