Difference in Carbon Dioxide Production

Laayla Muhammad

Differences in Carbon Dioxide Production

Problem: Do the variations in levels of physical activity alter the amount of carbon dioxide being produced by a person?

Hypothesis: If a person who’s physically active has a higher pulse due to his/her heart pumping faster; then the different levels of physical activity do play a role in altering the amount of carbon dioxide being produced by that person because an active individual will require more oxygen and therefore, produce more carbon dioxide.

Procedure (including materials):
1. Gather all materials, which in this experiment are: a 125 mL flask, bromthymol blue, a 50 mL beaker, water, 2 straws, a stop watch, and two individuals (for testing reasons).
2. Fill a 125 mL flask with bromthymol blue
3. Fill a beaker with about 20-40 mL of water
4. Using a straw, exhale air (carbon dioxide) into a flask containing the bromthymol blue.
5. Use a stop watch o record the amount of time it takes to change the solution to green (a point it becomes acidic).
6. Record (by observation) the color of the solution, which is the end point for that trial.
7. Now change the acidic solution back to basic by adding drops of water (as needed). Record the number of drops.
8. Repeat steps 4-7 using a different person, and a different straw.
9. Now do trials 3 and 4 using the same people, but after they have stayed active for about 1 minute.
10. Record all data.

Data:

Trials Physically Active? Time it took for solution to become acidic (minutes) Average time it took for solution to become acidic (minutes) Drops of water it took the solution to become basic again
1
No
5:14

4:62 20

2
No
4:10
18

3
Yes
2:24

1.63 15

4
Yes 1:02 11

Conclusion:

To experimentally find out if a person who’s physically active has a higher pulse due to his/her heart pumping faster; it was hypothesized that the different levels of physical activity do play a role in altering the amount of carbon dioxide being produced by that person because an active individual will require more oxygen and therefore, produce more carbon dioxide. According to the data collected from the numerous trials during the experiment, the hypothesis was discovered to be correct. This can be proven by scrutinizing the trials by comparing them. Both individuals, when inactive, took more time changing the basic solution to acidic with the average time of 4 minutes and 62 seconds. Yet, when the same individuals became active for about 1 minute, it took them only about average of 1 minute and 63 seconds to change the solution to acidic. The difference of time between the two types of collected data is 3 minutes and 59 seconds. This shows that an active person will produce about 4 times the carbon dioxide than an inactive person.
There could have been several errors made while performing this experiment. One of the errors includes the fact that not all trials had the same end point when it came to observing when the solution was completely acidic. Maybe at one point, the solution was claimed to be acidic as it turned light green while some other time, it was claimed acidic when turning yellow. This could have prevented us from recording an accurate data, where the time taken for the color changes could not be reliable. Another error that could have taken place was that we did not count for the number of breaks a person took while blowing. The first person could have taken 14 short breaks while the other person could have taken 14 long ones. When active, a person would probably take more frequent breaks. Another error that could have altered the solutions was the drops of water used to change the solution back to basic. Maybe there were not enough drops put into the beaker that would cause the solution to still remain a bit acidic, and change to a light greenish color very quickly. An error that could have been easily prevented was that one of the persons was chewing Winter Fresh gum while performing the experiment. That could have altered the acidity of the carbon dioxide going in the solution, which could have caused the solution to become acidic slower. All these errors could have affected the time it took for the solution to become acidic.
I have learned that an active person undergoes a higher amount of heart pulses, which causes him/her to intake oxygen more frequently, and therefore, release more carbon dioxide. It would be interesting to figure out whether the types of active workout affect how much carbon dioxide will be produced and also if a person with an active life has the ability to control his/her heart pulse in a “resting” stage and therefore, be able to produce less carbon dioxide.