SG Chem Reflection Week 7

The week started off by learning how to name ionic compounds.  As our studies continued with this subject, we learned the difference of naming between ionic and covalent compounds.  In addition, we learned how to created compounds just using their name by knowing the charge of the element.  Therefore, this blog will tie all of theses topics together and expand off of each idea.

Cation ions- elements with a positive charge in the periodic table.  In addition to positive elements, there are also transition elements which can have two different positive charges.
Anions- elements with negative charges in the periodic table.  There are no transition elements in the category of anions.
Ionic Compounds- Formed by a metal and a nonmetal. You write ionic compounds with the metal in front. An easy way of knowing if an element is a metal or not is by looking at the periodic table.  There is a section that is divided off by a line which tells you which elements aren't metals.  Here is an example of the table.

Another factor we had to learn is knowing how to name ionic elements that form multiple ions.  Here is a photo of elements that can have multiple ions.  Looking at this table, it was very easy to comprehend how to name the elements with multiple charges.  When we were going through the problems in class, using the full periodic table was very helpful.  Throughout the unit, I continued to use this sheet to determine the charges of each of the problems and understand how elements around them relate to each other by charges. 

When you are dealing with theses transition elements, you have to know how to label which charge 

you are using for the specific ionic compound.  You label the change depending on the amount of charge is being applied to the element. The amount of charge is shown with a roman numeral.  Here is a chart from one of the worksheets were were completing about naming ionic compounds with multiple ions.  After understand the topic that roman numerals determine the charge of the atoms, naming the compounds and finding the correct calculations for the compound is  very simple task to handle. 

Covalent or Molecular compounds-  A combination of elements that are only nonmetals.  Theses compounds require a prefix in front of the second element name.  If you have 3 elements of the second element, "tri" will go infant of the name of the second element name.  If there is only one element in the first element listed, the it doesn't start with "mono", but if the second element only has one element, then "mono" goes in front of the second element name. In my opinion, the most important thing to know about using prefixes is they only apply for molecular/covalent compounds. Here  is the list of prefixes.  

Going off of each of theses topics, another study we have learned is how to determine how many atoms and how many ions are in an element compound.  In some of the problems, we are given the element name only and we have to determine the elements used and the formula to determine the amount of ions and atoms in the compound.  When you are determining atoms, we look at the total amount of elements used in the compound equation.  When you are determining the amount of ions, we determine the amount of single elements. Here are a few examples of problems when we use the study of the previous topics to find the amount of atoms and ions. 

Finally, the last thing we did this week was the review guide.  A few important concepts that we will need to know for the test is what happens to the conductivity through solids and liquids.  On question 6 of the review guide, it asks us why sugar doesn't conduct electricity but salt does.  Salt conducts electricity because the ionic combination of NaCl has a metal (Na or sodium).  Due to the fact we know all metals conduct electricity, we know salt does.  The covalent compound of C12H22O11 doesn't conduct electrify because it doesn't have ions so it is a neutral compound which doesn't conduct electricity.  In addition, if sugar or salt was in a liquid, it would never conduct because electrons never go through water.  Atoms need to be added and subtracted to cause some type of reaction and water is a neutral so that is not possible.  

Other Notes to Remember From the Review Guide

• Chloride ions are non-metal and have more electrons than protons which makes it negative.  Therefore, it has a negative charge. 
• Postive ions have fewer electrons than neutral atoms, negative ions have more electrons than neutral atoms.  
• We use the term formula unit instead of molecule because the formulas unit is the smallest whole number ration of a charge that gives you a neutral. 
• Molecules apply to non-ions
• Molecules cannot be ions or have an ionic bond
• CO2 has a covalent bond because they are both non-metals
• SnO2 has an ionic bond because tin (Sn) is a metal.
• Going back to the Sticky-Tape lab, the pieces of tape will not exert a force when they are stuck together because they will have the same amount of change and same amount of atoms. 
• Remember the top tape is positive and when they are separated, the top tape only has 2 atoms in each circle an the bottom tape is negatively charged with 4 atoms in each circle. 

