Airbag Lab

Today's lab was inflating a Ziploc bag with carbon dioxide from the chemical reaction of vinegar and baking soda. It was a bit stressful as I had to rely on my own accuracy of my procedure and measurments. However, in the end, my very-small bag was inflated perfectly.

http://liveinspirednow.com/a-little-more-yay-in-your-life/

Quiz Reflection

On Thursday, we took a quiz on gas laws. The quiz was not that bad at all, and I think I scored pretty well. The lectures we've learned so far were not too hard and only consisted of formulas. I am looking forward to our next lessons.

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/whew-what-a-relief-royalty-free-image/471428407

PV=nRT

Today, we had another lecture for the gas laws unit. This was yet another formula lecture, one that was not difficult at all and mostly involved basic plug-n-chug. I am really nervous for the lab on Monday as it is pass-fail, and I don't 100% trust myself with being accurate in my calculations. Hopefully, it goes well.

http://www.calctool.org/CALC/chem/c_thermo/ideal_gas

Some review links:

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry/gases-and-kinetic-molecular-theory/ideal-gas-laws/v/ideal-gas-equation-pv-nrt
http://www.learnchem.net/practice/gases.shtml
http://www.mikeblaber.org/oldwine/chm1045/notes/Gases/IdealGas/Gases04.htm

First Lectures

The gas laws unit has proven to be pretty straightforward and simple. The first lectures we've had are centered on one major formula: the combined gas law formula. We've gone through various different problems concerning the gas law, only with different constants. Additionally, we've learned different units of pressure, which I believe is the only difficult part of this unit: memorizing all the different conversions and units. 

https://prezi.com/8ywewmiga8tq/combined-gas-law/

Some links I've been using to study with for the quiz tomorrow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir64EcRkf5Q

http://www.chemteam.info/GasLaw/Gas-Combined.html

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/kinetic/idegas.html

Energy Test Reflection

On Friday, we took our unit test for Energy. This whole unit flew by as there were only two lectures and one lab, and everything was pretty straightforward. Thus, I felt like the test was pretty simple and nothing to stress over this weekend. 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phase_changes.svg

http://sonoranweeklyreview.com/with-linn-energy-llc-nasdaqline-sandridge-energy-sdoc-and-midstates-petroleum-mpoy-depleting-their-revolving-credit-lines-banks-scramble/

Some links I used for studying:

http://www.aboutthemcat.org/chemistry/thermochemistry.php
https://www.chem.wisc.edu/deptfiles/genchem/netorial/rottosen/tutorial/modules/intermolecular_forces/02imf/imf2.htm
https://www.sophia.org/tutorials/thermochemistry-calculating-energy-of-phase-change
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/chemical-processes/covalent-bonds/a/intramolecular-and-intermolecular-forces

Specific Heat of a Metal Lab

Yesterday, we did a lab to measure the specific heats of copper and lead by heating the metals in a hot water bath and figuring out the variables for MCAT. I'm pretty satisfied because our copper trial yielded only a 4% error for the specific heat! 

Some review links for the first lesson:

https://www.phy.duke.edu/~rgb/Class/phy51/phy51/node59.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1AjBqElz7A

Boat Racing!

Last week, we conducted our boat races. I'm proud to say that my partner and I won third place. It was a really fun experience, and it definitely was a relief from the usual lecture/test stress.

A real boat that runs on biodiesel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EggCi3qM2A