Final Blog

This year in Chem was a new way of learning for me. As the year went on, like in any other class, I began to get more comfortable with my teacher and classmates. It was the way the class was run that was different. First of all, we never had to raise our hand to ask a question. Just talking out to Mr. Abud or another student made the learning that much easier. Our BYOD policy was another thing that was very unique to our class. Being able to bring in my iPad to take notes on everyday made everything easy as well. No book to carry, no paper to use up, and a faster way to access forms and convenient note taking tools made my Chemistry year very simple, apart from the actual chemistry, of course.

However, there were some down-sides to the way our class was run. We didn't learn the same concepts as other classes did in the same order. This was always tough because we couldn't go to students outside of Mr. Abud's class to talk to about chemistry. Also, we didn't learn all of the same things that the other classes did. This is the part that scares me. I'm taking AP Chemistry next year and am afraid that I will be at a huge disadvantage compared to the other kids. I feel like I was not prepared for AP Chemistry as well as I could have been. For the most part, I feel like I simply got an A+ in Mr. Abud's class, not an A+ in honors chemistry.

But, apart from that, I did enjoy the year very much. The class was fun, with good students to be around every day and lots of laughs. I hope my next year of Chem will be as enjoyable as this year has been, and I will truly miss the class.

Week 33

This week in Chem, we didn't learn much of anything new. In the beginning of the week, we did an assessment that was the same one we did in the beginning of the year. It didn't count for a grade or anything but just something to see how we progressed. Some of the concepts I was a little shaky on but I think I did pretty well overall. Then, we did the silver coke bottle lab. It wasn't a very difficult lab, but needed to be followed exactly. First we all got to drink our pops, I didn't get a coke though:(. Then, we put 10 mL of dextrose into the bottle and sealed it with a rubber stopper. In a beaker, we put 40mL of silver nitrate in and added drops of ammonia. The solution turned brown, and formed a brown precipitate, but we kept adding drops until it was clear again. Next, we added 15 mL of potassium hydroxide into the solution of silver nitrate, and again added drops of ammonia until it was clear. I actually added 50mL of potassium hydroxide to my solution, but the product still came out great. So, we carefully poured the the mixture into our bottles, put on the stopper, and began to shake it, making sure we covered the entire inside of the bottle. After a while, the solution began to form that silver lining on the inside of the bottle and you couldn't see through it. So once you couldn't see through, we carefully poured the mixture down the drain, rinsed the bottle, and left it there upside down to dry. We didn't get to take home the bottle until the next week though. When the seniors were taking their exams, we broke off into groups and used the standards for the past few units to make a PowerPoint study guide. We finished these study guides in class and can use them to study for our final. I'm very nervous for our final and will have to prepare very much to make sure I'm ready by the time we take it.

Week 32

In Week 32 of Chem, we brought up our experiment from last week to go more in-depth. We noticed that during the reaction, the temperature of the test tube increased, meaning that energy left the system. This brought us back to the LOL diagrams. We now have another means of storage for energy: chemical. We incorporated the new storage account into our LOL diagrams for further examinations. So, we continued the studying of energy in these reactions. We found that when energy exits the system, making the energy of products greater than the energy of the reactants, it's exothermic. However, when energy enters a system for a reaction, making the energy of products greater than the energy of reactants, it's called endothermic. We continued to examine an experiment from a while ago when we electrolyzed copper chloride, yielding copper and chloride. Because the charge on the copper is 2+, it needs 2 electrons to make copper neutral. This loss of electrons is called oxidation. However, the 2 chloride ions have two extra electrons that they need to lose to become neutral. This gain of electrons is called reduction. These reactions together are considered coupled reactions. Electrolyzing this solution was considered a chemical electrical circuit, like a battery is. Next we moved to thermodynamics and worked with The First Law of Thermodynamics. Internal energy is the total amount of all the potential and kinetic energy that a system has. The First Law of Thermodynamics states that the change in internal energy of a system equals the sum of the heat and work. Mr. Abud won teacher of the year so wasn't able to be with us for the last two days of the week, so I will have many questions based on what we learned next week.