The worksheets and information that helped me the most was understanding the background information.  Being able to comprehend the definitions and ways to use cations, anions, molecular and ionic bonds is very useful information to be able to use when finishing different problems.  The one topic that confused me was being able to understand when to use parentheses.  After asking questions to my classmates and Dr. J, I am able to successfully use parentheses in the correct places.  Therefore, asking questions and using the intelligence of my peers has helped my understand immensely important topic.

SG Chem2 week 6

The week started off with a lab labeled Sticky Tape Activity. We were instructed to place 2 pieces of tape on top of each other which would cause them to have a charge.  Then we placed them next to pieces of tape hanging from a beam.  There is a bottom and a top tape that are changed and that have been hanging. We noticed that the bottom tape was attracted to the top tape and the top tape was attracted to the bottom tape.  Therefore, we can make the simple conclusion that opposites attract.  Here are a few tables that allowed us to comprehend the lab very easily.

Another worksheet we did which was based on the Sticky Tape Activity, was the Post-Lab worksheet. This worksheet was based on the topic of atoms and their physical appearances throughout the lab. It is also another way of showing how the atoms inside the tape change and move around as the lab goes on.  Even though I am still slightly confused on this topic, it was easier to comprehend the idea after we could see the physical change in atoms.  Here are examples of the atoms we drew in class. Theses photos show how the atoms in in tapes change as they get closer to one another.  

As we continued our studies throughout the week, we accomplished the learnings from the Electrolysis of CuCl2 Lab. We worked the positive and negative side of our experiment.  The clarify the understanding from this experiment, we are going to learn what happened when chlorine and copper is combined.  In the experiment, the chlorine went to the positive side and the copper went to the negative side of the electors.  Therefore, we can come to the conclusion that copper is positively charged because it was attracted to the negative side.  In the previous experiment, opposites attract.  In addition, chlorine is negatively charged because it was attracted to the positive side.   After we let the experiment sit over night then start running again a few hours before class, we noticed some amazing changes in the experiment from the pervious day.  The first day we started the experiment, we only noticed the smell of chlorine and the bubbles it was forming.  On the next day, we noticed the red copper physically forming on the negative side of the experiment.  In addition, the color change from the chlorine.  The experiment went from blue to a yellowish/greenish.  To have a visual representation of the second day of the experiment, here is a photo of the experiment.  

 The last worksheet we were assigned this week was titled Chemistry-Unit 6 Worksheet 1.  We are working with the specific formulas of different molecules together.  Once we found the formulas and particle diagrams and found different patterns betters the numbers and formulas.  We can conclude that there are hidden numbers at the top of the periodic table that can be helpful to us.  Here is how we filled out the periodic table after finding theses numbers from the patterns in the formals.

Using the numbers on top of the element columns, we can find the formula for any given element compound.  

SG Chem Reflection Week 5

This week we have had a homework assignment that was due Monday, a quiz, review guide and a final test on Friday.  Throughout this more stressful week, we began with the continuous study of mole conversations, finding atoms, and the amount of a specific element in a compound.  Along with theses studies, we have been able to expand our knowledge further than just the basics of each of theses topics. Starting with the beginning of the week we were able to comprehend how to find the amount of moles in a compound given a mass.

After completing the homework from the previous weekend that was due Monday, I felt more confident understanding how to complete the concept of finding moles due to the fact I was able to get a majority or the answers correct.  One of the more common questions on the worksheet but with more challenging numbers and a more challenging compound was number 9.  This problem allowed us to expand our knowledge on calculating moles and finding atoms in a given compound.  Therefore, this is how the chemical equation would be set up for problem 9.

After we were given the review guide, we managed to go over the answers as a class.  Without white boarding out all the answers, we managed to have the correct answers due to the fact the review guide was given to us on Moodle.  Beginning with definitions and ending with percentages, we covered everything we learned over the unit.  The newest lesson we were introduced to was the empirical and molecular formula.  Defining the empirical formula is only based on the data in specific situations.  On the other hand, the molecular formula is the same as or multiple of the empirical formula.  In most situations, you will have two or more elements with a given amount of mass, then you will use the mole conventions for each substance.  Therefore, you will use the periodic table to find the atomic mass for each substance and solve the equation like a regular mole problem.  Next, use the lowest number and divide each of the answers found to complete the problems.  After figuring out what the answer is after dividing the lowest number, is it a simple task to find the empirical formula.  For example, if the number is one, then you only have on of the certain substance.  Below is a visual example of how to use the empirical formula.  

