mini project 3: ice cream!

PHOTOCREDIT: Theresa Anselmo

today, we finally got to make ice cream! it was pretty tasty, but it tasted a little salty. here's how to make it:

1. get a plastic ziploc bag and fill it with 1 cup of milk.
2. add 2 spoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract to the milk.
3. zip the bag, leaving as less air as possible in there.
4. put the ziploc bag in a bigger ziploc bag.
5. add 2 spoons of salt and about 1 1/2 cup of ice in the larger ziploc bag.
6. close the larger bag and start to toss it around.
7. EAT!

Science:
the milk mixture can freeze to be ice cream because it get chilled cold enough. the salt plays a big role. it makes the ice melt faster by lowering the freezing point. salt makes the ice melt. when the ice melts, it will be salt water, and salt water has a lower freezing point then normal water.
"the ice melts until the temperature of the water reaches the freezing temperature of salt water at that particular concentration. " -WikiAnswers

CA Standard 7C

7C:Students know energy is released when a material condenses or freezes and is absorbed when a material evaporates or melts.

When something condenses or freezes, energy is released. A substance is really cold because the energy, such as heat was released. An example would be from liquid water to ice. When you put the liquid in a really cold environment like the freezer, the energy is released because:

1. the molecules get closer together.
2. the molecules move slower.
   

Liquid Water

















Ice(solid)


















Steam (gas)


















When something evaporates or melts, energy is absorbed. An example is from water to steam. On a really really hot day, if you pour some water on the hot concrete, the water will turn into steam (aka water vapor) because the water will absorb the heat from the hot concrete. When energy is absorbed:

1. the molecules in the substance get farther apart.
2. the molecules move faster.

So when energy is released the substance is cooler, and when energy is absorbed, the substance is warmer.
To remember this stuff, think about a group of friends. When they don't move that much, they get cold and huddle close together to share their body heat (released). When they do move a lot, they get hot and they would want to get further apart from each other (absorbed).

The video below shows how hot water can turn to water vapor in a cool environment.

review for final

this week we got back pages of the review packet to review for the final.
we also watched videos.
we did mini projects this week too.
one was with the water, oil, and food coloring.
it was really pretty.
the food coloring flowed down and created beautiful colors.
yesturday, mr. olson put mentos in diet coke.
the coke squirtted really high up and it was a mess, which is why it was done outside.

mini project 2: play-doh

PHOTOCREDIT: Theresa Anselmo

i made this play-doh kinda thing last friday. it was really interesting how some flour, salt, water, oil, and heat could combine and form such a fun substance. the food coloring is optional, but it does make it whole lot better! to make this, you:

1. put 1 cup of water, 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of salt, 1 tablespoon, and some food coloring (optional) of oil in a bowl.
   
2. stir the ingredients over a low heat.
3. watch and stir about 5 minutes, so the liquid will thicken and turn into dough.
   
4. leave it in the bowl until it is cool enough to touch.
5. put it in a plastic bag to keep the dough from drying.
6. HAVE FUN!
   

Science
when you leave play-doh out outside overnight, it dries because the water in the dough evaporates. the water is responsible for the play-doh's pliability. making play-doh is also a reaction. it goes from liquidy to stretchy with the help of heat!

Mills Creek Canyon Trail Trip

on april 29, i went to mills creek canyon. i have to say that that was not the best trip i've been to. i walked like a bajillion miles in the slippery, muddy, and rocky trail. it was very tiring. i also slipped in the mud and almost fell if it wasn't for elly flan. the view was the only part that was enjoyable. if you want to go on this trail, follow my map below:

View Mills Creek Canyon Trail in a larger map
though the trip was not as fun as i thought it'll be, it was good excercise!

mini project: bending glass

PHOTO CREDIT: THERESA ANSELMO

i bent glass today! as u can see in the picture, it was a little bend around the end. the steps to bending glass are:

1. REMEMBER TO WEAR GOGGLES!
   
2. use a nail file to cut the glass.
3. when you create a sort of deep white line, face that side down and snap it with your nails.
4. hold the glass with the crucible tongs and hold it above the flame.
5. use another pair of crucible tongs to start shaping it when it gets hot enough.
6. the glass is going to be very hot, so set it aside for a while before touching it.
   

