ChemThink gases

Yesterday in chemistry, we went over our new unit, which will end on Friday the 17th with the unit test. After that, we went on the computers to do a ChemThink on the properties of gases. We learned that gas atoms can be affected by temperature as well as size, which changes their speed. We also learned that the pressure of a gas equals its force divided by area. Pressure is caused by gas atoms' impact on the sides of their container. Pressure goes up as the temperature rises due to the fact that there are more collisions, and that they're more forceful. Also, as the number of atoms rises, the pressure rises because there are more collisions. As the volume of the container increases, the pressure goes down because there are less collisions. So overall, we looked at four properties of gases: temperature, pressure, number of atoms, and volume.

Finishing up the Lab

The class today was in a fairly good mood when Mr. Lieberman started us off by congratulating Kathryn on her wonderful scribe post and notified me about mine. We continued to talk about the blog and functions such as the photo issue that is now resolved, and immediately after, went to finish the "Observation Lab."

We were told to complete part B of the experiment by creating our own experiments to discover what reagents, when mixed together, caused certain reactions. Of course, we were told to record all observations in our handy "Scientific Lab Notebooks." My lab group, and most other lab groups, executed a total of five experiments and for some, more than that. It was fairly easy work, and the results were astonishing. For example, when the four reagents, sodium bicarbonate, calsium chloride, water, and phenol red, were combined in the plastic bag, we came up with an opaque, yellow, fizzy liquid (shown in the picture). Very interesting stuff. Aside from the two glass beakers shattering on the floor, all went well.

The class, at their own desks, took up netbooks and registered themselves to ChemThink, in order to complete the assignment Mr. Lieberman assigned.

Homework: ChemThink and worksheet "Particulate Nature of Matter," and the eight Post Lab Questions.

Pretty easy day, it was very relaxed and enjoyable. Who knew Mr. Lieberman was into Weezer?

The next Student Scribe is Brandon L.