Final Reflections

This will officially be my last blog post of the year. I thought that this year in Honors Chemistry was very educational and enlightening.

The first day I was in class, I knew it would be different than most classes. One aspect of this class that made it very interesting … and liberating was that cell phones and other electronics were allowed in class–for educational usage only, of course. Normally, these would be prohibited because school administration believes that these are a distraction, promoting cyber-bullying, enable students to cheat on tests, etc. But, cell phones can also be used for good. In this class, cell phones were used to take pictures of lab experiments, projects, take notes, etc. I even used my Kindle Fire to take notes and organize projects, such as the Soap project in the middle of the year.

As a whole, I thought my learning experience was very good. I thought that I did a spectacular job learning in this class. I understood practically everything that I was taught. It just came to me easily. Some of the concepts that I understood easily were conservation of energy, relationships between mass and volume and density, the forming of chemical compounds, predicting the reactants used based on the product formed, and predicting the number of moles produced based on the ratios of the compounds in the balanced equation. I understood that, with density, the greater the mass and the lesser the volume, the greater the density and applied this to identify certain chemical compounds and understood that the chemical composition and the arrangement of particles had to remain the same as well as the density. I could understand the conservation of energy because not only did I know that certain energy could leave or enter the system, but that this decreased or increased the temperature, rearranged the particles, helped to change states, and even that energy could enter or leave the system depending on the chemical reactions. I could tell that based on the reactants in a chemical equation, that they formed this compound, and depending on the charges of the elements, I took advantage of this to find the number of elements required to combine to form a neutrally-charged compound. Based on this, I could calculate the ratios and because of this, I could calculate the ratios of the change in moles in a reaction based on this.

But, one standard I think I struggled with was the difference between was precision and accuracy. I knew that both were important when collecting data and ensuring that I collected measurements accurately, but I couldn't identify the difference. I assumed that they were like interchangeable parts because of this. In our common language, these words mean the same thing. But, in science, it's different. Accuracy is limited based on how we measured it and is associated with human error. But, with precision, it was tough to identify what difference it would make if I had to round a number to the nearest whole number. Whole numbers were expected, but I figured it would be more accurate to say the entire number. But, then accuracy is based on how I measured it, and precision is based on the number of digits. So, I wondered how can something be less precise but just as accurate? It was one of those tough concepts to wrap my head around.

I could do whiteboard problems because the math involved was easy for me to understand. I could calculate the number of moles based on the given grams of that substance and the molar mass of that particular substance so easily and vice versa because I understood they had a proportionate relationship with each other. I often did the whiteboarding, and not did I do a quality job with the whiteboarding, but I also realized that I could solve problems in real life using this technique rather than just memorizing the technique and applying them in just ordinary math problems.

My group and I participated in labs. I thought that I tried my best in the lab experiments. I meticulously ensured that the data I was collecting was correct. I reread all the mathematical procedures I made and made sure I excluded the mass of the beaker when I had to consider the mass of the copper chloride, for example. However, when my energy was wasted on overachieving in APUSH, this was my struggle area. But, I learned a lot from doing the labs. Whenever I dealt with this stress, I was glad we had debriefs afterwards and talk about what we were supposed to learn in the labs. This helped me consider what I should be writing my notes on and how I should write my blog posts and evaluate what I learned.

I also enjoyed the projects in class. I remember the most the thermos project, for example. We were competing to see who could make the most effective thermos, and if one would do very well and had the least temperature change, this would mean they had a great understanding of how energy is conserved and how to keep it this way. I put my best effort in those projects. I often looked for ways to improve and even collected data before I participated in the competition. When I realized the thermos needed more insulation from the inside, I added more and tested it to make sure it gave me results. As soon as I achieved the amount of temperature change I wanted, I stopped and made sure the project was kept intact.

