Sg Chemistry Last Blog Reflection

Sg Chemistry 2 Blog Reflection

Obi Ilozor

This last unit was a build up on the unit before. It was pretty much about balancing equations of reactions. It requires you to know charges of atoms and ions. It was pretty much a math filled unit. It is about chemical reactions and how atoms are never lost. They are just converted, so both sides of the reaction should equal out. This unit involves all of the other units in that we use ions and charges similar to unit 6, we use chemical formulas similar to unit 5, but all of the other units were pretty much review. 

This trimester was pretty fun. I think I was strong in all of the units except for the unit that the first test was on. I got an A- on the test, which was pretty disappointing, but I have learned the test material that I missed. I feel like I had very few weaknesses and many strengths. One of my weaknesses was labs this trimester. It was very hard to understand the connection between most labs and the material we were learning. One of my strengths was how fast I was able to absorb the material. 

My grade is pretty good, but what I would have done to improve it is to have aced the first test. I could have studied a little harder and I could have gotten a much better grade on that test. 

I feel like we could have gotten a lot more done without the white-boarding. That took up about half of all our class time. We could have spent that time more effectively and maybe made this class a one trimester course, or we could have engaged in more labs and learned more about them. I liked the review days a lot because it clarifies everything. 

I don't really think blogging was helpful. It just served as a summary for the week but it didn't really need to be thorough. I think we should get rid of the whole blogging idea except for an end of the trimester paper. Those are my recommendations. Overall, it was a pretty nice trimester. 

Sg Chemistry 2 Blog of week 11/2/15

Sg Chemistry Blog of Week 11/2/15

Obi Ilozor

This week in Sg Chemistry 2, we took a test on unit 6 and we also started a lab. This lab, which involved nails in copper chloride, was to show how chemical reactions appear and how we know when they take place. Things such as temperature change, phase change, and color change can show us if a chemical reaction has occurred. We haven't completed the lab yet but we discussed some predictions about what could happen. Mainly, this week was pretty much a time to prepare for the test, and taking the test. Our lab only occurred on the last day of the week.

The test was pretty challenging. It was definitely the most challenging test we have had in this class. I hope I did well but I can never truly predict any of my test scores. The test consists of naming ionic, molecular, and polyionic compounds. It also consisted of examples from the first lab we did. It was the sticky tape lab and it showed diagrams of electrons. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of the test or its examples. It also consisted of multiple choice about JJ Thompson and his cathode ray experiments. We also had to find how many ions are in a compound and how many atoms are in a compound. That pretty much summed up the test and the week. 

The next thing that happened in class was a lab we did on friday. It was a three day lab and we submereged nails in a copper chloride solution. We will further examine what changes happened on monday. We discussed what might happen before we started the lab. We said that there could be temperature changes, color changes, and even phase changes. Unfortunately there are no pictures of the reaction and its result but that will be included in next weeks blog. 

In conclusion, this week wasn't as informational as other weeks. It was just a test and one lab. Hopefully I did well on the assessment. 

Sg Chemistry Blog of week 10/19

Sg Chem 2 reflection paper

Obi Ilozor 3rd hour

In this week in Sg chemistry class, we learned a lot about unit 6. I think that the concept of chapter 6 is conductivity and it has been confirmed all throughout the week. I think another big concept is electrical charge and that was proven when we took two days to carry out and white board a "tape" lab. In this tape lab, we stuck different objects to tape and other objects and ripped them apart. Then we saw if they attracted or repelled. We also did a lab where we put an electrical device to different substances and observed whether they conducted electricity. We could tell whether they conducted electricity or not by seeing if the light  on the device lit up. Overall, it was a pretty long week of new concepts that were hard to grasp at first, but as time went on, they became easier and easier to understand.

Our first lab was a tape lab when and we conducted it while our supervisor was gone. Fortunately, there were no problems. Since there are no current pictures of this lab, here is a picture of what is happening in the tape lab. There was a demonstration in our class as well about how balloons collect negative charges from objects and stick to other objects. The same thing happened in the tape lab. The concept learned from this lab is that electrons can transfer from object to object. That is how objects become charged.

These pictures below depict one of our most recent labs where we commuted to another supervisors lab and conducted an experiment. We put an electrical detective device to different solutions that lit up when it was touched. We found that metal solutions conducted electricity even if it was dissolved in a solution. Just like this molten metal shown below, even though it wasn't a conventional hard metal, it still conducted electricity. Solutions like liquid sulfur and hard sulfur and this solution that I have yet to identify, did not conduct electricity because the light on the device did not light up. Overall, this was my favorite lab but the solution names, that may pop up on the test, are the most confusing part.

