After testing the flammability of the two gases we produced from running electricity through water, we agreed that we've got two new substances! They behaved differently than the gas we created from heating water.
All this figuring out made us realize this. There are times we end up with a new substance, and there are time we don't. When we take a substance or substances and make something new out of them, this is what scientists call a chemical reaction. We realized that we can make new substances by combining things together (like with the bath bomb and water) or by breaking things apart, like we did with water and electricity. This was hard to wrap our heads around since we're so used to thinking about chemical reactions as just mixing things together, like liquids. But chemical reactions are so much more than that!
We also turned to the work of other scientists yet again, as we were roadblocked on "particles." Our water investigations showed us that a water particle has to actually have "parts" to the particle, otherwise, when it's broken (like when we run electricity through it) we wouldn't have two new substances! Check out our work through reading and modeling. Next steps: dig deeper into our new understanding of atoms and molecules!
All this figuring out made us realize this. There are times we end up with a new substance, and there are time we don't. When we take a substance or substances and make something new out of them, this is what scientists call a chemical reaction. We realized that we can make new substances by combining things together (like with the bath bomb and water) or by breaking things apart, like we did with water and electricity. This was hard to wrap our heads around since we're so used to thinking about chemical reactions as just mixing things together, like liquids. But chemical reactions are so much more than that!
We also turned to the work of other scientists yet again, as we were roadblocked on "particles." Our water investigations showed us that a water particle has to actually have "parts" to the particle, otherwise, when it's broken (like when we run electricity through it) we wouldn't have two new substances! Check out our work through reading and modeling. Next steps: dig deeper into our new understanding of atoms and molecules!