Honors Earth and Environmental Science

9th Grade

Teachey

EEn.2.1.1
Explain the rock cycle in enough detail to relate the cycling of materials - formation and destruction
of the three major rock types to the forces responsible: physical and chemical weathering, heat and
pressure, deposition, foliation and bedding. The forms of energy that drive the rock cycle include
heat and mechanical (gravitational potential) energy.
Review and Repeat: Flash Card Matching Game (Rock Cycle Vocabulary)
Read and Discuss: Students read background information on chemical weathering and safety
precautions prior to starting the lab. Discussion and questions about the procedure are discussed with
the group and clarified (if necessary) by the teacher.
Background Information:

Chemical Weathering and

Temperature
Chemical weathering takes place when rocks and minerals undergo
changes in their
composition as a result of a chemical reaction. Significant agents of chemical
weathering include water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and acids. Acids
contribute to the chemical weathering of limestone, which produces carbon
dioxide gas as the calcium carbonate dissolves. This gas production may be
too slow to observe, but the loss of mass can be measured with a balance.
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

Vinegar is a weak acid and can burn sensitive skin.

Wear your goggles at all times.
Wash your hands after handling the limestone chips and vinegar.
Label all solutions.
Follow your teachers suggestions for disposing of lab materials.

PROCEDURE
1. Get about 100 g of limestone chips. Divide the chips equally. Find the weight to
the nearest 0.1 g of
the empty plastic weighing boats.
2. Label two 250-mL beakers C and W. Weigh one of the two piles of chips to the
nearest 0.1 g, and
Put them in beaker C. Record the mass in a data table. Weigh the other pile of
chips and put them in
beaker W. Record the mass in a data table.
3. Add about 100 mL of cold vinegar to beaker C and 100 mL of warm vinegar to
beaker W. Add 400

mL of an ice-water mixture in one 500-mL beaker, and 400 mL of hot water in the
other beaker.
CAUTION: Direct contact with hot water can burn skin. Place beaker C in the icewater mixture, and
beaker W in the hot water. Measure and record the temperature in beakers W and
C.
4. Look for evidence of a chemical reaction in the two beakers. Record what you
observe in the table.
5. Cover both beakers with aluminum foil. After 2030 minutes, use a plastic spoon
to fish out the
limestone pieces from each beaker. Place them on separate labeled paper towels
and blot them dry.
6. Measure and record the mass of the chips from both beakers.
7. Place the chips back into their respective beakers. Add 100 mL of cold vinegar to
the chips in beaker C
and 100 mL of warm vinegar to the chips in beaker W. Cover both beakers with
aluminum foil.
8. Refrigerate beaker C. Place beaker W in the lab where it can sit overnight.
9. On day two, record the temperature of the vinegar in the two beakers. Pour out
the vinegar and rinse
away small black pieces and residue. Place the chips on separate labeled paper
towels and blot them
dry.
10. Measure and record the mass of each pile of chips.
11. Calculate and record the percentage change in mass.
12. Use the figure following the table to create a bar graph of your results.

Discuss and Write:

Students discuss what might be observed, record a prediction, and prepare a data table to record the
results of their experiment.
Analyze, Discuss and Write:
Students use the questions below and experimental data to guide a discussion about the results of the
experiment. A paragraph which addresses the following questions will be completed by the group to
share with the class.
1. What evidence of a chemical reaction did you see when you added vinegar to the

limestone chips?
2. What evidence of chemical weathering appeared on the second day?
3. What effect did temperature have on the weathering of the limestone chips?

What are some ways to express the amount of change to the limestone
due to weathering?
4.

Conclude and Share:

Students respond to the questions below in paragraph form. Results of experiment, graphs, and
analysis and conclusions will be shared on whiteboards.
1. Does the data suggest how climate could affect the rate of chemical weathering?

Explain your answer.

2. What changes could you make in the investigation to increase chemical
weathering of the limestone?
3. Where do you think chemical weathering of limestone would be fasterin a hot
desert or in a rainy

northern valley? Explain your answer.