Chemistry Entry 1

As I hadn't taken the first part of S/G Chemistry since the 2nd trimester of last year, the review packet handed out the first day was greatly appreciated. The packet consisted of an overview of the three major units we covered last year, which were: Matter, Energy and States of Matter part 1, and part 2. With our table members, our group had to whiteboard all information we could recall, and share it with the class as a way of us relearning the material, as well reminding other groups of what they had forgotten if it was not shown on their boards. The review packet handed out was a great helped as it jogged my memory on concepts I had since forgotten, as well as reinforced my understanding on a few ideas. Skimming over these basics really helped to jog my memory to get back into the chemistry groove, and build off of the given information.

Our first assignment as a class was the Classification of Matter worksheet, with the driving question of: How do atoms combine to make different types of matter? As we progressed, I learned that even the smallest chemical units of matter determine whether a substance can either be an element, compound, or mixture. Matter may look pure from the outside, but it ultimately depends upon what type of particles an object or substance is made of. I had a little trouble in atom classification, but as I continued through the problems, repetition assisted me. A few main ideas I took out of these specific problems is that a particle (a very small group of matter) can be a single atom, but a particle can also be a molecule. Also, I remembered that the difference between an atom and an element is that an element has multiple particles, while an atom has just one. Further, I learned that molecules differ from compounds because compounds have two or more types of atoms, while a molecule could be the same type of atom numerous times.

As a way to help us picture how various gases react together, our class went through a worksheet centered around the idea of Avogadro's Hypothesis. This theory states that the pressure of a gas is proportional to the Kelvin temperature, when the number of particles and volume are held constant. I was familiar with this idea from what I learned last year, but the scientist himself and the additional information we added to this hypothesis was entirely new to me. As a visual learner, solving the problems on the worksheet using pictures and shapes was a huge help. It was very clear on how the the gases to-be-combined had their own unique structure, and once merged it was easy to see how they ended up in that state. In addition to Avogadro's hypothesis, early chemists also learned that one volume of two separate gases can combine and produce two volumes of gaseous product. This only occurs (through Avogadro's reasoning) if the molecules of the gaseous elements contain two atoms. An example of this that we preformed on our worksheet was the combination of hydrogen and chlorine. Both hydrogen and chlorine already contain two atoms bonded together, so it was no surprise to me that the hydrogen chloride created had two volumes of gaseous product in the outcome.

Vdeo from class: Gases and How They Combine  Skyline Periodic Table

This first week was a great help in stimulating my brain to remember everything I had forgotten from last year, as well as added new concepts to build off of. I still need to work on reinforcing my understanding of how gases combine and what variables cause them to do so, but I have a feeling I won't have too much of an issue soon, as we go over the concepts in class consistently. Personally I'm a huge fan of white boarding out problems and then sharing our answers with everyone, mainly because of my preference of visual learning, but constantly reviewing problems in this matter are of a huge help to me. I am intrigued as to what this next week of chemistry holds for our 5th hour.