Board Game Instructions, Setup, and Safety

Precautions
Description: The Light of Life is a board game designed to demonstrate a chain reaction of chemical
reactions and physical changes of energy. Game pieces move around the board by correctly answering
chemistry trivia questions of varying difficulty. Players that correctly answer card questions on each
space after rolling a die get to roll again for a second turn and the chance to move forward. A correct
answer earns the player a marble which represents a plant. Five marbles enable the player to set off the
first part of the reaction chain and they win the game.
Objective: Collect as many marbles as you can by correctly answering questions on each turn. The first
player to collect 5 plants (marbles) gets to set off the reactions and wins the game.
Players: 2-4
Step by Step:
1. Have players choose which color cup to be their playing piece to collect marbles.
2. Each player takes a turn rolling the die to see who gets to go first (highest number gets to
go first, then players go clockwise from there).
3. The first player then rolls the die again and moves that amount of spaces. They then
answer the level difficulty of question that is on the space they landed on. If they answer
correctly, then they collect a marble (plant). If they answer incorrectly, they do not collect a
marble and wait at the space until their next turn. If they land on Collect a marble! they do not
have to answer a question and collect one marble.
4. Players take turns rolling the die and repeat step 3 until a player collects 5 marbles.
5. The player who answers correctly 5 questions and collects 5 plants wins the game and
gets to set off the chain of chemical reactions by turning over the balloon and setting off the
production of gas reaction. The domino effect ends with the lighting of a green LED,
representing a sprouting plant.
Chemistry Reactions:
Double Displacement: two aqueous, ionic compounds exchange ions
and form 2 new ionic compounds, where 1 product is solid, water, or gas.
(AB+CDAD+CB)
Single Replacement: an element replaces its like element in an ionic
compound or acid (AB+CCB+A)
Our Reactions in the Game

Double Replacement Reaction- HCl

+ NaOH NaCl + HO
Hydrogen Chloride and Sodium Hydroxide react to form
Sodium Chloride and Water. This reaction neutralizes the base, NaOH
with the acid, HCl to form salt and water.
Single Replacement Reaction- 2Al + 3CuCl 3Cu + 2Al(Cl)

Aluminum and Copper Chloride react to form Copper

and Aluminum Chloride. This destroys the metal by creating copper
and aluminum chloride.
Production of Gas- CHO + NaHCO NaCHO + HO + CO
Acetate and Sodium Bicarbonate react to form Sodium
Acetate, Water, and Carbon Dioxide. This is commonly known as a
baking soda and vinegar reaction, and it produces carbon dioxide into
a balloon in our chain reaction.

Safety Precautions
Hydrochloric acid is very dangerous to work with and should be handled carefully with gloves and while
wearing goggles. When not in use, keep the vial tightly closed and stored in a safe place. It is
recommended to also use gloves while handling other acids and placing them on the board for the
reactions.