Using Chemical Change to Identify an Unknown

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In this activity, learners will develop a method to test five similar-looking powders (baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar, detergent, and cornstarch) with four test liquids (water, vinegar, iodine solution, red cabbage solution). They will use the characteristic set of reactions for each powder to identify an unknown powder, which is one of the five powders they have tested. [Activity is publicly available through a web crawler capture on Archive.org. Activity write-up only, images are unavailable.]

Quick Guide

Preparation Time:
10 to 30 minutes
Learning Time:
45 to 60 minutes
Estimated Materials Cost:
$1 - $5 per group of students
Age Range:
Ages 6 - 14
Resource Types:
Activity, Experiment/Lab Activity
Language:
English

Materials List (per group of students)

  • Baking soda
  • Baking powder
  • Cream of tartar
  • Detergent
  • Cornstarch
  • Water
  • Vinegar
  • Iodine solution
  • Red cabbage indicator
  • 5 Popsicle sticks
  • 4 Droppers
  • 10 Small cups
  • Student Activity Sheet

Keywords

Subjects

  • Physical Sciences
    • Chemistry
      • Chemical Reactions
      • Acids and Bases
  • The Nature of Science
    • The Scientific Process
      • Asking Questions
      • Conducting Investigations
      • Gathering Data
      • Formulating Explanations

Informal Categories

  • Food and Cooking

Audience

To use this activity, learners need to:

  • see
  • see color
  • touch

Learning styles supported:

  • Involves hands-on or lab activities

Other

Components that are part of this resource:

Access Rights:

  • Free access

By:

  • Kessler, James H. ; Galvan, Patricia M.

Rights:

  • All rights reserved, American Chemical Society, 2007