Producing Carbon Dioxide from a Metal Carbonate Metal Carbonate Metal Oxide + Carbon Dioxide Thermal decomposition occurs when a substance breaks down into simpler substances when heated, often with the help of a catalyst . It's different from a reaction because there is only one substance to start from." I came across this information in the EDEXCEL Modular Science review guide 1. Thermal decomposition is the breakdown of a substance using thermal energy, this is not a reaction. Preliminary experiment Lime water and copper carbonate were used to see if a metal carbonate breaks down to produce carbon dioxide. This is what the experiment looked like:The equation for this:CaCo3(s) CuO(s) + Co2 (g)This experiment was to see if carbon dioxide was produced from a metalcarbonate. In this case copper carbonate was used. Two test tubes were connected together by a rubber tube, from the cap of which a glass tube emerged which prevented carbon dioxide or any other gas from escaping. As you can see from the diagram, in one tube there was limestone water that needed to be tested for carbon dioxide, and in the other there was copper carbonate. If carbon dioxide was present, the hard water would become cloudy (white in color). As I watched this happen, I could see that carbon dioxide was present because the calcareous water had become cloudy. Secondary experiment This experiment consisted of comparing the decomposition rates of different metal carbonates. Several metal carbonates were placed in a test tube and connected to a syringe that measured the amount of carbon dioxide when the metal carbonates were heated. This experiment is to see how quickly metal carbonates decompose to produce carbon dioxide. The reason they break isn't breaking at the same time it's because the more reactive ones don't want to break. So the longer the carbonate holds, the more reactive the metal is. In this experiment there are some factors that can influence the results. These factors can cause the experiment results to be incorrect. Factors that can affect the experiment are:1 Water2 Amount of powder3 Distance between the flame and the metal carbonateWater can affect the results because it can penetrate the powder, speeding up a reaction.If different amounts of the substance are used, then the results can be influenced because the greater the amount of dust, the greater the production of carbon dioxide. Plan In this experiment I'm going to use 1/500th of a mole. This is because if a larger amount is used, the amount will be too large and the results will not be sufficient