Blog Reflection; Week of 10/7/13

Blog Reflection by Raymond Zhao

In the past week, we finished learning all the material needed in the trimester. We took the test about intermolecular forces (properties of solids and liquids determined by the intermolecular forces and the structure; the role of bonding in vapor; and Lattice energy). Also we started to focus on the brass lab and got the first lab returned. A better idea of lab reports was given to us since the brass lab is due on monday.

On monday we reviewed for tuesday’s test about intermolecular forces: solids and liquids are both determined by the type molecules it has and the intermolecular bonding. Solids can be a Covalent network solid, Molecular solid, and and metallic solid. Covalent network solid is when the molecules are covalently bonded to each to each other to form a strong and hard to break bond. Molecular solids are covalent molecules that are held with london dispersion forces, thus, they are not very strong. Metallic solids are when the molecules split so that the cations are surrounded by a “sea” of anions. Liquids are very different from solids. Liquids are when molecules spread out instead of being in a clump. Their viscosity is determined by the intermolecular forces: the greater the intermolecular force, the greater the viscosity. Vapor pressure is the pressure the vapor of a substance exerts. The vapor is from the molecules that can “fall out” of the liquid because the molecules are just moving around randomly. Vapor pressure and boiling point are inversely related. Lattice energy is about the energy to separate the ions in ionic bonds. The energy depends on the charge and size of the ions. The greater the charge is away from 0 and the smaller the ion is, the greater the lattice energy is. This makes sense because bigger charges and smaller ions means more attraction.

The ideas add up learned last week not only ended the information need for the trimester, but also it summed up and organized all the ideas learned before now. I know now the importance of periodic trends and bonds in everyday life because I learned about it.

The learning heavily enforced by class activities like pogils, whiteboarding, and discussions. I enjoyed working with my group because they helped me alot. I think asking questions and getting them answered helped me the most.

I would say my participation was a 9/10 because I actively asked questions and worked well with my group. We had very nice discussions that helped greatly. My understanding is about a 8/10. I sometimes do not remember my polyatomics and periodic trends. I still need to study more about bonding in general, I think I don’t a few key details that contribute to some confusion. Maybe I need relook at the powerpoints.

Overall, my understanding of bonding, and chemistry in general, definitely has gotten better. I now know about intermolecular bonds, intramolecular bonds, and much more. I like how knowing this explains the properties of daily things like water and sugar. I now think about everything by their chemical and physical properties.

Blog Reflection; Week of 11/3/13

Blog Reflection by Raymond Zhao

In the past week, we finished learning about bonds (since the test is next tuesday or monday). We learned about the properties of solids and liquids determined by the intermolecular forces and the structure; the role of bonding in vapor; and Lattice energy.

Solids and Liquids are both determined by the type molecules it has and the intermolecular bonding. Solids can be a Covalent network solid, Molecular solid, and and metallic solid. Covalent network solid is when the molecules are covalently bonded to each to each other to form a strong and hard to break bond. Molecular solids are covalent molecules that are held with london dispersion forces, thus, they are not very strong. Metallic solids are when the molecules split so that the cations are surrounded by a “sea” of anions. Liquids are very different from solids. Liquids are when molecules spread out instead of being in a clump. Their viscosity is determined by the intermolecular forces: the greater the intermolecular force, the greater the viscosity.

Vapor pressure is the pressure the vapor of a substance exerts. The vapor is from the molecules that can “fall out” of the liquid because the molecules are just moving around randomly. Vapor pressure and boiling point are inversely related.

Lattice energy is about the energy to separate the ions in ionic bonds. The energy depends on the charge and size of the ions. The greater the charge is away from 0 and the smaller the ion is, the greater the lattice energy is. This makes sense because bigger charges and smaller ions means more attraction.

All these ideas add up to form a better knowledge about intermolecular bonding, or the bonding/ attractive forces between molecules. They tell the main ideas of compounds: the melting points, the boiling points, the strength, and the structure.

These experiments were heavily enforced by class activities like pogils, whiteboarding, and discussions. I enjoyed working with my group because they helped me alot. I think asking questions and getting them answered helped me the most.

I would say my participation was a 9/10 because I actively asked questions and worked well with my group. We had very nice discussions that helped greatly. However, I my understanding is about a 7/10 still. I am not too sure about where the molecules bond with each other. I sometimes see molecules that doesn’t seem to have a place to bond. For example, how would water molecules bond with each other in water? Would the oxygen bond to another hydrogen or something? I am very confused about this.

I still need to study more about bonding in general, I think I don’t a few key details that contribute to some confusion. Maybe I need relook at the powerpoints.

Overall, my understanding of bonding definitely has gotten better. I now know about intermolecular bonds instead of just intramolecular bonds. I like how knowing this explains the properties of daily things like water and sugar. I now think about molecules in a bigger picture.

Yay! My guess was right!

Blog Reflection; Week of 10/27/13

Blog Reflection by Raymond Zhao

In the past week, we dived deeper into bonds.This included learning about the special properties of the bonds like melting points and strength. Also, the unique properties of ice were taught from models about skating. Another important idea was the types of bonds: Network covalent bonds and metallic bonds. Network bonds is when atoms are held together by a lattice of covalent bonds. The electrons are held in place and cannot move. In a metallic bond, it is basically a group of nuclei surrounded by a sea of mobile electrons. Also, I learned about van der waals forces. There are dipole dipole forces, london dispersion forces, and hydrogen bonds.  Dipole dipole forces is when the the molecules connect a positive end to the negative end so it must be polar. London Dispersion forces occur between non polar molecules. LDFs are not very strong. Hydrogen bonds are like dipole dipole even more strong. The pogils and packets and the book all really helped my understanding of bonds. I really liked how the packets take me step by step and If I have a question I can ask my table group.

All these ideas about ionic bonds can be connected by the different ideas I learned already like the different charges or the periodic trends. The earlier lectures and activities all greatly help me come to a understanding of the ideas this week because it established a good base for it. Thus, 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 why hydrogen bonds and LDF work because they don’t make too much sense to me.Since that this my only question from last week, I'd say that my understanding is 9.5/10.

    Likewise, my participation was a good 9.5/10 too. I asked question and actively learned. Because of my good participation, my understanding was good.

    I feel fairly confident in memorization capabilities for learning bonds.  But, I still need to work on memorizing on all the visualizations because I sometimes forget. For example, I don’t really get the sea of electrons too much. The concepts taught in last week have made me feel more confident about covalent bonds. I now know the concepts a lot more clearly and I know how to find all the important properties.

    Overall, the past week has been great. I learned a lot. 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.