Beginning the topic of molar mass was also a simple lesson to handle.  Due to the fact the molar mass of a compound is the atomic number of each substance added together.  A few examples of finding the molar masses in each compound is NaCl.  To find the correct molar mass, you add the atomic number of Na which is sodium to the atomic number of Cl which is chlorine.  Here are a few examples of the compounds from the review guide and calculating there molar masses.  

Finally the last unit we touched base on this week was the molecular formula.  Combining the topic of empirical formula and the molar mass, you have the ability to come the conclusion on the molar mass.  The empirical formula is the compound you are able to come to the conclusion on after using the mol formulas. Then after finding the molar mass of the compound, you divide the original mass given by the molecular formula.  Then you use that number to multiply the empirical formula after simply divided the molar mass by the original mass. 

SG Chem Reflection week 4

Throughout the process of studying unit 5,  I have definently continued to struggle with the chemical equations and setting them up correctly.  Thankfully, as the week progressed and the amount of practice worksheets we have received have helped immensely.  By the time the bell rang on Friday, I had a confident understanding of how to find the amount of atoms and moles in a substance.  In addition, I also realized how to set up the chemical equations for each problem and how they are similar.  I am also able to easily figure out the information and specific numbers needed to complete the problems to calculate the correct answers.  

In my opinion, my favorite worksheet we did was the Unit 5 Worksheet 2 with sample containers.  This is the worksheet we completed on Friday and every group had to do a different problem and present their thoughts in front of the class.  When I was first given our problem, I couldn't remember how to start it.  After a few groups presented incorrectly, we were shown how we were doing the problems wrong and what we need to do to fix them.  At this time, there was about three more groups that had to present and once they set up their chemical equations and information correctly, it became very simple how to complete each of theses problems and find the correct answer.  Here are a few examples of how to set up the problems correctly.

This is an example of a problem when you are asked the find the amount of atoms.  We know this because you are using the chemical conversion of 6.02*10^23 over 1 mole.  If you just wanted to find the moles of the problem, you would not need to multiply the chemical equation by the last ratio which is 6.02*10^23 over 1 mole. 

In this problem, we are being asked how many hydrogen moles are in the problem.  We are able to notice this because there is 8 moles of hydrogen over 1 mole because we have 8 hydrogens in the chemical compound.  In my opinion, this concept is slightly harder to remember how to do it because we do not practice is as much as we do finding the moles and atoms.  

A simple way to study this concept is by making a check list of things to do for each predicament.  

Finding Moles:

1. Find the mass and do the mass(g)*(times) and a line.  

2.  Put the same units you used for the mass on the bottom of the line and write 1 mole of the chemical compound on top of the line.  We do this because we are good chemistry students who keep track of their units. 

3.  Due to the fact we will have a chemical compound of some sort, we have to find the atomic number and add them together.  The example we will use for the chemical compound is NaO3.  Because we have 3 oxygen atoms, we have to multiply the atomic number of oxygen by 3.  

4.  Now you may be wondering why we have to find this number and how the final chemical equation will look.  Using the example of 4.123 of the mass, this is how the final chemical equation finding the amount of moles will look.  You will notice the units cancel out because I am a good chemistry student. Therefore, this is how we calculate the amount of moles in a specific chemical compound with a specific mass. 

Finding Atoms:

1.  We are going to use the same mass and chemical compound in the checklist for finding moles. There is only one step we have to add when finding atoms.  But first, we need the information from the previous equation. Due to the fact we need the amount of moles to find the amount of atoms, this is the information needed from the previous equation.

2.  Now we use the moles we found in equation one to set up a new ratio.  When you are finding atoms, we always use 6.02*10^23 over "x" moles.  The "x" moles is the moles we found the the previous equation which in this case is 0.581 moles.  This is how the next equation would be set up below.

3.  To finally solve the problem for atoms, we would plug into the calculator 4.123* 6.02*10^23/70.99/0.581.  Because I am a good chemistry student, I cancel my units out and left with atomsNaO3. 

Finding the amount of moles of a specific element:

1. Going off of the problems above, we are going to be solving the amount of oxygen moles in the problem.  To do this, we need two pieces of information from the equations used to find the amount of moles.  We need the mass and the amount of grams all the elements added together equal. 

