ScienceSource.ca Dry Lab Activity

Unit B - Chapter 4

Investigating Science 10

Inquiry Activity

Copper or Carbon?

Skills Reference 2

Skills you Will Use

  • Using appropriate equipment and tools
  • Drawing conclusions

Safety

  • Hot Materials
  • Goggles

Caution

Use caution when working around the hotplate, it can cause burns if it comes in contact with your skin.

Wear goggles to protect your eyes from the materials used in this lab.

Two of the main classifications of the periodic table are metals and non-metals.

However, what characteristics of elements result in their classification as metal or non-metal? In this activity, you will examine copper and carbon to determine what characteristics are attributable to metals and non-metals.


Question

What are the characteristics of metals and non-metals?


Materials and Equipment

  • 1.5-V dry cell
  • hot plate
  • 200-ml beaker
  • tap water
  • stopwatch
  • flashlight bulb and socket
  • 3 lengths of insulated wire
  • 6-cm length of non-insulated copper wire
  • two 6-cm graphite (carbon) pencil leads

Dry Lab

A "dry lab" activity includes collected data and/or a video solution for your convenience. You can simply watch the following video and use the provided data, or if you wish to perform this lab for yourself, follow the procedure steps 1 through 12 described in the video. The same steps are included in written form in the documents available for download on the bottom of this page.



Analyzing and Interpreting

  1. Study the following sample data table from this activity.

    2. Test

    Copper

    Graphite

    Appearance

    Shiny

    Dull

    Malleability

    Bends easily

    Does not bend, breaks

    Electrical Conductivity

    Yes

    No

    Thermal Conductivity

    20 seconds

    4 minutes




Forming Conclusions

  1. Based on the observations, explain why copper is classified as a metal and carbon is not classified as a metal.
  2. If you were allowed only one test to determine whether a sample of elements was metals or non-metals, what characteristic would you test for? Explain your answer.