Week 25 Blog Reflection

This week started with a lab using the electrolysis apparatus (picture below). We added copper chloride to water and made electricity flow through it. We asked ourselves major questions like what is the formula for copper chloride? And which side of the apparatus is positive and which is negative? We also tested substances like sodium chloride and ethanol for comparison and measured conductivity for each one. Our results of this test are pictured below. We also discussed the concept of solubility, in our lab a chemical reaction changed the color when the powder went in the water. This showed us that when in water, it was no longer a compound. Like lady liberty! It turned green in the water. This week we also had a beach party! We mixed a caloric acid with ethanol and made a lovely campfire to roast our marshmallows for our s'mores! (Shannon stirring the mixture pictured below!)

Week 24 Blog Reflection

This week was full of expanding on topics we were introduced to last week. We did a virtual lab showing us what dipoles were and how charges worked. In the lab, there was a balloon, wall, and sweater, and after "rubbing" the balloon to each virtual surface we saw where it was attracted too. The lab later was done showing the charges as it went on, and it all started to make sense. We then learned about dipoles and the way charges work in them. We also learned sigma which is the symbol for "slightly" just like hydrogen bonds in H2O. I learned about these bonds in AP Bio and I'm really glad that all the sciences are starting to come together now! We did some worksheets while we had a sub about how to write and understand formulas, which were helpful for the assessment Friday, but I do think I'll have to reassess. Links to my notes are below! We also had a weekend project to make an electroscope to detect magnetic fields, this was simple and really works! I tested it with a charged balloon and hairbrush. Picture below!

Charges: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s249/sh/c817ffce-d5b6-43ca-99dd-749ca95ae793/9a21ba558c7984c824db7545066448f7

Dipoles: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s249/sh/ac3fee28-3872-465e-a7b1-a12e02ed3ed4/a0537102b94dd6b8a3331f0abfb727d3

Bonds: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s249/sh/f75dae1b-832a-458a-bc73-02a90b67c99c/6990335d8dafbf65002f561a88cbd548

Week 22 and 23 Blog Reflection

Week 22 was a very short one in chemistry so I am combining these two weeks blogs because my week 22 one alone didn't consist of much. For what we were there of in week 22 we did empirical formulas and ChemQuests, week 23 was a week full of new concepts. We worked on a lab where we pulled two prices of tape from each other and tested to see what they attracted or repelled with. When asked for an explanation we all said opposites attract; but in reality we never knew exactly what that meant. We learned about how the friction from pulling apart the tape made charges in it, causing these attractions and repulsions to happen. We also used circuits to show the flowing of electrons through a system to light the bulb. Conductivity was the big theme of this week and links to my notes on the topic are below.

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s249/sh/403d698f-342e-46fd-ba18-e1b83480540c/e521fa624eabb14c77276d1a196f9335

Week 21 Blog Reflection

This week, we did a very interesting lab. Taking water and beakers we cranked a motor type apparatus and need up ppong one part hydrogen into a beaker and 2 parts oxygen into the other. (It looked like the picture below, taken halfway through the experiment.) This helped us to understand hydrolysis and what exactly happens in this process. We also discussed empirical formulas, what they are and how to make them. I would add notes but unfortunately I was trying a new note taking app on my kindle and it didn't save my notes. I suggest sticking to Evernote. It's proven to be my best app so far.

Week 20 Blog Reflection

Unfortunately, I missed out biggest lab this week but I have been debriefed on it and now think I have a full understanding of it. We took different hardware materials and measured their weights. We use the lightest substance as a denominator for other numbers to provide for even comparison of all substances. We knew a relative weight for each one. We also called 6 pieces of each thing a "Quinn" so we'd have a unit we could use to identify these. This taught us that atoms are not all the same size and also gave us a grip on what the newly introduced term a "mole" is. We know they're a group of particles that add up to a certain number. It's just that the magnitude of the concept is kind of hard to grasp. It's a really big idea but I think as we discuss it more, it'll come easier. The math problems involving moles though, I do understand. It's easy to be able to put them into a formula and grasp it in that way. Below is a link to my notes on moles and a picture from my notes telling how I think a mole math problem works.

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s249/sh/c2bb5fd6-90b9-485b-8f86-a4f5930107c2/36612d3e8b6b2ca6a2290c98656c5c9e

Week 19 Blog Reflection

This week got its start with a lab where we mixed 2 things (zinc and hydrochloric acid) to test how they would react to each other. They ended up creating Magnesium Oxide. (There's a picture of my notes from this lab below). Testing combustibility, we realized how chemical properties change when you mix two different chemicals. This concept is a bit fuzzy but I think I mostly understand it. This week we also did some skill practice and building. This consisted of things like balancing equations. It's very important I think to be able to go over these ChemQuests as a class, to give every group a question and have them share it with the class is more effective than overwhelming them with a 20 question worksheet to do all by themselves. This really allows us to do the problem quickly without losing focus and we get to fully understand each problem by our peers explaining them to us in terms we're able to understand. This helped us learn these skills and we will hopefully be using them for the rest of the year!

Week 18 Blog reflection

This four day week started out with some very new concepts like Dalton and his ideas. In the Dalton's playhouse lab, we were able to work through experiments as he did to figure out what they revealed about the chemistry of certain substances. This lab was really informative and I thought pretty fun, it had experiments that first didn't click with me why they were important, but as I worked through the worksheet and took the mini-quizzes after each section I was able to understand how much these experiments made chemistry what it is for us today. We also discussed Avagadro's Hypothesis along with working more on Dalton's atomic theory in a worksheet testing skills and understanding in these concepts.  On a side note,  most students have negative feelings toward using worksheets for learning, but when we do them as a class and all participate, I think it really benefits our learning and gives us a really solid base to study off of.  This week continued with learning Chemical Formulas based on gas volumes, this basic concept seems to be one that many things will depend on us knowing. This week ended off with an assessment of these concepts, and again, I think having the online lab and the worksheets to look off of helped me to better grasp these concepts before the assessment.  Also, when studying I found this really simply designed website summing up exactly what Avagadro studied and learned to benefit the world of chemistry: http://library.thinkquest.org/12596/avogadro.html

Pictures of my notes for the week are below.