Week 30

Week 30 was more continued studying of stoichiometry.  Monday we all tried each other's cookies that we made over the weekend.  Each of us had a different recipe that ended up having either too much, or too little of a certain ingredient.  These fluctuating amounts created disgusting cookies, except for one group's that were perfect.  One of the cookies had way too much salt, some had too much flour, and a few other different amounts of ingredients.  This cookie experiment relates to equations and balancing.  If the proportions are not exact, the result will not end up being what was planned.  There has to be the correct amount of each element to react properly with others.  As we continued the week, we continued with stoichiometry.  We really focused on the importance of proportions to predict the products that would be yielded in a reaction.  With these proportions, we also focused on the limiting and excess reactants in the reaction.  Depending on which reactant was in excess or limited would play a major role in the products.  We also learned about percent yielded, which is the percent of products yielded compared to the theoretical amount that could result from the reaction.  I feel very confident with the assessment we took at the end of the week since I really grasped the concept.

Week 29

It seems as though we did not make much progress in the 29th week of chemistry.  The week was slow, and continued to base our work around proportions.  In the beginning of the week, we ran through a bunch of different experiments, like burning magnesium, mixing lead nitrate and sodium iodide, putting aluminum foil in copper sulfate, and a few more.  The purpose of these experiments, though, was to learn more about the proportions.  The results of the reactions we caused wouldn't have happened if it weren't for us having the correct proportions of reactants.  With this increased work with proportions, we returned to our work with moles.  This work, however, came in a different format.  We now use moles with BCA Tables.  BCA stands for Before Change After.  We use these tables to track the transfer of moles of atoms of each element in a reaction.  We can also predict how much of one element with be used or produced based on the proportions in the equation.  This process of measuring chemical reactions is referred to as stoichiometry.  What we've done so far is just the beginning of stoichiometry and we will continue our work with it in days to come.  Before our assessment for the week, Mr. Abud proved to us in one more experiment the importance of proportions.  In a large water jug, he put ethanol in and swirled it around.  He then lit a match and dropped it in, causing the ethanol to ignite for a quick moment.  Then, he put in more ethanol than the first trial, and tried dropping in the match again, except there was only a flame at the top of the jug.  This is because there was not enough oxygen in the jug to react with the ethanol and create the same effect as the first trial.  Our assessment covered balancing an equation, and then making a BCA table to predict an outcome of a reaction.  I'm sure our study of stoichiometry will grow into much larger concepts.

Week 28

Week 28 in Chem was packed full of information. The week consisted of more practice balancing different types of reactions with an assessment at the end of the week to test our abilities. There are many different kinds of reactions, like single or double replacement reactions. With single replacement, one ion replaces the other in the formula and with double replacement, two ions replace two others in the formula. Two opposite reaction types, synthesis and decomposition, are also simple. With synthesis reactions, several reactants combine to make a single product. Decomposition reactions, though, are where one reactant decomposes into two or more products. Lastly, we practiced with combustion. Combustion is very simple, it is when a hydrocarbon reacts with oxygen to form H2O and CO2. Balancing equations is very simple once you understand that you just need to balance the number of atoms for each element. All the practice and chemquests/skill practices we did were very helpful. We did an experiment in which we placed a match next to a balloon filled with propane an oxygen gas. This ballon burst and made a very loud noise, shaking our room! We ended the week taking an assessment in which we balanced one of each type of reaction. I felt very prepared. After the assessment, Mr. Abud showed us a cotton cloth wrapped in string and covered in butane, then lit it on fire! He could hold the ball and let some of us hold it as well. We couldn't discuss it much because we ran out of time but I'm sure we will be this week.

Week 27

Week 27 in Chem was a bit frantic for us.  We didn't cover many new concepts that were much different than material we had already worked with.  We started the week doing an infographic regarding the nomenclature for compounds.  With whatever tools we wanted, we organized all the different rules for naming compounds that we know so far.  Also, we began a new system for blogging.  From now on we have blogging partners.  With these partners, we read, comment on, and "grade" each others blogs every week.  Once we covered these two tasks, we moved our class back into the classroom.  We started with a lab that took up two days.  In this lab, we combined calcium pebbles with hydrochloric acid in a flask.  This flask was connected to our trough system that fills the bell jar with any gas that's formed.  For this lab, we asked: What gas? How much gas? How does the flask feel? We concluded that it was H2 gas because of hydrogens diatomic structure, and came to make 0.258L of that gas.  We didn't get to finish discussing the lab the second day because we unfortunately ran out of time.  To finish off the week, Mr. Abud was out and we had a sub.  On that Friday we worked on chemquests that simply dealt with balancing equations and then moved onto the skill practice for it.  This week we didn't make very much progress in our studies, but it was an important week to be able to move on.

