Quiz Reflection

I studied pretty hard for this quiz because I didn't do so great on the last few tests/quizzes and I need to even that out. However, I feel more confident on this unit in general. I think it's more of applications of what we've already learned and that makes me comfortable because it's strengthening my skills in previous units as well (like the nomenclature unit). So far, I think the hardest part of this unit has been memorizing the solubility rules and such and balancing equations. I am really bad at memorizing things (basically I don't even have a memory) so I need to work on memorizing all the rules with this unit. After getting the quiz back, I found that I have a decent grasp on the material so far and hopefully that will prove to carry throughout the unit.

Solubility Rules Lab

This lab was really cool because we got to actually see the chemical reactions occur. The reactions were very interesting and some were really noticeable. (As you can see from some of the pictures from below). I think the hardest part of this lab was keeping track of which well contained which reaction. To fix that problem, I drew out little "maps" of the well plate and wrote down the reactions on a piece of paper. It was also really tedious because there were a lot of reactions that we had to go through. We also had to clean out the well plates after each time it was full which took even more time and was tedious. Because of all these processes, it took us a really long and we ran over time. However, this lab was good practice if we predicted the driving forces ahead of time. 

Driving Forces in a Chemical Reaction

Driving Forces in a Chemical Reaction

• chemical changes are a result of chemical reactions
• reactions involve a change in energy 
• two compounds will react if there is at least one driving force present

Double Replacement Reactions

• two compounds produce two new compounds 
• the positive ions replace each other
• must both be ionic compounds that are aqueous 

Predicting the product practice: 

• this link is extremely helpful (it includes videos and a really clear procedural notes)
• here are some practice problems

Chemical Reactions and Balancing

Clues that a Chemical Reaction has occurred

• the color changes
• a solid forms (precipitate)
• bubbles form (only for aqueous solutions)
• Heat and/or a flame is produced or hear is absorbed (heat=Enthalpy)

Anatomy of Chemical Equations

Combustion- CHO method

• always reacts with oxygen O2
• combustion of a hydrocarbon always produces carbon dioxide CO2 and water H2O
• 1st Carbon
• 2nd Hydrogen
• 3rd Oxygen

Balancing Chemical Reactions

• here is a link that helps on the process of balancing equations
• here is a link for a practice quiz 
• here is a game for more practice

Unit Test

Studying:
For this Unit what I really need to do is do A LOT of practice problems. I think another thing that will help me is reading through the textbook and taking notes along the way. That way, I get the definitions down so I don't get confused between terms. Then, I can do the practice problems in the textbook to go along with the material I read. Hopefully practice will make perfect.


Reflection:

The Unit test was honestly terrifying. The main problem was the time we had to finish the quiz. I felt so rushed and it stressed me out. I feel like if  we had a lot more time for all of those problems, I would feel better about it. In general, I think the hardest part, material wise, was remembering the different methods for each problem since there are so many problem times that have similar yet completely different solution paths.

Formula of a Chloride lab

 This lab was really cool because there was a significant difference between the starting zinc and the end zinc chloride. It really helped us see the chemical reaction occur. However, it took a long time to wait for the HCl to evaporate and it smelled really weird too. This lab was also good practice for making the formula calculations. It also gave us a hands on application which I always learn better with. I thought the math would be really hard but it really helped me that the questions were step by step and guided me. I really like those kinds of problems because it guides me into how I should solve the problem which is always what I have trouble. However, it's scary because if you get one problem wrong, you're most likely going to get multiple wrong. It's a good thing we did this lab because I need all the practice I can get

Formula of a Hydrate lab

This lab was really cool and I'm really glad we passed the pre-lab quiz (those always stress me out)! It was cool to be able to physically see the change from the hydrate to the anhyrdide. I think this lab was helpful because I'll probably remember this material better since I had hands on experience in the lab. I think it was also really good practice for calculating the formulas of the hydrates and finding the variable n. I definitely am better at calculating those values after all the practice. Since we ran out of time in class, we didn't get to heat the hydrate multiple times. If I had to do this lab again, I would heat it more and see how much of a difference that makes.

Unit 6 Summary

Mole: 6.02*10^23 the number equal to the number of carbon atoms in exactly 12 grams of pure 12C

Steps To Solving mole Problems

• decide what the questions ask 
• write down the given info
• label all quantities

Mole problems road map

http://media.showme.com/files/28315/pictures/thumbs/492108/first_thumb1352935272.jpg

Hydrated Compounds

• contain water molecules in formula
• contribute to the crystallize structure of the compound 

Nomenclature of Hydrates

• Anhyrdride*nH2O
• CaSO4*2H2O ----> Calcium sulfate dihydrate

Calculating "n"

• find mass of dry anhydride (mass of final product-mass of test tube)
• find mass of hydrate: (mass of starting product-mass of test tube)
• Mass of Hydrate-mass of anhydride= mass of water driven off
• convert mass of water to moles 
• convert mass of anhydride to moles 
• Anhydride moles/ water moles = n

Helpful links: 

this video is kinda cheesy but definitely helpful!

this website summarizes and defines everything really clearly

Links for practice: 

http://www.chemteam.info/Mole/Determine-formula-of-hydrate.html

http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~coursedev/Online%20tutorials/Plink/moleskey.htm

Pre-Test

This was definitely the hardest pre-test I've taken in my life and I'm terrified for this unit. I'm pretty sure I guessed on 99% of the problems and I'll be happy if I got even one right. However, this pre-test has made me aware that I will probably need to work really hard for this unit and I plan to do just that. Hopefully, when we start learning the material all the questions will start making more sense. It seems like it involves a lot of math that I've never seen before. I really hope the unit test will prove to be easier for me and hopefully I will gain redemption at the end of the unit.