Accel. Chem. Post 2

Since the first couple weeks of Accelerated Chemistry, I have learned an incredible amount of things, and in this blog, I am going to try to summarize them as well as possible. It sure is a good thing that there isn't a page limit...
   The first large unit we were instructed on was completely based on Density; the random spreading out of molecules to evenly fill a container. To start off the unit, an unknown aerosol was sprayed in one direction in the middle of the room. The direct relation we noticed was that the closer you were sitting to the initial amount of spray in a windless room, the sooner you would smell the molecules of the spray (which we later found to be Febreeze). This showed the difference in temperature of the air and spray molecules that were constant in motion. The lower the temperature, the lower the rate of diffusion, and vice versa. Another experiment was shown to us consecutively that displayed the rate of diffusion in both hot and cold water. From what my group and I saw, the food colored water diffused much quicker into the beaker, for the molecules were moving many times faster than the molecules in the cold water. A computer simulation was completed the next day explaining the concept with particle diagrams and interactive methods of seeing how particles move, as you can see below.
   
   The next part of the unit was set out to show myself and my fellow classmates the Microscopic properties of the States of Matter. Now I came into this unit with the strong belief that I knew a good amount of facts on the states of matter, but it turns out, the only thing that I really didn't know was the microscopic explanation of the solid, liquid, and gas, but the other info just enforced my previous knowledge of the subject. For a solid, it has a definite volume, definite shape, and can not be compressed. The particles are held in a rigid latticework, and the particles are only merely vibrating. A liquid is different, having definite volume, but it changes shape depending on it's container. It's particles can move along and past each other but they have to stay in contact with one another. A gas is farther out, filling the container for volume and taking the shape of the container for shape. The particles freely move randomly in all directions.
*Note- The class also watched two "Eureka" videos that provided another method of sinking in the basic principles of particle motion.
   All in all, the start of unit 2 has been very rewarding, thought-provoking, and enjoyable, especially when we got to play with dry ice bubbles and were able to change the color of a solution by human voice. :)
I would have to rate my understanding out of the few weeks this unit has been taking place to be a 5 out of 5, everything I learned has soaked in and will not by drying out anytime soon. But even though I feel very confident in recognizing my increase in skill of the topic, there will always be room for improvement on the calculations necessary to come up with accurate responses, for I feel like I don't take as much time on them as I should and end up making simple mistakes. I will have to keep that in mind next time a problem arises... As long as the fun learning experiences don't stop, I feel that this class is just going to keep getting better and better as the year goes, just as it is currently. So ill give you an A for teaching, Mr. G...

The First Couple Weeks Of Chemistry

            The first two weeks of Chemistry class this year have been filled with many new experiences and many learning moments. Tagged along with that, there were many instances that allowed me to recap some of my knowledge of science from the previous years.

            The activity I started with on the first day of school was based on building a boat with few limited materials. The goals of the project were many- to build the lightest boat, to build the boat that held the most pennies, and to collaborate and work with new group members. Our group finished 5^th, mainly because we didn’t have enough time to think of a quality idea for our boat. We also should have created a boat with sidewalls, because the boats that did held many more pennies.

Another activity I did last week involved many properties of chemistry and their relation to affecting mass after a physical or chemical change. For example, I held a ball of steel wool over a flame, measuring mass both before and after. We also did things like dissolving sugar into water, and then evaporating the water to leave sugar. Experiments were mainly based on switching forms of the material from solid, to a liquid, to a gas that changed the structure, but not the mass of the solid.  I learned that when an acid and base are combined to create a solid, a chemical change occurred, but the mass remained the same. However, this was not the case when a reaction occurred and release gases like dropping Alka-seltzer into water because the particles evaporated and mixed with the air around us. I can recall a few experiments we completed in my physical science class involving the same chemicals we were using in the lab, and it is very natural to follow directions to complete a lab as of right now.

            One of the most recent activities I did in class in groups was to determine whether certain tests my group members and I performed were physical or chemical changes on specific subjects. I got to realize that physical changes did not affect the first components structurally, even if they changed in shape or size. Chemical changes involved altering structures of elements and other substances to get a totally new solution. As you can see in this picture, we used group white boards to share our thoughts in front of the class. For this activity, it was quickly completed, but the previous one took two class periods-which is probably very quick compared to other experiments we might do later on in the year. I understand all of the material quite well, and am ready to get rolling in the school year.

            All in all, the first two weeks of school provided what I think to be an accurate insight of a glimpse of what is to come this year. Hopefully we can continue to do fun little experiments with the occasional “larger” projects that involve teamwork, time, and work because in my opinion, they are even more rewarding when completed.