Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am doing the science fair project called "Can You Change the Rate of a Chemical Reaction by Changing the Particle Size of the Reactants?" It says that you need to have a 60 mL syringe or a graduated cylinder for the project. The only thing that I can find is a 30 mL syringe. Would this work for the project?

cience_asker - The use of the smaller syringe would lessen the sample time, possibly degrading the accuracy of your measured values. In this case, the rate of the chemical reaction is measured by how fast a volume of carbon dioxide is produced from differing granule sizes, and measured by displacing a measured volume of water in a specific time. Any graduated cylinder would suffice. A tall, narrow test tube would be ideal, just calibrate it by marking graduations with a permanent marker on the cylinder. You may find other household items that would work as well. Tall and narrow is the combination you are looking for, as well as to be transparent enough to read the water level in the cylinder.

Rick Marz