Friday 3/21/14

Oh the week before spring break. Always a struggle.
These past few weeks I have learned that waking up on a Saturday morning for the Chemical Olympiad is a part of the AP Chemistry course. (#nerdstruggles). I learned there that I am actually a bigger nerd than I thought. I have also continued learned about equilibrium, chemistry style (different than biology style). And in government, we are learning about the realities of stock investing. You'd be happy to know that in "The Stock Game," I have invested in Starbucks.

I have recently completed BOTH of my books for English and their corresponding tests. Comer has not been easy on us lately, so I have also completed TWO more timed writings. This is exciting because I can now write a decent five paragraph essay in less than 40 minutes.

I plan to finish this monsterous 10 page packet you assigned and the next UT homework over the spring break...somehow. I also plan to get through the next days full of two practices before we leave for STATE! I plan on doing well, even with this stupid ankle. THEN I plan on reviewing for the AP test for the rest of the school year!

pH Lab

pH is the measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution and pOH is the measure of the concentration of hydroxide ions in a solution. A solution with a high concentration of H+ is considered acidic while a solution with a high concentration of OH- will be basic. On the pH scale of 1-14, 1-6 is considered acidic while 8-14 are basic and 7 being neutral.

In this lab, we found the pH of different buffers based on color using a universal indicator. By using a universal indicator in this lab, we were able to measure the pH of both acidic and basic solutions. Indicators change the color of solutions based on certain pH levels or concentrations. However, the colors may represent a range of close pH levels. Therefore, we must decide on a approximate pH, not exact. Once we observed how certain colors corresponded to certain pH levels, we could determine the pH of common household items.

Explore Lab: Intro to Equilibrium

In this lab, we were introduced to the reaction pertaining to nitrogen dioxide gas and dinitrogen trioxide gas.

2NO2 <---> N2O4

As we placed a test tube in the boiling water, it turned dark brown while test tubes in the ice turned to almost a colorless gas. The forward process was favored in the ice bath while the reverse reaction was favored in the hot bath. Therefore, there was a higher concentration of NO2 in the test tubes in the boiling water while there was a higher concentration of N2O4 in the ice. 

As we "explored," we placed test tubes back and forth from the boiling water to the ice bath. We observed the gas in the test tubes change with temperature. As we placed a tube from the ice into the boiling water, the gas began to turn a dark brown. We learned that the rate stays the same through out the reaction; however, we did shift the rate using change in temperature. As temperature changed, the reaction increased rate of formation of either NO2 or N2O4, based on the required activation energy. Since the forward reaction was induced with heat, we can conclude that the activation for this endothermic process is greater than that of the reverse reaction. 

The test tube at room temperature has a constant rate of the reaction in equilibrium. Concentrations of NO2 and N2O4 are kept at a steady and ongoing rate (ratio is 2:1 moles). 

Friday. 3/7/14

Has it been two weeks already..? I can't even remember what I've learned. 

OK. I've learned how to use Beer's law to determine the rate order of a reaction. I've also learned how to use experimentation with differing concentrations of crystal violent to determine the rate order when it reacts with OH ions. Sounds sophisticated, I know. On another note, I have also learned how extremely hard it is to become a Supreme Court Justice. 

I have recently completed both books for my English classes (finally) and about to complete the kinetics unit for his class. I have also (almost) conquered how to write a decent five paragraph essay in 40 minutes thanks to Comer. 

I plan on officially finishing up the kinetics unit with this take home test I am about to print out and take these last set of notes. I also plan on finishing up all the questions that go along with these lovely but long novels. And last but not least, focusing on our state competition! 

Friday Funfact: