COMPUTER SUPPORTED SCHOOL CHEMICAL EXPERIMENT IN COMPLEX APPROACH – “ACIDIC BUBBLES”

Digital technologies are used in experimental practice under school conditions mainly for data statistic processing, computer modeling of natural principles and supporting the real experiments by computer, so that the measurement process can occur simultaneously with data recording during experiments. This study is focused on the use of computer within real experimenting. We have chosen the experiment “Acidic bubbles” as an example of running the computer-aided real experiment. Solubility of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the liquid is influenced by characteristics of the solvent and the solute, pressure and temperature. The aim of the experiments is to show changes in pH values in water/carbon dioxide (H2O/CO2) mixtures (differing in various CO2 content) in time and temperature. Experiments confirmed that the temperature increased in relation to increasing pH. CO2 solubility decreased along with increasing temperature and the resulting lower concentration of CO2 in the mixture also caused the reduction of the carbonic acid (H2CO3) concentration. Moreover, the acid was decomposed by the influence of the higher temperature. Advantages of using the measuring systems can be seen in their supportive functions leading to investigative experimental activities of students, which are gradually disappearing from both primary and secondary schools for various reasons. Advantages of this approach are increasing by applications connected with everyday life products as in presented example “Soda-stream” device in the kitchen.