2.  With information, we are going to add another conversion ratio.  Due to the fact, we are finding the amount of oxygen and we have three atoms in the compound, we use the ratio 3 mole of O divided by 1 mole. 

3.  You finish the problem by plugging this into the calculator: 4.123*1*3/70.99/1=.1742 moles of oxygen in the problem. 

With this information and step by step explanations and examples, it make solving theses problems much easier.  When you use the chemical equations and conversions, it makes finding the correct solutions easier to understand.  In addition, it helps set up the equations for future problems.  

SG Chem Reflection week 3

Throughout the week, we have finished our studies on Unit 4.  Due to the fact that we had a test on Wednesday, we focused on reviewing Monday and Tuesday.  We were given a sheet titled Distillation of Acetone and Water. This is a sheet that shows how to graph the change is substances after they are chemically combined.  The sheet was used as a guide to help the class with the graphing problems on the review guide because we have not gone over this topic in class. After we comprehended how to graph the chemical change in substances, we white-boarded them out.  On Tuesday, we white-boarded out the entire review guide and discussed the differences we had in answers between the table groups.  On Wednesday, we didn't touch base with any new topics because we were testing.   Thursday was an important day because we were introduced to a whole new unit.  Unit 5 is all about relative mass.  Beginning a new concept is always challenging, but I am looking forward to comprehending the new unit.  As the unit progresses,  hopefully, I will be more comfortable calculating relative mass.

The Distillation of Acetone and Water worksheet acted as an example worksheet in order to understand the concept because we have not touched based with his in class. We needed this worksheet to be able to complete the graphs on the back of the review guide.  After everyone completed the graphs on the back of the review sheet, we white boarded them out and compared them to the other table groups in the class.  The graphs looked relatively the same therefore, it allowed me to observe everyone in the class understood this concept.  When you have a boiling point at a specific temperature, the line on the graph will be horizontally straight.  Until you get to the boiling point of the next substance, the line increasing diagonal.  Once you have reached the next boiling point, the line is straight horizontal.  This is an image of the last 2 problems on the review guide which reviews graphing boiling points.

The next assignment we had of the week was white boarding the review guide.  Every concept on the review guide we have seen in class.   Therefore, white boarding them to compare answers was not extremely difficult because we have touched base on all the topics.  Here are a few examples of white boarded review guides from other groups.  

When we compared review guides and had different answers, we would discuss it is as a class and find the right answer to each of the problems as a class.  This technique was very helpful because we were able to hear various reasonings for several problems.

Due to the fact we tested on Wednesday, we started our new unit on Thursday.  We started unit 5 off with a complicated worksheet.  In my opinion, the whole concept of unit 5 is challenging; but I also need to take into consideration we have only been studying this material for two days.  The purpose of the worksheet we were given on Thursday was to determine the relative mass of different kinds of hardware to learn to count by finding the mass.   Therefore, the first thing we did for this worksheet was find measurements of washers, hex nuts and bolts plus the container.  The measurements we found helped up answer 5 questions on the worksheet.  Concluding the worksheet was done by knowing if you can count by weighing or not. My conclusion statement agreed that we can count by weighing.  An example of how we know this is because we wanted to figure out how many packing peanuts were in a bag.  We measured the weight of the bag and the weight of a packing peanut and were able to find the amount of packing peanuts in one bag.   Throughout the worksheet we were given on Thursday, this is the concept we learned but to a greater extent. 

Hoping things would we easier on Friday, we were given another worksheet with a different concept. First we had to make a particle drawing when the pressure is 1.43g/liters of oxygen and 0.089 g/liters of hydrogen and find how much more massive oxygen is than hydrogen.  This is particle drawing of the problem with an explanation.  

The next problem we were given began with this table below. 

As you can see next  to the numbers in the second column, the numbers are being divided by 12.5 for each elements in order to get the answer to the third column.  Then you can notice how the third column is multiplied but 2 in order to find the answer for the last column.  This concept seemed fairly simple once it was explained, but as we notice for the element of silver, we still dived the second column by 12.5 but instead of the formula being AgO like the rest of the elements are, the formula for finding the answers are Ag2O.  You can see where the formulas are for the rest of the elements before the numbers in the second column.  