Science
glass at STP (standard temperature and pressure) is actually a liquid. therefore it is bendable and flexible. different glasses have different boiling points."Pure silica (SiO₂) has a "glass melting point"— at a viscosity of 10 Pa·s (100 P)— of over 2300 °C (4200 °F)"-Wikipedia.
when bending glass, you have to bend it slowly because glass is easy to break; it's brittle.

bending glass

this week, we bent glass.
i didn't do it but i watched people do it.
they used a nail file to cut the glass.
then they put it in the fire and bent it.
it was cool, besides when the glass broke.
the IProposeWe blog post was due this wednesday.
we now have to do some mini projects, which i don't get.
yesturday i tried to make a balloon with a tooth pick through it, but i failed :(

IProposeWe: make color changing carnations

Materials

• 6 white carnations
• 6 plastic cups
• Food coloring (red, yellow, blue and green)
• Knife
  
• Water

Procedure

1. fill each cup half full with water.
2. add about 20-30 drops of food coloring to each cup of water. In this case, more food coloring is better!
   
3. before placing any of the flowers in the colored water, have a adult trim the stem of each flower at an angle to create a fresh cut. for cut flowers, it is important for the stem tubes to be filled with water.
   
4. place one freshly cut white carnation in each of the cups of colored water. save the remaining two carnations for the next step.
   
5. use a sharp knife to slit the stem straight down the middle. put each half of the stem into a cup of different colored water (try positioning the red and blue cups next to each other, for example). then see which color will soak up.
   
6. you'll want to check back every few hours to see how things are progressing. it may take as much as 24 hours for the colored water to work its way up to the white petals. At the conclusion of your experiment, examine everything (leaves, stem, etc.) to see where the trace of the color comes from.

Hint:

• cut the stems under water so no air bubbles can get in to break the tube of water and make the flower wilt.

Safety Procedure and Remember To's

• have adult help to cut the stems of the carnations and anything else involving the knife.
  
• keep the stem tubes filled with water, because if air gets in the tube, no water can travel up to stem.
• remember to record all data to help find the source of the colors.
• notice mixing colors and the amount of time needed for the colors to travel up.
  

Scientific Principle

• when a flower is cut, it no longer has it's roots, but the stem of the flower still "drinks" up the water and provides it to the leaves and flowers.
• water evaporating from the leaves, buds and petals (TRANSPIRATION) pulls water up the stem of the plant.
• the water can evaporate because water is very sticky--to itself (called water COHESION) and because the tubes in the plant stem are very small (in a part of the plant called the XYLEM). This process is called CAPILLARY ACTION.
• some chemicals and pollutants, just like the color dyes, may travel up into the plant and affect its health or growth.
• the blue dye will go up the stem the fastest!

Links
history and meanings of carnations
transpiration-cohesion-tension theory

star testing

this week was mainly star testing.
i thought the chemistry part was pretty hard!
the math was even harder!
the history was ok.
at least it is over now.
now we have to do a IProposeWe Blog Post.
i really don't want to do it.
i have no clue what to do.
today i am in the library posting this blog and getting started on the IProposeWe Blog Post.
we also had to do a course evaluation of chemistry.
we got the field trip forms today for mills creek canyon.
i'm pretty excited about it because we get to skip school.

spring break!

last week was spring break!
i was stuck at home studying for my cyrano final.
i also had to do the review chem packet.
that took about 10 minutes each day.
i didn't go anywhere for spring break.
i just went to bbc, the bay badmintton center on friday.
that was all the things i did during spring break.
well...i also slept more and watched a whole lot of tv.
i guess spring break was meant to be relaxing.
that's all.

gas laws and th molar mass of air

the gas laws test in tomorrow.
i just know that it's going to be hard
we did labs on the molar mass of butane and the molar mass of air.
a lot of calculations were involved and we had to calculate percent error for each one.
we also learned about STP (standard temperature pressure) and ideal gas laws (PV=nRT).
balloons have to do with gas laws!
this block is going to be short because i have to study for the test.
next week is spring break! thank god! but sadly, there's hw for this class :(

david webb presentation

this week, david and jone webb came to visit.
they taught us about vacuums and air pressure.
the vacuum machine popped balloons, crushed soda cans, and made a chewy marshmallow.
this is how it works: if all the pressure and air molecules are removed from inside the can, the pressure from outside is still pushing it, so it crushes.
if pressure from outside is removed than the object will get bigger, like for the balloon and marshmallow , because air molecules inside are still pushing out.
their presentation really helped me out on understanding vacuums.
the electric and hand pump was real cool.
i want one.