The last lab that we actually conducted today was very peculiar. We hooked up a U-tube with graphite rods and electricity in a blue solution mixed with water and some metal alloy. We didn't finish the lab but results were evident. The graphite rod started transforming into something like rust, and its was reddish brown. We will observe the rest of the results on Monday but here is a picture of the lab with my colleague in it as well.

Overall, I believe this week was a really good and long introduction to chapter 6. 

Sg Chemistry 2 blog of week 10/12

Sg Chem 2 reflection paper

Obi Ilozor 3rd hour

In this week of Sg Chemistry, we took 2 assessments and reviewed what we learned in the previous week. The only new concept that we learned about was the molecular formula and empirical formula. We reviewed conversions from moles to number of atoms, grams to moles, grams to number of atoms, and vice versa for all of these examples. We learned about relative mass  We also learned about diatomic atoms where they double in mass in a gaseous state. Finally, we learned about element composition in a compound. On Friday, we began chapter 6 with a discussion about what keeps atoms together and how H2O was separated by the electrolosis contraption. 

First, we reviewed relative mass in a worksheet. We were told to look back to our old relative mass lab with washers, nails, and hexes. All of the materials were measured relative to the mass of the lightest object which was the washer. We did this lab to relate to all elements whose masses are relative to hydrogen which is the smallest element on the periodic table

On friday, we discussed how the electrolosis machine worked. No real answer was given to us yet but I theorize that what keeps compounds together are electrical bonds. It has something to do with magnetism and what particles attract others. When water is put into the elctrolosis machine, a current is sent through it. The electrical current somehow breaks the electrical bonds by maybe reversing an elements polarity but whatever it does, it breaks the compounds into two different elements and then separates them.

Second, we reviewed the conversions for moles, number of atoms, and mass. It is a fairly simple concept where if you want to convert something to another, you must put the unit that will cancel out on the bottom and the unit you want on the top. One important thing is that you cannot skip moles in the conversion of mass to number of atoms and vice-versa. You must go through the middle man. 

Third, we learned about the empirical formula and molecular formula. The empirical formula is the most simple formula of a compound such as H2O. A molecular formula is a variation of the empirical formula except it is not the most simple. Such a formula, relative to the one presented previously in the paragraph, could be H6O3. It just has to maintain the same ratio. You can calculate a lot of problems using these two formulas. The mass to mole conversion is used in these problems and then you are supposed to eyeball the ratio at which these elements combine at.

Fourth, we learned about percent composition of an element by mass. This was by far the easiest concept and it just used simple division to see how much of an element is in a compound. In the case of H20, oxygen has a 33 percent element composition in that compound. As you can see, it is very simple.

This chapter was a fun chapter and to me, it was much easier than chapter four. The hardest concept of this chapter was the mole to gram coversion factors and those weren't even that hard. Overall, I liked this chapter the most out of all of them so far. Thanks for reading

blog of week 10/5/15

Sg Chem 2 reflection paper

Obi Ilozor 3rd hour

These two weeks in Sg Chem 2, we did a fair amount of activities and labs. We entered unit 5 with a relative mass lab and a lot of worksheets. Our focus is learning about how atoms and elements interact in fixed ratios but also about the mole, which is a new a complicated term that we focused on. We were also starting to uncover the emperical rule. 

A mole is like a grouping of units. A dozen is twelve, a couple is two, but a mole is 6.022(10^23). Its a monumental number. If we had a mole of basket balls, it would definitely reach the moon and back several times. That is to tell you how small atoms are. The only way we can measure them on a feasible scale is to use this mole system. It is actually called Avagardo's number as well.

We also did activities like the relative mass labs. We did many worksheets of which we white-boarded. It proved that we can count by weighing and massing objects and substances before and after their reactions. This is key in the conversion process to find how many moles an object holds. 

    

As a class, we did a lab involving zinc and chloride. We put a fixed amount of zinc in a beaker, weighed it, and then added a fixed amount of hydrochloride. We let it sit for a day and then came back to it. It was then heated with a Bunson burner and massed after it cooled down. Here are the class results. My table in particular ran into a problem. Our burner during the reaction, stopped burning because the pipeline connected to the gas, fell off. It took quite a while to get the burner up and running again. That is one error that could have affected our results. By massing the end product and the before product, we can tell what happened during the reaction. From what we weigh, we can tell how many moles are in a substance and what it consists of. The most confusing part of this lab is the calculations that you have to make. With this lab came a worksheet that we completed. We were given problems that gave us the mass of a substance and we were to calculate how many moles this substance contained. It took me quite a while to get the hang of things and even still, the concept is hazy to me. 