This week was relatively stressful due to the fact we had a test and stated a new unit.  The new unit is extremely complicated to understand but I hope it becomes easier after our knowledge expands. Due to the fact I have been struggling with Unit 5, I tried to teach myself a few things by going to this website http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_gateway_pre_2011/chemical/reactingmassesrev1.shtml. 

Throughout the next week, I plan on comprehending Unit 5 to the best of my ability.  

SG chem week 2

Throughout this week, the main conclusion I made is the difficulty level during the assignments increased rapidly as the week progressed.  During the beginning of the week, we were given readings about different scientific theories.  One of the readings we were assigned to talk-to-the-text (underline and make comments about the important parts of the reading) was a reading titled Matter by Anthony Carpi.  In my opinion, this was my favorite thing learning this week because I now have a better understanding of the process the scientists had to go through in order to make the conclusions we are taught today.  The reading focuses on the differences in atoms from the scientists who built the foundation for the theory of atoms.  I will be focusing on reflecting on the process to discover oxygen.  The first scientist that started this process is Empedocles, who lived between the time period of 492 BCE and 432 BCE.  Throughout his studies and experiments, the main conclusion he resulted was that all matter was composed of four elements which were fire, air, water and earth. Even though this isn't the overall theory taught today, Empedocles ideas lead to amazing discoveries by other scientists because it supported the idea that pure materials were composed by various different elements.  With this information, Democritus's came up with the theory that atoms could not be destroyed.  "Democritus theorized that atoms were specific to the material that they made up." Sadly, this theory wasn't approved by other scientists.  Evangelista Torricelli proved that air had weight which lead to the invention of the barometer.  Due to this discovery, they realized if air had weight but we couldn't see, smell or taste it, it had to be constructed by physical particles.  Daniel Bernoulli used this information to conclude that "air and gas have tiny particles that are loosely packed in an empty space of volume." One of the most interesting things that happened thought the reading was that a scientist used theses particles to create a gas.  Priestly started his process by experimenting with Mercury calx.  He discovered that when this substance was heated, it turned into mercury which was a silver metal liquid and a strange gas. Once Priestly realized the strange gas was released, he carefully collected it and continued testing.  After placing a mouse inside a container with the "strange gas" he discovered the mouse was able to live longer than a mouse in ordinary air.  With this information, Antoine Lavoisier renamed the gas oxygen.  Understanding absorbing this amount of information may be challenging, I made a timeline which helped me get a visual of the main goals theses scientists accomplished.

The second reading we were giving was titled The Race for Iodine.  We were assigned a question sheet to answer about facts about the scientists that were involved in this scientific race.  In my opinion, this reading was not as interesting as Matter, but I did learn about other scientific discoveries and different scientists. From my perspective the most impressive fact in this article was that the English scientistic Davy discovered nitrous oxide (laughing gas) when he was only 21.  In addition, his family didn't have money when he was growing up and he never had an actual education.  To have the ability to accomplish what he did at such a young age is beyond extravagant.  http://mxplx.com/meme/1443/ This website also helped simplify The Race for Iodine.

As the week progressed, the worksheets increased in difficulty.  Throughout the worksheet, we had to figure out the answers to problems based on their compounds with different elements. The first step we had to do in the worksheet was determine the value of the ratio of mass O divided by mass C.  "O" stands for oxygen and "C" stands for carbon because we were given the compounds of carbon and oxygen.   In each problem, we are given 2 compounds; A and B.  You determine the ratio in each compound by using the formula above, mass O divided by mass C.  Then we have the information needed to determine the differences between the ratio of the two compounds.  Now for the challenging part of the problems, putting the information we found into a particle drawing.  After it was explained the process became easier to comprehend.  

In Hypothesis 1, we are given the scenario that carbon and oxygen have the same mass.  To explain how I concluded in hypothesis one, box one is because with the numbers that were given to us, the mass ratio from compound A was 1.33 which is also 4/3 and the mass in ratio in compound B is 2.66 or 8/3.  Therefore,  for compound A in the first box, we can conclude that for ever 3 carbon atoms, there will be 4 oxygen atoms.  In the second box which is compound B, we can determine from the previous problem that for every 3 carbon atoms, there will be 8 oxygen atoms.  Now looking at the second column, we are given the scenario that oxygen is going to be heavier than carbon.  The first box is the atoms compared to each other.  Compound B box is interesting because 8/3 is twice as much as 4/3 which is why there is two oxygen for every one carbon atom.  

