Mole Calculation Worksheet

04/27/15

Unit 4:3 Polyatomic Ionic Compounds 2

04/22/15

Unit 4:3 Polyatomic Ionic Compounds 1

04/21/15

Section 4 Begins 04/21

Making Sugar Rockets

04/17/15

Today in class, we started making small rockets! The teacher was really excited for making them, and now I understand why.
Class notes
Chemical RXNs: A chemical reaction is a process in which one or more substances change into one of more new substances. Chemical RXNs invoke energy. Energy is either absorbed (endothermic) or given off (exothermic)

Materials

• Sugar
• Potassium Nitride
• Paper
• Aluminum Foil
• Fuse
• Tape
• Skewer Stick
• Scale
• Dowel

Equation

5C12H22O11 + 48KNO3

 26% or 337g       74% or 101g          

How we started making the rockets was get a dowel and wrapped around paper. The paper was folded in half and twisted on one time around the dowel, not to tightly but enough to hold. Then we taped the paper around and cut of the extra paper that did not have the tape around it. It would be around 2 inches. Then we took out the dowel and out aluminum foil around one end. Pound the aluminum down with the dowel to have a cap. The foil should be pounded nicely, it shouldn't be able to come out of the bottom. You have now made a motor for your rocket.

Now, mix 337g of Potassium Nitrate, and 101g of Sugar together. Make sure you don't mix them with a blender. It is flammable. I suggest mixing them with a herb grinder bowl. When you mixed them together, pour them into the motor all the way. Then with the dowel slowly put it in, when you reached the bottom, pound it so it can be packed in tight. Take another piece of foil and put that on the other side of the motor. Pound that in too, then fold the end and tape it.

On the other side of the motor, the one we started with, use a dowel to drill a hole in the center of the foil until you see the powder. (Hand drill it in) Then in the hole put a fuse. After that you grab the stick and tape it to your rocket. Like seen on the left.

The video is my rocket beginning launched. I was so proud of myself that it actually went up in the air. Even if it was just for a few seconds up in the air, I'd say it's pretty good for a first try. 

What I learned in this experiment is that following instructions perfectly is very important. One mistake can ruin your experiment. But I also gained confidence in myself and my work. I trusted myself in making a rocket.  If a person doesn't have self-confidence in themselves, then things won't work out. 

Turning milk into hard plastic

04/10/15 - 4/16/15

Over Spring Break I made a small experiment about making milk into plastic. I learned that in the 1900s up until 1945 the people used milk as plastic by doing this experiment. They were also made into jewelry, combs, buckles, beads, buttons, and fountain pens. So how do you turn milk into hard plastic? You will need these ingredients.

• Warm Milk
• Vinegar
• Bowl
• Paper Towel(s)
• Measuring cup
• Spoon

What I did was first measure out two cups of warm milk. For about a minute, or until you feel like the  milk is warm, heat it up. Then add a tablespoon for every one cup of milk. Then stir until you see chunky pieces of milk. This is called casein. It can be used for many things, like cheese for example. After stirring I got a colander, and put the was milk in it. Separating liquid from the solid. Then when I got rid most of the liquids I got paper towels to dry the casein. What I did was put the casein in the middle of the paper towels and folded the corners.

I sculptured what I wanted the casein to look like. Then I set it down to let it dry. Days later it was still drying. I left it alone for a week, and nothing was happening. The casein did get harder, but not to the point where it could be as hard as a rock. On the 6th day, I looked at it again. Thinking what I did wrong. I then realized I made cheese instead of plastic.

What I learned from this is to always find other instructions and not just rely on one. Because things might not turn out the way they plan. That's why you look at other websites. If it doesn't work out, you have to try again. Not everything works at the first try. I think the problem with this experiment was that I forgot an ingredient, or a step. I don't know how I got this mistake. I usually find my mistakes, but on this problem I didn't. Looking at the bright side though, something good came out of this experiment. Except the smell, not a fan of the smell of cheese.

Making Batteries

04/14/15 - 04/15/15

Yesterday the class started making batteries with pennies. The teacher first started off with explaining what electro chemistry is.

The basic idea:

• All elements have different attractions to electrons (Electro negativities) 
• When an atom that can lose electrons more easily than an atom of a different element come into contact with one another, e-'s will transfer

What we started off was getting 9 pennies that have been made after 1982, because that was when the company started making pennies with zinc. On the left you will see a picture of three pennies. From left to right it shows a process on how the pennies looked before and after. We had to scratch off one side of the pennies to have the zinc uncovered with sand paper.

After that we had to cut out pieces of cardboard around the same size of the pennies. Then soak them into vinegar. We took out the pieces of cardboard and place them in a pattern. Copper side of penny on bottom, soak cardboard, penny, cardboard, etc. The zinc side always has to be on top. Then placed aluminum foil underneath the pennies.




We then got a LED for testing to show if the battery work, and it did. The LED easily lit up. To make the lighting last we taped the whole battery with the LED together with electrical tape.

What I learned and took back from this experiment is that I learned how to make electricity in the wild if I ever got lost with these materials. The battery can last up to a week.
Looking back to our experiment it first didn't work out as my group planned out. We made a few mistakes, like not trimming the cardboard correctly. Just small little things like that. But I am glad that my group and I fixed the problems right away. No one was having trouble understanding the experiment overall. My take away was that just because something like a penny seems useless, it doesn't mean it is. It might have a whole other meaning behind it.