Equilibrium Behind Lactic Acid
For our chemical equilibrium project, we were assigned to come up with a category that we are interested in. I chose to research about lactic acid, how it is formed, the chemical equilibrium behind it, what it does for your body, and how you can get rid of it. Our objective was to come up with a social media campaign to inform at least 100 people of the dynamic condition and dependent balance of a chemical reaction at equilibrium. We had to create a supporting document that contained multiple sources of the research of my topic.
I started off my project by researching about my topic and finding as many sources that I could to help me with my research. I found five sources that contained information regarding lactic acid, including the chemical equilibrium behind it. I then decided to make a poster/info-graphic that would contain all of the information that I had previously researched such as the chemical formula of lactic acid, a data chart that explains the process of what happens when you work out and lactic acid forms in your muscles, a brief explanation of what lactic acid is, and a description of how lactic acid comes in and out of equilibrium.
Chemistry Concepts:
Le Châtelier's principle: Known as the equilibrium law, states that if a system in chemical equilibrium is subjected to a disturbance, it tends to change in the opposite way of the disturbance.
Equilibrium: a state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced.
How these concepts apply to lactic acid build up in muscles: During intense exercise, your muscles produce lactic acid, therefore hydrogen ions are added to your blood. This increases the concentration of hydrogen ions, which disturbs the two chemical equilibria. To reestablish equilibrium, the concentration of hydrogen ions must decrease. Le Chatelier’s Principle states that when a system is shifted away from equilibrium it acts to restore equilibrium by reacting in opposition to shift. This means that if the concentration of the reactant or product is changed, then equilibrium will shift either left or right until there is a new equilibrium established.
I started off my project by researching about my topic and finding as many sources that I could to help me with my research. I found five sources that contained information regarding lactic acid, including the chemical equilibrium behind it. I then decided to make a poster/info-graphic that would contain all of the information that I had previously researched such as the chemical formula of lactic acid, a data chart that explains the process of what happens when you work out and lactic acid forms in your muscles, a brief explanation of what lactic acid is, and a description of how lactic acid comes in and out of equilibrium.
Chemistry Concepts:
Le Châtelier's principle: Known as the equilibrium law, states that if a system in chemical equilibrium is subjected to a disturbance, it tends to change in the opposite way of the disturbance.
Equilibrium: a state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced.
How these concepts apply to lactic acid build up in muscles: During intense exercise, your muscles produce lactic acid, therefore hydrogen ions are added to your blood. This increases the concentration of hydrogen ions, which disturbs the two chemical equilibria. To reestablish equilibrium, the concentration of hydrogen ions must decrease. Le Chatelier’s Principle states that when a system is shifted away from equilibrium it acts to restore equilibrium by reacting in opposition to shift. This means that if the concentration of the reactant or product is changed, then equilibrium will shift either left or right until there is a new equilibrium established.
Reflection: This project was very interesting as it was different from all of our previous projects as this was an individual assignment but we were put into groups with similar topics as each other. Throughout the project, there were many peaks and pits. First, I learned how to create a supporting document for the information that I found while researching. For example, I would find sites that contained important information regarding my topic so I would paraphrase what I found and would site the source. Second, I learned how to present information more efficiently so that people can understand it much easier. For example, I learned to limit the amount of words on my poster/info-graphic and used charts and graphs to give others a better understanding of the chemical equilibrium that is happening. Just like any project, there were also a couple things that I could have done differently. First, I could have worked more efficiently during school hours so that I would not have to do the majority of my research at home. This led to my other pit, which was getting stuck on what to research. After collaborating with my peers and teacher I was able to gather all of the research that I needed. Next time I will do as much research during class so that I can communicate with others in case I have any trouble. Overall, this was a very fun and interesting project to complete.