Science Experiments

Question: How do you measure different amounts of CO2 (gas) to put in a flask?

This is for a science experiment.
One of the steps is to use four flasks and put different amounts of CO2 (from dry ice) in each flask and seal the flask.
Flask A will have 62.5mL of CO2.
Flask B will have 125mL of CO2.
Flask C will have 187.5mL of CO2.
Flask D will have 250mL of CO2.
Any suggestions as to how to measure the amount of gas and how to put the gas in a flask without any of it escaping?

Answer: CO2 is denser than O2, so it will settle on the bottom of the flask. It will only spill out of the flask if you overfill it–just like a liquid does. I’m not sure how you would measure it, though. I’ve never tried to pipet it. That might work. I’m assuming your flasks are not graduated to 0.5mL. If they are you can just fill the flask to the appropriate gradation.

If your teacher lets you, it’s kind of cool to put a few pieces of dry ice (maybe six) into a lab sink and turn on the water. You’ll see the gas fill up the sink, then spill over it like it was liquid. It’s very cool.

Scientific Tuesdays – Awesome Dry Ice Experiments