Question

Carbon dioxide gas is prepared in the laboratory. Which one involves an interpretation of the data rather than an observation?
(A) No liquid was transferred from the reaction bottle to the beaker
(B) The quantity of solid minerals decreased
(C) The cloudiness in the last bottle of lime water was caused by the product of the reaction of the colorless gas and the limewater
(D) The bubbles of gas rising from the mineral remained colorless throughout the experiment
(E) There was a ${4^\circ }C$ rise in temperature in the reaction vessel during the experiment

Answer 1

Hint:
An observation is a report that is witnessed in person or live with the help of $5$ senses interpretation of any data is an attempt to figure out any information related to the data. It can also be said that the observation is a quantitative aspect while the interpretation is a qualitative one.

Complete step by step answer:
(A) This option is an observation as the transfer of liquid from one beaker to the other can easily be viewed and would lead to increased weight of the second, beaker but no such thing is being observed.
(B) The decrease in the quantity of the minerals is due to their use in the reaction. They do react with the other reactants to form required products. Also, the loss in the amount of minerals is genuine and is measurable.
(C) This option is an interpretation as the cloudiness which is observed is expected to be caused by the product of the reaction. But the fact that cloudiness is caused by the reaction product is not observed.
(D) The bubbles of gas can also be observed live and their color may get noted. As in this case, the (E) bubbles seem to be colorless. So this is clearly an observation.
(E) The rise in temperature during the reaction, can be measured and recorded with an exact value. Therefore, this is also an observation.
Hence, the answer is option (C).

Additional information:
Carbon dioxide is produced whenever an acid reacts with a carbonate. This process of manufacturing of Carbon dioxide can easily be carried out in the lab as well.
The production of Carbon dioxide can be confirmed by passing the gas evolved through lime water, which is a diluted solution of calcium hydroxide, as it turns the colourless lime water milky by the formation of calcium carbonate crystals.

Note: The observation of any experiment, data or event must be exact and accurate. The observation should be sufficiently detailed. The observation should be recorded on the spot as no relying or recall of the information would serve this purpose.