At Home

As I have been learning more and more about half lives and have been preparing for our unit test, I have had a great amount of struggle in memorizing the methods. There are a few ways this can be approached, and I did not fully understand the explanation in class. I did, however, find this link that was very helpful in working out these problems. Now, I will be more prepared for our unit test that includes half life problems. Here is the link for the problems I found! http://www.chemteam.info/Radioactivity/Radioactivity-Half-Life-probs1-10.html

Monday and Tuesday in Class

Over the past two day in class, we have been working on an archeology lab that requires us to deal with half lives. On Monday all we got done was cutting out the 567 squares that represented atoms from the radioactive remains from deer hunter's discovered skeleton. We are trying to determine which of the missing persons match the skeleton found based on the decay of the skeletal remains. Outside of class, we were required to conduct the experiment in which we shook the box of the 567 squares and took out the squares that landed on the colored side. Each time we would count this number of squares then do the same for the squares remaining in the box. Today in class we were able to put together our graph and determine the missing person off of our decay results. I found this very interesting that a small system like this would be able to match a deceased person to their identity. Here are pictures through the process of taking out the colored squares and counting them.

Thursday in Class

Today in class we began to learn about the radioactivity of many nuclei. We were given the three different types were alpha, beta and gamma. One very helpful concept we learned while calculating these three is that the two daughters in the equation will always add up to the parents.
Alpha is shown by 4 He
                                                 2
Beta is shown by 0 e
                                            -1
And gamma is shown by 0Y
                                                                 0

Here is a helpful chart  we made in class for remembering the differences between the three types

One very helpful concept we learned while calculating these three is that the two daughters in the equation will always add up to the parents. So, this picture shows alpha radiation because there is the 4He, and you can also notice that the 2 and 86 add up to be 88 and at the same time 4 and 218 add up    2 to be 222. These concepts are much easier now that i was shown how simple it is to just add them up. We also learned how to predict the daughters when we know the parent and the type of radiation. Just take the parent function and add or subtract the numbers corresponding with the radiation. This is what it would look like and all there is to do is find the number that will add together with the decay  to equal the parent. In this problem, the ? would end up being 234 Th
                                                                                                    90

It is also important to remember to change the element letter if you notice that there is a change in the proton count, or the bottom number!

A helpful video that breaks down writing the formulas is: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry/nuclear-chemistry/radioactive-decay/v/alpha-beta-and-gamma-decay
                                                                                         

9/22/15 Today in Class

Since we have been discussing things such as the abundance and average atomic mass, today in class we applied what we have learned through lab called Beanium. At first, to get into the lab, we had to answer a pre-lab question in which we had to calculate the average atomic mass when we were given the mass and the percent abundance. Thankfully, the pre-lab question was much easier than I expected and I was able to participate in the lab. I thought the lab was very straightforward and relatively easy to conduct; it did not take us hardly any time to finish since all we had to do was weigh and do calculations. It was nice to be able to incorporate a lab into what we have been learning and see how the concepts are used even through beans.

Here is a link to explain and practice the formula and how to calculate average atomic mass!
http://www.chemteam.info/Mole/AverageAtomicWeight.html

9/21/15 In Class

Today during class we began reviewing and learning more about the modern concept of the atomic structure and isotopes. Some of the material, such as basic concepts about protons, neutrons, and electrons, I was already familiar with. However, it was very refreshing to review these small pieces as we transitioned into learning about isotopes. During the review questions in class, I had some difficulty understanding and completing an isotope notation, but now that I have done some extra review, I am much more confident and comfortable with the material. I had some confusion between the mass number and atomic number, but now that I have that clarified, it is much easier to comprehend these notations. In class we also learned how to calculate weighted averages, which I didn't find extremely challenging since it is based of a  formula. As we practice with these in class, I am hoping I am able to complete these problems in the smallest amount of time possible and with minimal obstacles. This simple diagram shows the basics that we have been applying in class

I also found a very helpful video for the average atomic mass calculation, which I was slightly confused on. This video clarified in easy to understand steps how to complete this process. 

average atomic mass youtube

http://pad2.whstatic.com/images/thumb/0/0f/Find-the-Number-of-Protons,-Neutrons,-and-Electrons-Step-5.jpg/670px-Find-the-Number-of-Protons,-Neutrons,-and-Electrons-Step-5.jpg

Thursday in Class

Since we have been learning about atoms and molecules in class this week, we are also going to expand our knowledge as we apply it to astronomy. We are beginning a project that we have to create an online data base which tracks the Elements in the Stars. I have never been very interested in astronomy and it has been a topic I typically avoid, especially since it is not something that I can physically study and observe often. I am hoping this project sparks my interest a little more and I am able to learn a great amount from it. From the little research I have done, it seems that the project will associate fusion, which I believe was covered in the pre-test we took. Hopefully we learn more about this process in class and I am able to apply it easily to this project. Here is a link to the video and text that has given me some background to my project. The Elements: Forged in Stars

During class

Now that we have started a new unit, we have started learning about new things involving the Atomic Theory and Nuclear Chemistry. Yesterday, one of the new theories we learned about was Dalton's atomic theory, the Law of Constant Composition, as well as experiments conducted by JJ Thompson and Rutherford. I found it very interesting to see who was able to come up with these theories, and the process of how we were able to obtain knowledge on atoms overall. I am looking forward to being able to concrete these theories and applying them also. I found this timeline that was extremely useful to summarize the actions of each individual, and I will be referencing this frequently until i have fully memorized the process.

https://2011modelsa.wikispaces.com/file/view/timeline.jpg/259066848/968x578/timeline.jpg

Here is a video that further explains the models and how the structure of the atom was determined!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Us5PTb4J8

9/15/15 during class

Today during class we took a pre-test on different atomic structures and radioactivity. Unfortunately, I struggled a lot and knew little to none of the material on the test. This does mean, however, that I have a lot to learn this unit. I think I will be learning much more this chapter compared to the other since I did have some of a background to it beforehand. This excites me to see how much new ground I will be covering through this next unit. I also found this diagram that could potentially help me in underlying knowledge for this upcoming unit. Although it is fairly simple, I think it could get me a good head start for the first lecture.

I have found a video that covers what I found on the test and what I believe we will be covering in class soon!

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry/atomic-structure-and-properties/introduction-to-the-atom/v/atomic-number-mass-number-and-isotopes

Naming binary compounds

Another topic we have been covering during in class is how to name the three types of binary compounds. At first, I struggled memorizing the process as to how to name each type, but I found this helpful flowchart to help me study! With the naming broken down into simple steps and drawn out like this, it was much easier for me to remember the process.

Now I can use this flowchart in my head when going through any binary compound problems in the future without having any problems.

Naming Acids!

Lately, we have been learning how to properly name different things in chemistry. One of the topics we have covered is how to name acids! I found this very helpful flowchart that makes it much easier to go through the steps of successfully naming these acid!

One other helpful saying that we learned in class was "no o hydro". I found this saying to easily stick in my mind and it is a very effective saying when trying to memorize naming acids!

I also was able to find a simple youtube video that went step by step to refresh my memory in the steps of naming an acid!

That video can be reached by this link:

naming acids