Week 26

Week 26 was probably the most in-depth weeks we've had all year. We began by starting our work with the transition metals and how to find their charge by using the compound that they're in. We found that if we determined the charge of the nonmetal in the compound, and divided it by the number of metal atoms, we'd find the positive charge of the transition metal. With this knowledge, we began our work with advanced ionic compounds. A polyatomic ion is an ion made of more than one nonmetal atom. There were 9 of these polyatomic ions that we were asked to memorize for our assessment. Polyatomics add the suffix "-ate" to any compound it's involved in(as long as there's an oxygen), such as sulfate, phosphate, or carbonate. We got a lot of time to work on chemquests and skill practices so that we could master the naming and writing formulas for these. Then we moved to all little practice with acids. Acids are ionic compounds that contain a hydrogen ion. We also did chemquests and skill practices practicing with naming acids. Our last day working on chemquests and skill practices was about transition metals and naming molecular compounds. There were a few distinct transition compounds that we worked with, silver, zinc, and cadmium. With this practice came our further study of ionic vs. molecular compounds. We determined that ionic compounds consisted of a metal and a nonmetal. There is an electron transfer that forms the bond. The molecular compounds, though, are between two nonmetals. The electrons are shared between the two cause the covalent bond. The electrons that are able to be shared in covalent bonds are the furthest from the middle of the atom. These electrons are called valence electrons. When naming molecular compounds we practiced with the same naming system that we used a while ago, using the prefixes such as "mono" and "tri". Finishing the week off, we took an assessment covering mainly the naming and writing formulas for ionic and molecular compounds, and also being able to distinguish between the two. I'm very confident with the assessment and look forward to see where we go next.

Week 25

Week 25 in chemistry was not very much of a week for me. I was only in class for 2 out of the 4 days, but was still able to learn plenty of valuable information that we will continue with for the next upcoming weeks. We started with a lab in which we placed copper chloride into H2O. In doing this, the once brownish copper chloride turned the H2O blue. This mixture was in the same type of trough that we used for electrolyzing H2O, so, we electrolyzed the solution. Up one test tube went a clear liquid, and the other was a bronze liquid, which we could identify as the copper. So what does all this mean? In doing this lab, we determined that if a compound is soluble in water, it will separate into its individual ions. Also, these individual ions would be affected by the polarity of the H2O. The copper was positive, and chlorine negative. So, the copper was attracted to the slightly negative oxygen in the H2O. The chlorine ions were attracted to the slightly positive hydrogen atoms of the H2O. We also know that some compounds are soluble, some aren't. Also that some compounds are polar, and others aren't. The last thing we took from this lab was the common phrase Like Dissolves Like. This states that in order to dissolve a polar compound, you need a polar solvent. You also require a non polar solvent to dissolve a non polar compound.
We were all asked to create electroscope. These electroscopes were simply made and showed whether an object had charge or not. My electroscope was a glass jar with a ballot aluminum foil on top. Sticking into the ball was a paper clip that went inside of the jar with two aluminum foil leaves hanging at the bottom. If a charged object was brought close to the ball, the leaves would separate and repel each other. Through induction these leaves would separate. The paperclip had a neutral charge throughout the entire thing. Once the charged object was brought near, the electrons would try and get as far away as possible. They moved down the paperclip causing an unbalance in the leaves. Now both leaves were negatively charged, so, they repelled each other. For such a short week in Chem, many important concepts were revealed which will continue to be a gateway through to many more additions of chemistry and our studies.

