Week 13

We learned a lot of complicated information this week in Chem. To start it off, we learned about thermal energy and phase energy, two different means of storage. Phase energy has to do with the arrangement of particles. When a phase change happens, the particles move either further from or closer to one another. There's a change in the energy of that phase which causes the increase decrease in the distance the particles travel. Thermal energy has to do with the speed of particles. When there is a temperature change, caused by warming or cooling, the particles move faster or slower. Another account for storing energy is in a field. A field is an area around an object where a non contacting force can be exerted. In chemistry, for particles, the field is called and electrostatic field. This electrostatic field is where phase energy is stored between the particles, and thermal energy is stored in the movement of particles. Next, we moved to the LoL bar chart. Using this chart, you can see how the energy leaves or enters the system, and how much. Also, by using two bars you can see the thermal and phase energy. We decided on a certain number of bars that would determine the phase and/or quantity of hotness. These help us to track thermal and phase energy in specific situations. To finish off the week, we did a lab to find the specific heat of copper. Using a Bunsun burner to heat copper over a flame, we then placed it in a beaker of water find the energy that was in the copper(using the water). To find the specific heat, we plugged in what we knew to find the energy in the water, then used that energy and plugged in the rest of the variables and found the specific heat of copper! Our class found it to be 0.78J/grams*degrees Celsius, but it's actually 0.385J/grams*degrees Celsius. The assessment we were supposed to take was postponed until Tuesday, and I think I'm prepared for it.