pressure and temperatures

this week i took the energy test.
i thought it was very very hard!
we also did a lab called The Pressure of Gases.
there were lots of stuff in this lab, like a balloon in a bottle, and eyedropper in a plastic beaker, and a cracking soda can.
we had to draw the moving molecules in the packet.
another lab that we did was based on Gay-Lussac's Law: P vs T, at constant.
in that lab we measured the temperature and pressure of room temperature water, warmer water, hot water, very hot water, and hot oil.
we had to make a graph afterwards.
today is a minimum day!
YEH!

equilibrium

this week we did a packet on equilibrium.
the following monday is the test on energy.
we have to use the formula Q=mcΔT.
we also learned about exothermic and endothermic energy.
to learn about activation energy, we watched a Molecules in Action, a video.
the lab we did this week involved phase changes.
i have to play games and study now.

heat, energy, and elephant tooth paste

we got a new packet this week.
it was about heat and energy.
we also did a lab involving the 3 different phases of water: gas, liquid, and solid.
first, we got a piece of ice and putted it in the beaker.
then , we started heating it up until it became liquid, then gas.
we had to measure the temperature every minute for 15 seconds.
the temperature increase then decreased a little then increase.
it was not very stable.
we made elephant toothpaste!
i forgot what it was made from. but the result was some very hot yellow foam.
it cooled down fast though.
that was about it for this week.

thermochemistry

this week we worked on thermochemistry.
we learned about how heat transfers from the hot object to the cold.
the energy from the hot objects moves to the cold object.
we also did a lab with the bunsen burner again.
we had to weigh the cups and every little detail.
i think i did it wrong though.
we got a new packet that was just due this friday.
it was about the flow of energy.
the picture is of a beaker that stuck to the piece of wood because of the transfer of energy.

stoichiometry lab: Na2Co3 plus HCl

this week, we did a lab involving fire again.
we boiled hydrochloric acid with sodium carbonate.
when, we burned it for about 5 minutes, the contents boiled away.
we had to weigh the beaker, beaker + HCl, beaker + NaCl (aq), and beaker + NaCl (s).
click here to find the results of the lab( not our results though, the general result)
the picture is of bubbling hydrochloric acid!
tomorrow, we are going to take the stoichiometry test.
i do not think i'm ready, so i got to go study.
the yellow stoichiometry packet is also due tomorrow.
that's a lot of work!

stoichiometry

stoichiometry can be simplified as grams to moles to moles to moles to grams.
we worked on that this week.
we also did a lab called oxidation of magnesium.
in that lab, we burned magnesium ribbon.
before, we weighed the cruicible.
after, we weighed the magnesium oxide with the cruicible.
we had 31.67% error on ours, because we didn't scrape out the scraps from the previous period.
now, i am going to get my blog posts checked.

reactions 2 packet

we worked on the reactions 2 packet this week.
we had to balance synthesis reactions, decomposition reactions, and double-replacement reactions.
it was homework this week to finish up the packet.
we also saw fire in class.
i forgot what it was, but bubbles added to a lighter made a bright and pretty flame!
this week was also the cahsee testing.
i don't have a first period, so i was not use to going to school so early.
it was pretty easy though.
this whole week was easy!

solutions and pH test

this week we took the solutions and pH test.
it was very hard, but i studies very hard so i got a 86%.
It was on titration and dilutions.
today, we turned in our reactions 1 packets and got a reactions 2 packet.
we balanced equations with cubes in a lab we did this week.
i have a lot of hw this week.
good thing the only hw for this class is pre reading the lab.

acids and bases lab

this week, we did a lab on acids and bases.
there were four stations.
the first was the one is where we saw if the solution can conduct electricity.
the second, third, and fourth one was where we saw the colors of the solutions.
we also had to answer questions about the lab.
we had to do worksheets in the green power point packet as well.
we also had to find the pH of the solutions with litmus paper.

making solutions lab

we did a lab this week with cobalt chloride.
we put a certain amount in a beaker,then filled it to 100mL with water.
then it was analyzed in the spectronic-20 machine.
we also did some more worksheets from the power point packet.
we worked on dilutions and stuff on solubility.
a new thing this week was the composition book.
we had to paste stuff in it and we get to use it on the tests!
to learn how to dilute something, click pict.

like dissolves like

this week, we worked in a blue packet for most of the week.
it was the power point packet, but there are questions in it this time.
there were stuff about solutes and solvents.
then we did a lab were we get a dropper and some dark purple liquid.
as we add more water, the liquid gets clearer.
from dark purple to purple to magenta to pink to clear.


dissolving is the process of going into solution.
for example: salt is a solute and water is the solvent.
the water dissolves the salt.