NAME:

Ethan Meyer

SCI-OPERATIVE TRAINING MISSION

READING PASSAGE: SIGNS OF A CHEMICAL REACTION
MISSION: Identify the signs of a chemical reaction to determine if a chemical change has
occurred. Use the Field Guide: Signs of a Chemical Reaction for additional reference.

TIPS: Remember to BEAM as you read through the passage below.

NIKOLE: Zia, your vanilla cake turned out perfectly! What a beautiful and
delicious chemical reaction!

ZIA: Thanks, Nikole! I never thought of my cake in

terms of chemistry. What kind of reaction are we
talking about?

NIKOLE: Your cake went through a CHEMICAL REACTION, which happens

when REACTANTS, or your starting ingredients, undergo a CHEMICAL
CHANGE and create an entirely new substance, or PRODUCT, with a
different atomic structure.

BUTTER

Reactants Heat Product

ZIA: Ok, so let me get this straight. The reactants were the ingredients of the cake: flour, sugar,
oil, eggs, buttermilk, baking soda, and vanilla?

NIKOLE: Right! And the product is a delicious cake. All the atoms in your reactants were
rearranged to form your product, because chemical reactions follow The LAW OF
CONSERVATION OF MASS, which states matter cannot be created or destroyed. The cake
contains the same amount of matter as the ingredients.

ZIA: I had no idea that there was so much chemistry in cooking. How can you tell a chemical
reaction occurred?

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NIKOLE: That’s easy. Take a minute to compare your reactant mixture and your product. What
do you notice?

Before: Cake Batter After: Cake

• Color: Pale yellow • Color: Darker, with golden brown top

• Consistency: liquid/runny • Consistency: soft spongy solid
• Taste: Sweet, creamy • Taste: sweet, rich, and buttery

ZIA: After being baked, the cake has changed in odor, color, consistency, and taste.

NIKOLE: Exactly. The change in color and other physical properties, like taste, odor, and
consistency or texture, are signs that a chemical reaction has occurred. You can see something
similar when milk sours or fruits ripen; there is a noticeable change in smell, color, and texture.

ZIA: When we were making the icing for the cake, we added pink food coloring and all the icing
turned pink. Was that a chemical reaction?

NIKOLE: Color changes are tricky. Sometimes it is hard to tell if a change

in color is from a physical or chemical change. There are some
questions you can ask yourself to be sure. Did you make a new product?
Was there another sign of a chemical reaction?

ZIA: I’m not sure. What other signs should I be looking for?

NIKOLE: You can look for a change in temperature, the production of

light, the creation of a gas, or the formation of a precipitate to identify
a chemical reaction.

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ZIA: Formation of a what??? You’re speaking science again, not cooking. Talk me through the
signs of a reaction.

NIKOLE: Of course! We can see most of them right here in the kitchen! We can observe two more
signs of a chemical reaction with our cake. What did you use to bake it?

ZIA: I used a gas oven.

NIKOLE: Your oven burns butane and other gases as part of a

chemical reaction. This particular reaction releases energy in the
form of heat and light from the changing chemical bonds in the gas
as it is broken down, making it an EXOTHERMIC reaction. You can
feel the release of energy as a temperature change when heat is
given off.

ZIA: I think I remember the word exothermic from chemistry class!

Reactions and processes that release heat are exothermic, and those that
absorb heat are ENDOTHERMIC. Endothermic reactions feel cold to the
touch. In class, we mixed baking soda and vinegar to create an
endothermic reaction.

NIKOLE: Your example is a great one! Energy is needed to break

chemical bonds in the baking soda and vinegar, so heat is
absorbed from the surrounding environment, including your
hands. Most cooking is an endothermic reaction. Your example
just reminded me of another sign.

ZIA: What is it?

NIKOLE: The sign I’m thinking of is the

generation of a gas, and it is the secret to
the perfect light, fluffy cake; don’t stir too
much! The batter contains baking soda
that reacts with an acid, like the lactic acid
in buttermilk, producing carbon dioxide. The gas gets trapped in the
batter as it cooks, creating a light, fluffy cake. If you stir too much, you
release all the gas and your cake ends up flat and rubbery. You might even
see bubbles or hear fizzing when mixing the batter.

ZIA: So the bubbles in the batter are a sign a reaction has occurred?

