Reflection week Sept. 22-28

On Tuesday of this week, we compared the mass, the volume, and most importantly, the density of the different liquids in our labs, which were fruit punch, apple juice, oil, water, Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, and Dr. Pepper. My group and I measured Coca-Cola, so we measured 10 mL of it and then recorded it, then we also measured 20 mL, then 30 mL, then 40 mL, and lastly, 50 mL.

After the experiment, my group and I collected our data, and we posted our results on Lino because we ensured that our data was correct. To measure the density of Coca-Cola correctly, we excluded the mass of the graduation cylinder because we were just looking for the density of the liquid.

But, my intuition told me that most of the students forgot to omit the mass of the graduation cylinders. I was thinking what would happen next, which would be that all the groups would have to compare the densities of all the liquids, and my trepidation was that the overall masses and densities would be incorrect, so the data would be as well. Fortunately though, the group with the Diet Coke rectified their data since their density seemed too big, which made me feel less uncertain.


On Tuesday, I made a "revelation," as Mr. Abud termed it, about density. It sparked a memory stretching back from 7th grade. In 7th grade, I had to learn how to calculate the density of water, which was 1g/1cm^3. In a one-second flash, I though that density equaled the mass divided by the volume. So I had the courage to raise my hand and say what I was thinking as we were comparing all of the graphs of the densities of the liquids. I helped the students learn in a class discussion that d=m/v, and that d(v)=m are the density formulas, which my group and I used to help to calculate the density of Coca-Cola.

But the weirdest thing is that I was using it the whole time, and I just happened to have brainstormed the obvious! In retrospect, it was awesome because my group thought I was a total genius that day. But, the best part is that I even thought like a scientist that day and contributed to a class discussion in an ingenious way. It was definitely the best part of my day--and week.

We also had a class discussion on density. For example, Mr. Abud demonstrated to the whole class two products from our lab: water and vegetable oil. He asked us what would happen if you were to put them in a graduation cylinder. Everyone hypothesized that the oil would float on top of the water based on our data from our experiment, which proved that oil was less dense than water. Indeed, the oil did float on top of the water.

Even though I learned what mass and volume were last week, this lab helped me review the difference between mass and volume, which is that mass is how much matter an object contains, and volume is how much space an object contains.

I learned that density is the amount of matter in a certain amount of space, which made perfectly logical, mathematical sense to me because the amount of matter is the mass, and the amount of space is the volume. In my opinion. the definition for density was
just the formula converted into words.

During this week, I learned that mass and volume were inversely related in terms of density. For example, if you
had an object with less mass and greater volume, then you
would have smaller density. Or, if you had greater mass and less volume, then you would have a larger density.

For this week, though, if I had to improve on one thing in order to succeed, I should relax and calm down because I tend to worry about what's going to happen next rather than focusing on the here and now, and then I would think of all the possibilities I would have to face head-on. I knew everything for the assessment and realized I didn't have to study much, except mentally review over what we did and learned this week and the week before. I speculated  that I would get an A because I knew the material, but I was panicking for no reason, so my group members, Madison, Jaimie, and Margo told me to calm down. Even Mr. Abud was witnessing this, and he told us that everything was cool. In retrospect, they're right.

ChemT3am Reflection Week 3 Sept. 17-21

This week, I learned about many things in Honors chemistry, such as the difference between mass and volume, how they relate to each other, how to compare the two together in experiments, the difference between accuracy and precision, and how they may skew or make your results accurate.

Essentially, the difference between mass and volume is that mass is how much matter an object contains, whereas, volume is how much space it contains. Using my prior knowledge of mass and volume, my group and I calculated the mass on a measurement scale and measured in grams. My group and I used a ruler to measure an object's length, width, and height in centimeters and multiplied them together to calculate the volume in cm^3.

For example on Tuesday, my group and I measured the rectangular prism's volume by measuring the length and the width of the container, and the water's height in the container. But, with the cylindrical container, I measured the radius of its base and squared it. Then, I multiplied it by pi and the height of the water in mL to get the volume.

With this experiment, I learned the difference between calculated volume and measured volume. The calculated volume is exactly accurate, whereas the measured volume is neither as precise nor as accurate as calculated volume. Then, my group and I graphed the results, which weren't accurate. I then learned to graph it with this: cm^3/mL. This means that the slope would be one, since they were equivalent.

This experiment also taught me that precision is limited by uncertainty. So, when I
tried to find the height of the water and it was in between two graduations, I estimated
it. Additionally, I learned that accuracy is limited by the way one measures something. For instance, I believed that my accuracy was limited because I could have looked at it on different eye levels  and angles to find the water's height, and it could have skewed my results.

On Wednesday, I learned that size does not determine mass because an object, such as a big block of Styrofoam, has greater volume than a small block of lead because it takes up more space. Even if the small block of lead doesn't have greater volume, it has greater mass because it contains more matter than the Styrofoam! Even if you didn't have a measurement scale, you could determine which is lighter by putting both objects on one hand. Noticeably, the lead block feels heavier, and the Styrofoam feels lighter. Therefore, size is irrelevant when measuring mass, but size is relevant when measuring volume.

Throughout the rest of the week, I focused further on mass and volume. For example, on Friday, my group and I had to measure the mass and volume of the blocks and rectangular pieces, which were each red, black, and silver. So, we had to record our data and compare their masses and volumes. I did this and realized that the volume was greater than the mass. Of course, this was correct, but it's not always true. The volume could be
less than the mass, or the volume and the mass could be the same. Since those were the possibilities, I figured it's impossible to determine the relationship between mass and volume.

Reflecting on this week, I have a very good understanding of what I have learned, and the experiments and class discussions were very helpful. However, what I could work on to become more successful is to understand more about graphing calculated volume and measured volume. I was confused since I figured cm^3 and mL were different units, even though they were the same. So, what I could do to improve is to not over-think everything, since I do that a lot. When I over-think, it breaks my concentration, and it makes me think that I know what I'm doing when I really don't.

So, if I were to rate my understanding of everything that I have learned in class so far, I would honestly rate myself at 8 or 9 to 10 because I know all the basics and almost all the details, except for the cm^3/mL. I might have to work on it, but I will get better. Overall, I would say my participation was very good because I put my best effort on the labs and experiments, did my best to come to a consensus with my group and work with them, and I did my best to understand everything I have learned, and it paid off for me.