Week 24

Week 24 was a week that opened many doors for us in Chemistry. We began with a few new terms. First: polarized, which means that there's an uneven distribution of charge. Also we learned charge induction, which is when the arrangement of charged particles change to fit the charged object. Lastly we learned that a dipole is when there are 2 distinct regions of charge. Then we were introduced to the ion. An ion is a charged atom, which is caused by an electron transfer between atoms. Elements are neutral in their pure form until they become charged. If an ion has an electron deficit than it is positive, and if it has an electron surplus than it's negative. So, if an atom loses one electron through transfer, then it becomes a positive ion. If an atom gains 4 electrons in transfer, than it becomes a 4- ion. To form an ionic bond, a metal has to bond with a nonmetal. Also, the charge has to end up neutral when an ionic bond is formed. This means that the charges of one of the atoms cancels out the other. When naming an ionic compound, the metal (positive ion) comes first and then the nonmetal (negative ion) comes second. Also, the ending of the negative ion is replaced with "-ide". You can refer to the positive ion with "cation", and negative ion using "anion". Ionic charges are easy to remember using the periodic table and are shown in the photo. Knowing what we now know about ions and their pairing, we will be able to explore many new concepts of chemistry.

Week 23

This week in Chem, we tackled a whole new part of chemistry.  Particles that are smaller than the atoms themselves.  So far, we've begun to tackle the electron.  To introduce the concept at first, we did a very simple lab in which Mr. Abud rubbed a pen on his shirt, and circled it around a match balanced on a cologne bottle.  This match followed the pen with no contact! We determined that the match moved thanks to the electrostatic charge. By rubbing the pen on his shirt, he charged it and changed something about the particles that we do not yet know.  We did a small lab with two pieces of tape that were ripped from each other and put them near other objects to see if they'd attract or repel, and came to the conclusion that opposite charges attract, and same charges repel.  With the fact that there are things smaller than atoms, we needed a new way to draw particle diagrams.  We now use circles with dots in them to signify the electrons.  So, to differentiate between the negatively charged and positively charged objects, we have more electrons in the one that's negatively charged.  This follows the theory that we are going off of for particles.  The theory we use says that there's a surplus and deficiency of 1 single type of particle.  The other theory we are aware of is that there may simply be 2 types of particles, positive and negative, but we have no proof for that yet.  We also learned of a new property called conductivity.  Conductivity so far, means that the electrons can flow through.  So we played a game.  This game was called Will it Conduct?  In this game we had a small circuit consisting of three wires, two batteries and a light bulb.  We had the batteries connected to the lightbulb through the wires, but also connected some substance in the circuit to see if the lightbulb would still light up.  We concluded that all the metals would conduct, and nonmetals did not conduct.  There's still so much to learn in this unit and I look forward to discovering the more in-depth concepts.

Week 22

Week 22 was a little less about chemistry. We only had 2 full days and 3 half days, leaving us with only 3 chemistry classes. This week's schedule was because of the standardized testing that the juniors had to do. So, sophomores took the ACT Plan. I thought that the plan was very easy and I was in good shape for next years ACT. The juniors had more tests, though, which left us with a few half days. On these days we had classes 1-3 on one, and 4-7 on the other. Our chemistry consisted of continuing our work with balancing equations. We focused on using the importance of ratios to be able to balance equations. Using ratios and phrases like "combines with" along with small pictures, balancing equations is a piece of cake. As class ended, we started with the concept of moles and mass while balancing equations and how we can find those in the process.

Week 21

This week in Chem, we continued our exploration of counting particles. In the beginning of the week, we continued our work from last week counting the number of particles in a certain amount of something. To count these particles we use moles. We practiced by using dimensional analysis to make sure our units came to cancel out and leave us with whatever we needed to find. So we came to possibly one of the coolest experiments we've done so far, in my opinion at least. We electrolyzed water, separating molecules into hydrogen and oxygen gases. To do this, we had a trough filled with a sodium hydroxide solution and two prongs sticking in the water. We placed test tubes filled with water on each prong, and connected two wires to the bottoms of the prongs under the trough. These wires were connected to a genecon that we consistently spun. The test tubes began to fill with hydrogen gas in one, and oxygen gas in the other! We went until we had 7.0mL of hydrogen gas and 3.5mL of oxygen gas. This proportion also proves that the water formula is H2O. There was double the amount of hydrogen gas as oxygen gas. We could then find the number of particles by again doing the dimensional analysis to find how many moles in each. We found that there were 1.6x10^-4 moles of oxygen, and 3.2x10^-4 moles of hydrogen. Another proof of the formula for water, H2O! It shows us how the empirical formula works out to be H2O with double hydrogen as oxygen. We finished the week off with an assessment covering everything we've done the past 2 weeks, and I feel very comfortable with it. I'm starting to like how we're learning more like the other classes have and am curious to see how the rest of the year plays out.

