Skills: ORR, MM

Title: Diffusion in a gas

Aim: To investigate the rate of diffusion of ammonia gas
Apparatus/materials: 2 cm strips of red litmus paper, distilled water,
glass rod, 6 cm × 30 cm long glass tube, cotton wool, ammonia solution,
tweezers, and stopwatch.
Diagram of setup:

Procedure:
1. Hold a strip of damp red litmus paper in the mouth of an open
bottle of strong ammonia solution.
Note the effect of the gas on the litmus.
2. Make marks at 5 cm intervals along a 30 cm long glass tube as
illustrated in the figure below.
3. Use a glass rod to push a small piece of damp (not wet), red litmus
paper to each mark inside the tube as shown in the diagram.
4. Soak a piece of cotton wool in strong ammonia solution and use
tweezers to push it into the end of the tube at the zero mark.
Start your stopwatch as you do so.
5. Record the time it takes for each of the strips of litmus paper to
turn blue.
 6. Record the results in a suitable table.
7. Plot a graph of distance moved by the gas against the speed of
diffusion.
Results:
Distance moved by Time (s) Speed of diffusion
gas (cm) (cm/s)
5
10
15
20
25

Discussion:
1. What is Diffusion?
2. Why did the litmus papers turn blue?
3. Was the speed of diffusion constant over each 5 cm interval? If not,
what do you think happened to change it?
Precautions:
Conclusion:
Reflection: