Friday November 30th

Hard to believe its almost December! On Tuesday I want to talk to you all about the direction we will take the rest of the semester. My goal is to make sure chemistry is as relevant to you as it can be and that you get what you want out of the class. Some of the things that we should consider are our collective goals for the rest of the year. For example, we should decide if our goal is to 1) pass the AP Exam, 2) reach a deeper understanding of core chemistry concepts or learn a little about a lot of chemistry concepts, or 3) being exposed to and learning from a college level course work load and pace. Think about it over the weekend. The homework is to finish the darn analysis questions regarding the periodic table trends from the graphs I handed out Friday morning. If you need another copy I can get you one, but let me know in the morning!

Tuesday November 27th

Hey Molly, we missed you today. We reviewed for the test, which included about 3 problems from the practice test and going over key topics to study in each chapter. After everyone left I finished problem 7. I'll try to write it out here but the subscripts won't work, so keep that in mind. Here it is in steps.
1. Looking at the final equation you need, the bottom two equations in the list need to be switched. If you do this, the equations are as follows
MnO2(s) + CO(s) --> MnO(s) + CO2(g)
3MnO(s) + CO2(g) --> Mn3O4(s) + CO(g)
2Mn3O4 (s) + CO2 --> 3Mn2O3(s) + CO(g)

2. In order to start crossing out spectator species, you need to perform some stoichiometric adjustments in the coefficients. For example, to cross out MnO, multiply all species in the top equation by 3 so that "3MnO" can be crossed out. But doing this is not enough. You also need to multiply the bottom equation by 2 in order to cross out 2Mn3O4. Then go back to equation one to make everything even and multiply all species by two. Doing this you end up with...
6MnO2(s) + 6CO(s) --> 6MnO(s) + 6CO2(g)
6MnO(s) + 2CO2(g) --> 2Mn3O4(s) + 2CO(g)
2Mn3O4 (s) + CO2 --> 3Mn2O3(s) + CO(g)

3. Now you are ready to cross out spectators. Look for repeats on both sides. What happens when you add them up?
6MnO2(s) + 6CO + 3CO2 --> 3Mn2O3(s) + 6CO2 + 3CO

4. You can simplify this...
2MnO2(s) + CO(g) --> Mn2O3(s) + CO2(g)

5. If you multiply the enthalpies by the same amount as you did in step 2 and add them up you get your answer: 150 + (120*2) + (-140*6) = 570 kJ But remember that this number is two times what the simplified reaction you are given to solve for. Dividing by two we get 285 kJ. The only thing close to this is -290 kJ. There's a reason for this, sig figs! Cool huh? Okay, maybe not "cool" in the iPod sense, but cool nonetheless.

Remember, we have a study session for those interested tomorrow after school.

Monday November 26th

Here's the tentative overview of the week after Thanksgiving...
Monday: Finish up lecture on the periodic table, check study materials and hand in homework items. Homework for Monday night is to finish any study material prep
Tuesday: Review for "Quarter One Test" Homework? I'll let you figure that one out.
Thursday: Test! Homework for Thursday is to prepare for the lab on Friday
Friday: Morning meeting we'll do the pre-lab review and set up for the afternoon
Afternoon: do the lab, homework will be to finish the analysis and turn the lab in on Monday. The lab will be on gravimetric analysis. If you want to read up on it the link is http://www.chem.tamu.edu/class/majors/tutorialnotefiles/gravimetric.htm

Thanksgiving and Conferences

Okay, so you all have some extra time next week and its time to get crankin on some note cards. You will be expected to show me evidence of some self-created study materials (note cards are MY favorite, you can do whatever you want). These need to be neat, easy to read for quick review, and seperate from your other class materials. Be ready to show me these study materials from chapters 1-7 when you get back. YES, I know you have a life. This is a college level course, you will have a lot of homework. A reminder of what else is due on Monday when you return:
***Lab 8: Atomic Emission Spectra
***Hydrogen Spectra Write Up (calculations and summary)
***Ch. 4 Take Home Test Re-do
***Note Cards/Self-Created Study Materials

Extra Credit for those who show up (hopefully with parents/gaurdians/adult advocates) at conferences. There will be more extra credit available at winter break, but that will be actual work. :) See you soon!

Thursday November 15th

No explosions for lab today, sorry. We are going to be analyzing data from my data base, and looking for trends in the periodic table. By the end, you'll have nine graphs and write a summary about why certain trends shown in the graphs exist. Homework for tonight is to read the rest of ch. 7 and do excercises 45, 51, 61, and 65. Good luck and see you in the am! Va, looks like you are bringing the treats!

Tuesday November 13th

Labs are due today. Your homework is to begin reading chapter 7 and choose 3 red excercises from the first three sections, as before. In class on Tuesday you will use the same technique as you did in Lab 7 to determine if you can prove the Rydberg equation works for hydrogen (I have a working sample for you all to use together). Lets make this work quick, you only have 50 minutes! The write up for this activity is on a single sheet of notebook paper, and you only need to write about your procedure and your calculations - I already know the set up and the background. At the end of the calculations, you need to write a statement about whether you have proven the Rydberg equation works for Hydrogen or not. Whatever you conclude, you need to give some thoughts on WHY it MIGHT only work for Hydrogen and not the other samples we looked at. I will be there on Thursday, and we'll have another lab! See you then, write comments if you have questions.

Thursday November 8th

We met this morning and went over study techniques and previewed a sample test. I will hand out a sample test for those of you who want one. Remember the AP Exam is first week of May. That means you seniors still are in school! The lab today is testing the Rydberg equation with actual measurements. Some of you haven't turned in the last lab on Hess's law! Do so today! This lab, complete with calculations and conclusion, is due on Tuesday next week. (Psst! Check out the links to the right! Especially Chemmybear!)