if I have the reaction

Magnesium + Hydrochloric Acid -> Magnesium Chloride + Hydrogen Gas
And I have to 'investigate the effect of the concentration of the acid on the volume of hydrogen gas produced in the above reaction',
what would be expected to happen?

I would expect the HCL to be diluted with water, so the complete reaction would be...

Mg+ water>hydrogen gas + magnesium hydroxide in addidtion to the reaction you wrote.

I expect the acid reaction to be faster, so as it is diluted, you notice the rate decreases. However, the water recaction slow as it is, will occur.

Try a piece of Mg in water (warm) and look at the bubbles...

You are dealing wiht a combination of two reactions when deluting.

To investigate the effect of the concentration of the acid on the volume of hydrogen gas produced in the given reaction, you would need to conduct a series of experiments with different concentrations of hydrochloric acid.

Generally, when the concentration of the acid increases, the rate of the reaction also increases. This means that more hydrochloric acid molecules will react with the magnesium, resulting in a higher volume of hydrogen gas produced. Therefore, it is expected that as the concentration of the acid increases, the volume of hydrogen gas produced will also increase.

To investigate this, you can follow these steps:

1. Set up a controlled experiment where you keep all variables constant except the concentration of the hydrochloric acid. This will help ensure that any changes observed in the volume of hydrogen gas produced can be attributed solely to the variation in acid concentration.

2. Prepare a series of hydrochloric acid solutions with different concentrations. Start by preparing a solution with low concentration (e.g., 0.5 M) and gradually increase the concentration for each subsequent solution (e.g., 1 M, 1.5 M, 2 M, etc.). Make sure to label each solution properly.

3. Take a clean and dry gas syringe or gas collection tube to measure the volume of hydrogen gas generated. Attach the syringe or gas collection tube to the reaction vessel in a way that allows you to collect the gas produced during the reaction.

4. Place a known mass of magnesium into each reaction vessel containing the different concentrations of hydrochloric acid. Ensure that each reaction is performed under the same conditions, such as temperature and pressure.

5. Start the reaction by combining the magnesium and hydrochloric acid, and immediately start the timer.

6. Observe the reaction, noting the time it takes to observe the maximum production of gas and the volume of hydrogen gas generated. Repeat the experiment for each concentration of hydrochloric acid.

7. Analyze the data obtained by plotting a graph of the concentration of hydrochloric acid on the x-axis and the volume of hydrogen gas produced on the y-axis.

Based on the expected relationship between concentration and volume of hydrogen gas, you would expect to see a positive correlation on the graph. As the concentration of hydrochloric acid increases, the volume of hydrogen gas produced should also increase.