Week 20

During week 20, we mainly worked with the concept of moles. At the beginning of of the week, though, we did the experiment lighting the magnesium on fire again. This time we finished it though and ended up concluding that the magnesium had gained mass from lighting it on fire. This means that the product must've taken in particles from the air. Then, indirectly we began working with moles. We started in class with six containers containing six materials in each. We were asked to then find the relative mass of each by comparing them all to one of the items. Mr. Abud then introduced the mole to us. A mole answers the question of "how many" and is equal to 6 x 10^23 particles. Also, molar mass is the mass of a substance on the periodic table except measured in grams. You can find the amount of molecules or weights of moles with various substances, and can make it easier if you incorporate the phrase "for every" while working with your information. The week was a bit repetitive, but was necessary to get the idea into our heads.

Week 19

Week 19 was an odd week for the Chem team. On Monday, we tried an experiment in which we mixed hydrogen chloride with a pebble of zinc to produce a gas. However, the experiment didn't produce any gas. So, the next day we tried the same experiment using a more potent hydrogen chloride. The two reactants were placed into a flask that was plugged with a stopper that connected it to a trough. We then had a bell jar in the trough filled with water. As the gas was produced, water left the bell jar until there was only gas left. We carefully removed the jar, trying to let the least amount of gas escape using a watch glass under it. To test if it was combustible, we lit a match and held it under the jar. Quickly removing the watch glass, the gas escaped and combusted down onto the table and made a popping noise. We found out that the gas produced here was hydrogen glass. We then moved to practicing balancing equations which is still very difficult for me. I will need more practice with it. While working with this concept we learned a few things. First, we know that the total number of particles in a closed system gets conserved which helps us balance equations. Then, we learned all the diatomic elements using an acronym. Dr. Hofbrincl, standing for: hydrogen, oxygen, fluorine, bromine, iodine, nitrogen, and chlorine. Finishing the week, Mr. Abud did an experiment for us lighting a piece of magnesium on fire. It was a very cool experiment, watching the magnesium ignite and get so bright so quickly. However, we didn't get to finish it and mass the magnesium afterwards. We would have had an assessment at the end of the week but had the pleasant surprise of a snow day!

Week 18

Week 18 continued with more in-depth learning of Unit 4 and studying properties of atoms, molecules, and elements. Starting off the week, we did an activity in the computer lab in which we went back to Dalton's experiments with phlogiston and oxygen, and discovering the fixed ratios of elements. We came to a few conclusions in class using what we did: 2 substances with the same properties have the same ratio, the mass of a solid lost is equal to the mass of a gas produced when heating, and there are fixed ratios within systems. We moved to more about diatomic elements and how we can tell they're diatomic. Like with hydrogen chloride. If 1 vol. of hydrogen is combined with 1 vol. of chloride, but 2 volumes are produced, then you know they're diatomic elements. Then we came to some conclusions. First, we know that substances and compounds are composed of individual particles. Substances are made out of elements or pure substances. Compounds, however, are made of multiple particles that are either the same or different. Lastly, we concluded that particles combine to form molecules. To end the week, we came to our final conclusion that diatomic elements stay diatomic until they have something to combine with. We had an assessment on Friday that I feel good about, and look forward to seeing my results.

