13.+Taking+Responsible+Risks

During the first couple days of class time in Chemistry, the class was encouraged to try new things, along with the experiments at hand. Therefore, me, Alvin, and Michael decided to try to complete our first Habit of Mind assessment, "Taking Responsible Risks". Neither one of us was familiar to exactly how rapid the combustion of H2 (hydrogen) was. Therefore, we decided as a group to test exactly how fast a sample of hydrogen would burn, using a lit wood splint and a test tube of hydrogen.

This was all captured on video (on Michael's blog), and through that, we were able to show a responsible risk. We could test the potentially dangerous combustion rate of hydrogen, without actually causing any damage. Had this just been a risk, we would not have prepared as much as we had (safety goggles, etc.) for the burning of hydrogen. Moreover, this was a risk because we as a group honestly had no idea whether or not hydrogen would oxidize rapidly enough to produce a vigorous reaction that could potentially be dangerous.

Alvin had the job of lighting the splint and holding it above the test tube, I put the magnesium in the hydrochloric acid, and covered the vial opening with my thumb, and Michael taped the whole thing. When the wooden splint was held over the vial of hydrogen and the finger lid released, a loud POP and bright yellow burst indicated a successful combustion of hydrogen into water.

Overall, our risk was trying an unfamiliar experiment, under safe conditions. Through this, we were able to attain knowledge that would've been limited, had we not taken a responsible risk.

[|The Video]