ACID-BASE ROCKET

BY ELIZABETH MARTIN AND DR. CHARLES E. KRILEY

INTRODUCTION

Weve all performed acid-base reactions at some point. But with this lab, you will see how

explosive and exciting acid-base chemistry can be.

When you mix baking soda with vinegar you see a lot of bubbling. These bubbles are

carbon dioxide gas being released through an acid and base reaction.
Vinegar contains acetic acid and baking soda contains sodium bicarbonate. Their reaction

creates carbonic acid which is so unstable that it rapidly breaks down into carbon dioxide
and water.
The overall reaction looks like this:
NaHCO3(s) + CH3COOH(l) CO2(g) + H2O(l) + Na+(aq) + CH3COO-(aq)

SAFETY
Wear lab goggles at all times.
Wear old clothes that you wont mind

getting dirty.
Sodium bicarbonate can cause slight
irritation of the skin and eyes.
The concentration we are using is a
mild irritant in case of skin or eye
contact.

PROCEDURE
Each lab partner must make their own rocket.
Using scissors, cut a 12 piece of duct tape.
Use the tape to fix three pencils to the outside of a 16 oz.

bottle.
You want the pencils to be facing up and to reach about an inch

past the cap of the bottle so that it will stabilize the bottle when it
is overturned. Keep the pencils as equidistant from each other as
possible.

PROCEDURE CONTINUED

Use a funnel to fill the bottle half full of vinegar.

Take a paper towel from the roll. If the paper towel is composed of

multiple layers, separate it down to a single layer.

Tear off of the paper towl and put one tablespoon of baking soda
on that piece.
Wrap the baking soda in the piece of paper towel. Make sure it can
fit in the opening of the bottle.

PROCEDURE CONTINUED

Take the rocket outside.

This next step MUST happen quickly or you will have failure to

launch.
Put the paper towel full of baking soda inside the bottle and
immediately put the rubber stopper into the opening.
Give the rocket a hard shake and set it upright on the pencils.
Enjoy.