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 NIKOLE: Now you're cooking with gas! But this sign can be
tricky too. Gases can also come out of solution or may be
produced by boiling, both of which are physical changes.
To be sure a reaction has occurred, ask yourself what other
signs you see and if the chemical makeup of the substance
is changing.

ZIA: Oof! That was a bad pun. You also mentioned

precipitates earlier. What are they and where can we see
them in the kitchen?

NIKOLE: We don’t encounter precipitates much outside of making solutions in chemistry class. A
PRECIPITATE is a solid that forms out of a solution. This can be seen when mixing two clear liquids
together that then form a white solid. This solid can be filtered out or removed by evaporating
the liquid. The solid is proof that a chemical reaction has occurred. But, again, this is another sign
that can be tricky. Sometimes dissolved solids settle out of solutions because they are super
saturated or as a liquid evaporates, and in that case no reaction has occurred. Precipitates,
gases, phase changes and color changes all require you to ask follow-up questions to determine
if a reaction has occurred. Speaking of follow-ups, do you think our icing turned pink because of
a physical or chemical change?

ZIA: Hmmm… The icing changed color, but it didn’t bubble or fizz. I didn’t see any solids
precipitate out. The icing definitely didn’t produce light, or noticeably change in temperature. It
still smells and tastes like white icing, and spreads the same way, so there were no changes in
texture. I think it was just a physical change.

NIKOLE: You butter believe it! Ha Ha Ha!

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 MAKE CONNECTIONS
In each box below, write a connection between the text that you just read and either
your prior knowledge or something in your life.

1 2 3
I already knew that mass can't I've baked a cake before. And I already knew what chemical
be made or destroyed. reactants are (NO3)NH4 and and physical reactions were.
H2O

READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

READING PASSAGE: SIGNS OF A CHEMICAL REACTION
1 Zia took the following photos while surveilling THE HIVE. Determine if each depicts a physical or
chemical change. Justify your answer with evidence from the photo and your knowledge of the
signs of a chemical reaction.

Physical or
Image Chemical Change Justification
Chemical Reation makes glow

Chemical Reaction make new product

Page 1
 Physical or
Image Chemical Change Justification
Physical New moluculear form

Chemical New product

Chemical New product

Physical New look but still the same

Chemical New product

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2 Identify the reactants and products in the reactions below:
A 2C H + 13O
4 10 2
8C0 + 10H O2 2
Butane + Oxygen Carbon dioxide + water

Reactants Product

B Fe + O2 Fe2O3
Iron, Oxygen Rust

Reactants Product

3 Explain how The LAW OF CONSERVATION OF MASS is observed in a chemical reaction.

Same amount of stuff, just different moleclear forms

4 Explain the difference between EXOTHERMIC and ENDOTHERMIC reactions.

Exo releases energy, Endo takes in energy

5 Label the following chemical reactions as EXOTHERMIC or ENDOTHERMIC.

A Burning a candle Exothermic B Cooking an egg Endothermic

C The reaction of photosynthesis Endothermic

6CO2 + 6H2O C6H12O6 + 6O2

carbon dioxide + water glucose + oxygen

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Both instant ice packs and disposable hand warmers are essential tools for Sci-Operatives in the
field. Examine the reports below that explain how each tool works. Identify the reactants and
products, if the reaction is endothermic or exothermic, and the signs of a chemical reaction that can
be observed.

A Instant ice packs contain ammonium nitrate (NH NO ), a white salt, and an inner bag of
4 3
water. When you burst the inner bag allowing the water to mix with the salt, ammonium
hydroxide (NH4OH ) and nitric acid (HNO3) are formed.

(NO3)NH4 (s) + H2O (l) NH4(OH) (aq) + HNO3 (aq)

I've baked a cake before. And reactants are (NO3)NH4 and H2O
Reactants:
INS
TAN
T IC
E PA
Products: NH4(OH) and HNO3
CK
Endothermic/Exothermic:
Endothermic

Signs of a Chemical Reaction:

Tempurture change.

B Disposable hand warmers contain iron powder (Fe). When they are removed from their
sealed packaging they are exposed to oxygen (O2) in the air, forming rust (Fe2O3).

4Fe (s) + 3O2 (g) 2Fe2O3 (s)

Reactants: 4Fe and 3O2
H E A DR SS
OT A R M E
HH A N D W Products: 2Fe2O3
Endothermic/Exothermic:
Exothermic

Signs of a Chemical Reaction:

Tempureture change

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