Manila, Philippines

University of Santo Tomas

May 25, 2020

Dear Ma’am/Sir,

Good day! We are pleased to be informed about your request for assistance regarding the
experiment to be conducted about the behavior of gases. This subject was the topic to be
demonstrated by the proposed experiment and we are aware that the selected topic can be a
complex concept for Junior High School students. Therefore we, Krizzi Eve D. Garcia and
Princess Daryl B. Lasin from the class of 2Chem1 hereby propose an experiment tackling gas
density that is easy to perform and can be easily understood by the audience.

The attached document contains the details and procedure of the experiment and is based on the
prepared guidelines. We understand the need for visual representation of concepts thus we look
forward to performing this successfully to the audience. Chemistry is indeed an amazing science
and we are glad to share it with everyone.

We hope the letter will provide you adequate information about the experiment. We are looking
forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you.

Regards,

Princess Daryl Lasin

2nd Year B.S. Chemistry
University of Santo Tomas

Krizzi Eve Garcia

2nd Year B.S. Chemistry
University of Santo Tomas
 The Density of Carbon Dioxide
This experiment provides a demonstration of the concept of gas density. Using visual
techniques, the audience will be able to understand the concept involved by comparison of the
densities of carbon dioxide and air.

Materials:
2 100-mL beakers
1 250-mL Erlenmeyer flask with cork
Wooden splints
2 candles
Few pieces of dry ice

Precautionary notes:
● Wear proper personal protective equipment like eye wear and thermal-insulated gloves.
● Dry ice must be obtained within​ ​24 hours of the experiment in substantially larger
quantity than required for the experiment, and must be stored in a vented insulated
container until needed.
● Proper handling of dry ice must be followed using tongs.

Procedure:

1. Prepare the carbon dioxide gas by filling the Erlenmeyer flask with few pieces of dry ice
and allowing it to evaporate. The flask should be lightly corked and clearly labelled.
(This step must be done prior to the experiment.)

2. Place the two beakers side by side on a flat stable surface and put a short length of candle
in each.
3. The candles in each beaker must be lit with a splint and they will continue to burn.

4. Pour carbon dioxide from the flask into one of the beakers and the candle will go out
while the candle in the other beaker continues to burn.
 5. Attempt to re-lit the first candle with a splint. This will fail and the splint will go out.

6. Pour the carbon dioxide out of the beaker, and try again to re-light the candle. This
should now succeed.

Concept Explanation:
Gas density is defined as the mass of the gas per volume confining the gas. In this
experiment, the concept of gas density was applied as the density of carbon dioxide is
highlighted. Carbon dioxide gas is denser than air by about 1 ½ times that is why this gas could
be poured. The mixing of gases with different densities is quite slow and would only occur fast
when stirred. Carbon dioxide is also denser than oxygen which is needed for fire to burn. When
carbon dioxide gas was poured over the flame, it replaced oxygen that caused the fire to be
extinguished.

References:
DIY Fire Extinguisher Experiment for Kids. (2020, February 17). Retrieved from Science
Explorers: https://scienceexplorers.com/diy-fire-extinguisher-experiment-for-kids/
The density of carbon dioxide. (2015, May 20). Retrieved from RSC Education:
https://edu.rsc.org/resources/the-density-of-carbon-dioxide/1775.article?fbclid=IwAR2v
Hjqy5MApmxdtmyRubKtObxULXdfazr68BPxZ5T-bI8O3JgN4oq7lAao