This blog covers two weeks of material and this was from the previous week. We were still reviewing the law of multiple proportions and how atoms react with other atoms at fixed mass ratios. We did worksheets on this concept and we also had a test. There is no haziness in this concept.

In that same week(two weeks ago) we also learned how to find the ratios of atoms inside a compound just by weighing them. This is very useful because if we were to count manually, we wouldn't get anything done within our short life span. Weighing is pretty much the concept of what we have been doing so far. It is one of the most important parts of chemistry. 

Reflection of week of 9/21/15

Sg Chem 2 reflection paper

Obi Ilozor 3rd hour

This week in Sg Chem 2, we did a fair amount of activities. We learned mostly about famous scientists who discovered elements and properties of atoms. We watched a movie on Gay Lussac, who experimented with many gases and studied electricity, and other famous scientists. Two really big scientists were Priestly and Dalton who layed the foundation for modern atomic theory. Also, Joesph Prust developed the law of definite proportions which is key in modern atomic theory. One really big discovery or assertion was Avagardo's hypothesis. We also learned about the compositions of compounds. Also how mass of 2 elements in a compound affect how many attach together. Overall, it was a cloudy week full of information that is to vast to state in a mere one page reflection, but I will try my best to present a thorough and informational overview of this week.

We white-boarded this activity today. It was about compounds and their masses. The compounds have ratios that determine how many of an atom are in a compound per another atom. In this case, O and C are the types of atoms and their are 4 O's per 3 C's

We learned about Avagardo's law this week. It shows that atoms will react in ways where certain ratios of atoms are in a compound. Atoms split up and bond together with other atoms to make compounds. Just like in this example, two hydrogen combine with one oxygen and the rest of the oxygen don't combine with anything.                                                                            

Prusts Law of definite proportions is like Avagardo's but builds upon it. It states that all compounds of the same type are made up of the same proportion of atoms. Take water for instance, it is always composed of two hydrogen and one oxygen. If there is more oxygen than a two to one ratio, some of it will not bond. Just like the video of a lab we watched this week as well. Oxygen gas was left over after the reaction. The reaction also caused a jolting reaction within the test tube.

Iodine was a big discovery back then by 2 scientists that named it iode. They weren't really remembered as much as the two scientists who elaborated on their discovery. Those two were Gay Lussac and Dalton. One of them named this new substance iodine but I think that Gay Lussac published his article on it one day before Dalton.

Sg Chem 2 reflection of week 9/14/15

Sg Chem 2 reflection paper

Obi Ilozor 3rd hour

This week in Sg Chem 2, we did a fair amount of activities, most of which were review. We reviewed terms and concepts from Sg Chem 1 and did a fair amount of white boarding on them. We did a white board on the properties of matter.We also looked at the differences between water and ethanol in several different ways. We put both substances in an electrolosis device and we also put sugar cubes into each substance to see how they would dissolve. Another thing we did was learn about the differences between molecules, particles, atoms and more. Finally, we read about primitive theories that eventually transformed into theory that we stand by today. That everything is composed of atoms. Overall, this week was more of a review and an introduction if anything. I know that more interesting weeks will soon come.

One white board activity that we did was identifying properties of matter. It was a short activity where we all shared what some properties were and in the picture below, it shows what the class came up with.

The electrolosis activity that we did to compare ethanol and water was one of the more interesting labs that we have done so far. An electrical current was put through a copper wire and did something to both substances. I think it heated it up so that the particles of H2O would split. I don't know how it was done, but somehow, hydrogen gas was collected in a tube. A lit match was put into the hydrogen gas and it made a loud sound. In a way, the sound was like a pop. When the ethanol was heated up, it produced oxygen gas and that was also collected in a tube. This time when a flame was put into the tube, it burned brighter for a quick moment. That was the end of the lab. This is what the electrolysis device looked like.

We had a mastery assessment on elements, compounds, mixtures, atoms, and molecules. We learned about this for two days and this is the white board that my table came up with. There was not much to this activity except for the informational part. 

This week, we also read about how the theory of atoms was created. There are no pictures because it was just a reading that we did on Friday.

Another lab we composed this week was the sugar solubility lab. We placed sugar cubes in water and in ethanol and observed. The sugar dissolved in water but not at all in ethanol. In a 50/50 mix of the two, sugar dissolved. It was a fun lab.

All of this occurred this week. Even though it was an introduction to chem 2, it was still filled with all of this information.