Blog Reflection; Week of 9/29/13

Blog Reflection by Raymond Zhao hour 1

     In the past week, we learned more about Lewis structures from the introduction given at the end of last week. There was also some important information gained from the %mass of copper in bronze lab. The important ideas I learned were:
~Lewis structure diagrams - a way to chart the atoms, their bonds, and their electrons.
~Hypervalency- when the atom can have more than 8 valence electrons. Doesn't follow octet rule
~ The Octet Rule- most atoms except a few wants 8 electrons in their outer most shell. They are valence electrons
~ The Duet Rule- like the octect rule, atoms like hydrogen only wants 2 valence electrons. This is an exception.
~ Valence electrons- electrons that occupy the outer most shell of an atom. These are the main electrons used in atoms and reactions
~Ionic bonds- Bonds where the atoms give each other valence electrons until the octect rule is fulfilled
~Covalent bonds- Bonds where the atoms share the valence electrons
~Absorbance is the amount of a certain wavelength of light absorbed by a solution. It is related to transmittance by the beer's law; Absorbance = -log (percent transmittance/100)

     All these ideas were acquired from the lecture quizzes, pogils, and class activities that we did. All the these activities greatly helped me because working as a group helped me learn more. If one person didn't know, others could help. If no one knows, then we can always ask dr finnan. It was also great because the ideas came together as one like how the valence electrons, covalent and ionic bonds, and the octet rule related to Lewis diagrams. This is because all them are needed in order to draw the Lewis diagram. For example, Valence electrons are the little dots around the atoms in the Lewis diagram.
     The lab of copper in brass taught me about the behavior and relationships of light and color to the % concentration or composition. It was very similar to the concentration and transmitted light lab, where I learned that Absorbance, Concentration, Transmittance, Spectrophotometry and Molarity was important.
     Although I learned a lot from the activities, I still have much more to learn. Learning these ideas was so-so regarding difficulty. I felt that learning them was challenging, but not so hard that I don't get it. The lectures, lecture quizes, class disscussions, and the lab all greatly helped my understanding of these key ideas. The most challenging part was the lewis diagrams and the lab itself.
     I rate the difficulty regarding last week about a 7/10. This is because it was challenging, but not such much that it can't be learned. I still wonder about the more complicated ideas of lewis structures and atomic structures. I also do not understand how the molecules are named (we did this on Friday with the balloon activity. With all these question from last week, I'd say that my understanding is 8/10.
     However, my participation was a good. I would rate it 9.5/10. I asked question and actively learned. Because of my good participation, my understanding was good. 
     I feel fairly confident in my math capabilities for calculations with the valence electrons and such.  But, I still need to work on memorizing all the little rules for lewis diagrams that are very complicated to me. I might also need to slow down while doing my calculations because I sometimes make silly mistakes. For example, I sometimes count the wrong number of valence electrons or put the incorrect number of valence electrons. The concepts taught in last week have made me feel more confident about Lewis diagrams.  Also, I need to remember to always double check my work because then it should help greatly for fixing silly errors
     I still want to learn how to name the molecules because I was very confused on how to name them. I think I need work on the pogils more by thinking everything through clearly.
    Overall, the past week has been great. I learned a lot, including everything that has to do with Lewis structures and atomic structure.. Activities such as worksheets and white boarding greatly helped my understanding and development. I loved the time with groups to work together because it allowed interaction with each other. I feel like this helped me the most. I hope next week is just as great!