Week 17

In the beginning of the week, we had a few educators from around the state come in and watch our class. They took videos and pictures of us and how we use technology in the classroom. The day that they were there, we were trying to figure out the percentage of water in a can of Pepsi. So we basically took a 100mL sample and distilled it. Unfortunately though, we didn't wait long enough for all the water to come out of it and when massing the Pepsi, we made some errors so it ruined the result. We couldn't accurately measure amount of water that came out. That day, we also learned what a colloid was. A colloid is a mixture in between a suspension and a solution. One that will not unmix by itself but is partially dissolved. We continued discussion about mixtures and compounds and the differences between the two. This took us to the concept of fixed ratios. The ratios of atoms in a mixture do not matter, while they do in a compound. If the ratios weren't the same in compounds then it wouldn't be the same molecule. From there, we moved to nomenclature. Nomenclature is the naming system for chemical compounds. There are a few rules we have to stick by like when there's only one atom of the first element, there's no need to say "mono" before. Rules such as this allow us to name compounds that we don't already know the name of. Also, there are two main classes of elements: metals and nonmetals. When naming two nonmetals, you need a prefix but with metals and nonmetals, you don't. Then we learned that there are some elements that are diatomic, which means they come in pairs. We finished the week learning that volume of a gas and number of particles is proportional. We have midterms coming up, and I'm extremely nervous for them. We'll see how it goes.

Week 16

In week 16 we started off finishing unit 3 then started unit 4. To finish unit 3, we came to some conclusions about the ice cream lab. When we did the lab, the arrangement of the ice particles was disrupted by the salt and changed. The salt raised the phase energy of the ice, then some thermal energy was transferred to the phase account of the ice as well. The cream then replenished the thermal energy of the ice, dropping the temperature and therefore producing ice cream! This then took us to two new concepts. Freezing point depression, which is the lowering of a freezing point of a substance by affecting phase energy. Also boiling point elevation, which is raising the boiling point of a substance by affecting phase energy. However I still do not understand the significance of these two concepts, but will find out this week. So then began unit 4. To start off the week, we did a small lab to introduce some new ideas. We were given a mixture of iron fillings, sand, seeds and salt that we had to separate. Starting off, we poured the mixture onto the table. Using a magnet to glide over the mixture, the iron fillings would attract and separate from the rest of the mixture. Next we put filter paper into a funnel and poured water and the mixture into a beaker. The mixture and water was then poured into the funnel, and the water would continue through the funnel into another beaker. The salt dissolved into the water when it was poured in, and would go into the other beaker through the funnel along with the water. The bird seed would be trapped on the filter paper, and once we took out the paper it could be easily separated. The sand stayed at the bottom of the beaker when we were pouring the water, and once all the water was gone the sand could simply be taken out of the beaker. All that was left was the salt dissolved in the water. To make things simple and working with our limited time, we left a small amount of water in a small dish overnight. When we came back the next day, the water was evaporated and salt was left in the dish. This lab started us off with learning about mixtures, compounds, and elements. A mixture is made of atoms and has a combination of two or more shared properties. Mixtures can also be separated based on physical properties. Compounds, though, are made of molecules and have different kinds of atoms. They can be separated based on chemical properties. Elements are made up of one type of atom. This upcoming week I'll try and further my understanding of these as the end of 1st semester approaches!

Week 15

Week 15 was one of the most fun weeks we've had in Chem so far this year. The week was composed of our soap projects and making ice cream. For the soap, we each brought in supplies and made Evernote presentations for the projects. We needed stuff like soap bases, fragrances, food coloring and some sort of mold. When making the soap, we used a melt and pour method. We melted the soap base until completely melted in a beaker on a hot plate, then mixed in fragrances and coloring. We stirred it and finally poured it into the molds and let them cool over night. Simple as that! Each group presented their projects acting as a company with a logo and history. It was a very cool, simple, and fun project to do. The ice cream making was a surprise on our last day before break. Using simple ingredients like ice, salt, vanilla, milk, sugar, and whipping cream, we easily made vanilla ice cream. In the gallon zip lock bag, we put in ice and salt. Then on the inside of that bag went a quart size zip lock bag filled with the rest of the ingredients. Making sure both bags were tightly sealed, we shook the bags for about 10 minutes to get the finished product. Unfortunately, though, we didn't have enough time for ice cream, but still ended up with a delicious milkshake! Week 15 in Chem was a great way to begin our Christmas Break.