Surprisingly, the last worksheet of the week was fairly simple to make conclusions and determine the correct answer. Studying how sugar is made up of and how the amount of different elements can make 2 different types of sugar the same was our assignment.  In all of the problems, we were given a total mass and different amount of mass each element made up. We were assigned to find the percentage each element made up of the total mass. Throughout the different problems, the numbers changed slightly.  As a class, we made the conclusion that if one problem has the same percentages for the same element as another problem, then they are the same.  

SG Chem 2 Blog Week 1

Throughout the week, there has been several class discussions about atoms, particles and molecules. As we progressed in our learnings, we discovered how theses different topics could lead to so many more.  In addition to the particles in general, we learned various ways to combined them and what the combinations are scientifically called.  On the topic of combining, there is also a way to separate particles, elements and atoms after they have been combined.  During the process of learning how to label a particle, element, atoms and what they lead to, we also learned how to draw them and table them depending on there shapes and connections in the particle drawings. Going in depth even further, we focused on using this process with actual elements.  For example, water is a element combination of Hydrogen and Oxygen.  We now the have the knowledge to comprehend how the elements are combined and what they look like.

At the beginning of the week, we were given a worksheet titled the Classification of Matter.  Throughout this work sheet, we focused on identifying how you can determine a pure substance, mixture, elements and compounds from a picture and title of the picture.  The first comparison we did was pure substances and mixtures. Pure Substances are compared to mixtures.
Pure Substance: A material that is composed of only one type of particle.

Mixture: A substance made by mixing other substances together.

The next comparison is Elements or Compounds.  A simple way to realize this is how the particles are labeled.
Element:  An element is composed of atoms that have the same atomic number, that is, each atom has the same number of protons in its nucleus as all other atoms in that element.

Compound:A substance formed when two or more substances are chemically bonded together.  

Throughout the process of learning about the topics of theses different combinations of elements, we learned that there is specific scientific guidelines when combining them.  For example, there is a chemical and physical way of combinding elements.  The easiest way to remember what can be separated physically is knowing compounds and mixtures can only be separated.  Compounds are separated chemically. Compound and chemical start with the letter "C" which is how I remember how compounds have to be separated.  Mixtures on the other hand can be separated physically or chemically.  In the process of learning how real elements can be represented as a mixture and compound was taking our pervious knowledge to the next level.

This example helped the class with the rest of the worksheet which was determining mixtures, pure substances, compounds and elements from pictures.  This concept was challenging because I am still new to this science subject.  An example of one of the problems is shown below.

Now beginning the final topic we discussed over the week is combining real elements.  In most cases, we are given two elements and we have to combine them to create another existing element. Personally, figuring out the particle drawings for water was the easiest problem for me because we know the formula and from previous knowledge, figuring out how many hydrogen particles are needed for one oxygen particle was simple based on the formula H2O.  The number "2" stands for two hydrogen particles for every one oxygen particles.  One of the easiest ways to understand this concept is by showing the particle drawing equation.  

Another example of this topic being used is by the creation of ammonia.  Ammonia is created by nitrogen and hydrogen.  The real question is how much nitrogen and hydrogen is needed to create another element.  Throughout this worksheet, the number of boxes over the element helps us comprehend the chemical equations and final particle drawings.  

At the beginning of the week, we were just learning what an atom and particle was, and by the end of the week, we are able to understand how to come up with equations and particle drawings of chemical compounds.  As we were learning this concept, I was confused on the process and wanted more information about elements in general.  I went to this website http://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/topicreview/bp/ch2/mixframe.html, which allowed me to comprehend the subject successfully.  The worksheets and practice problems provided for us this week is extremely helpful for me.  To really understand a topic, I like to have an immense amount of practice problems.  As of right now, I don't have many questions about the subject because I feel confident with my answers on the worksheets.  On the other hand, it would help to have more problems combining actual elements like we did on the last worksheet of the week.  Overall, I feel more confident then I did at the beginning of the week on the topic of elements, atoms, particles, mixtures, compounds, physical combinations, physical separations, chemical combinations, and chemical separations.