L2: MINERALS SALTS IN ORGANISMS

L2: MINERALS SALTS IN ORGANISMS

1. Introduction

What makes bones strong?

Even though bones are very light, they are also very strong. However, how strong they are depends on how much of the mineral calcium carbonate they contain. 

In this experiment we will make the bones lose their strength and we can bend without any kind of problem.

Bone contains calcium carbonate, when mixed with the acid bones carbon dioxide is removed. 

When we mix the acid with calcium carbonate is removed and this is only the collagen, and this process makes the bones are rigid and strong.


2. Objectives

• Identify mineral sals in organisms
• Understand the function of inorganic biomolecules in skeletal structures of organisms.

3. Hypothesis

The hypothesis is that the bones after a week can break with facilities.

4. Material

• Some molluscs’ shells (clams, mussels, etc.)
• Dried, cleaned chicken or lamb bones
• Water
• Acetic Acid
• Tongs
• 2 x 600 mL Beaker
• Clock glass
• distilled water
• bones

5. Procedure

First, we did carefully cleaned and cut much of the meat away from the chicken thin bone  and then we examined the flexibility of the bone by tried to bend it with our fingers.

We took a beaker and made and acid acetic solution and took the chicken or lamb bones and drop them in the acid acetic solution that we did.

We leave it 24 hours and saw what happened to the bone. we have put a clock glass at the top of the beaker to protect the solution.

After, we removed the bones from the vinegar with a tong and we left it soak with water.


6. Observations

One week later, we saw the bones and we tried to broken them, but we only broke the little bones, and the big bones we couldn't.

7.Conclusions

My conclusion is that the experimence is feasible but if we would have left two days more, the big bones have broken and the hypothesis would be true. 


8. Questions

1. Write the reaction that takes place when the acid acetic reacts with the calcium carbonate.

CH3COOH + CACO3

2. What is happening when the shells are soaking of acetic acid? What are the bubbles that you can see?

Releasing this CO3

3. What is happening to the bone after some days of soaking it in acetic acid? Why is the bone flexible now?

Realising the CO3 and the bone is stiffness.

4. So, what is the function of the calcium carbonate in the skeletal structures?

The stiffness.

5. Increases in carbon dioxide to the atmosphere from the burning fossil fuels and deforestation threaten to change the chemistry of the seas. Evidence suggests that this increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide is lowering the pH of the oceans in a process called ocean acidification. How can acidification affects corals reefs?

more later, corals reefs will dissapear because it's do to calcium carbonate and te Co2 sometime increases more.