Another aspect of this class that was enlightening was the blog reflections. In my other classes, I would never write on those classes, and if I left my notes in my locker one night before the test, I would be struggling. But, by writing the blog reflections before hand, I can study and review from the blog post to understand the standards that were taught in class. When I write on my blog, I incorporate all the notes I took from class, my experiences with the labs, and what I learned during class. This contributed to my learning because I was less likely to forget what I learned in class even thought math-based classes are my forte and less of a struggle to me than classes like history, which require lots of memorization. The blog writing not only helped me remember the criteria, but it helped me focus on the ares that were the most important. Because there was a word limit (650-750 words), I would always keep my writing within this range, and if it were outside this range, I would omit information that was irrelevant or keep some information since there were other key points I wanted to include. This, though, in spite of the word limit, helped me focus on the concepts I learned in class without getting lost in thought or abstraction since I tend to over-think all the time.

As a matter of fact, over-thinking was one of the things that damaged me this year, in a way, especially when I was stressed out over AP U.S. History. This class was really hard for me because there were so many facts to memorize. This class put me under a lot of pressure because I wanted to get straight A's and have a high GPA, but I always got B's and B-'s. By the time the 2nd semester began, I just resigned and thought to myself, "I give up." This was detrimental because all I could think of was APUSH, and this was bad for me when I had to do lab experiments. With the loss of sleep and focus, I screwed up a lot in labs. I remember when I was trying to do the electrolysis experiment, and I wanted to do it all myself because I was used to doing things the way I wanted to. I struggled, and rather than let anybody help me, I wanted to try to solve the problem myself. As a result, I let my group members down, and I feel bad for doing this. I just hate myself for getting APUSH into my head and making me feel that I couldn't do anything anyone. This negative attitude made me less likely to be able to focus on what I loved the most–chemistry.

If I were to transport myself back in time, I would tell myself to remember the first moment I experience chemistry. As a kid, I played with chemistry sets all the time. I even remember the one time when I watched this one movie where this kid mixes the chemicals incorrectly, and the next thing that happens, it blows up, and his face is covered with black goop. This was funny and made me think that chemistry was so cool and inspiring. And it is. I just wish this year I could hold myself above water and not have to sink so deeply. But now that I have grown, I would tell myself not to overreach and overachieve thinking that I would meet success along the way because my leaps of success in the beginning were short-lived and fleeting. I often dealt with failures, such as the lack of balance and a focus balance between two classes I put all my energy in.

In spite of all this, though, I knew that I wouldn't have to worry about this class much because I given the opportunity to reassess on standards that I wasn't able to study in depth because of other affairs I had to attend to. In the middle of the year, I had to reassess 7 of the 9 questions on this one test because there was a huge APUSH test that I didn't want to fail. So, I didn't get the standards that required me to know the atomic charges of the elements we were studying in class. Nonetheless, the reassessments gave me a chance to study the standards and get better grades. I liked the assessments because I could come into school early at 7 to take them over and not have to worry about missing important information during math or some other class. I was able to find my individual of remembering the charges. I used a mnemonic device for the groups. The first group, for example, was KHANLI for potassium, hydrogen, Li for lithium, and Na reversed for sodium–this helped me remember the +1 charged alkaline metals. I also liked the fact that every time I went to the reassessments, Mr. Abud was always there, and if I needed to, I would ask him questions about certain standards and even tell him what I learned along the way. I thought this was a very helpful and enlightening way to learn chemistry.

Then, within a week after reassessments normally, the reassess grades would replace the ones that I reassess for. For the most part, I would do better and go from a 2 or a 3 to a 4, although there were times when I gone from a 3 to a 2, but those didn't affect my grade much. Nonetheless, I thought the ActiveGrade tool was very good because it didn't base the grades on the number I got correct out of all the possible questions on the test. Each question was graded on a scale of 1 to 4 to determine one's mastery. I thought this tool was helpful in assuring the standards I did and didn't know and helped me take actions accordingly.

I think that this class has exceeded the potential I thought it would be. I can't think of anyway this class can't improve in any way for next year.

I know this blog post is way, way long and exceeds the word limit at 2,164 words. But, in spite of my hypercritical and honest nature, I do have to admit that I enjoyed this class very much and learned much from it. I enjoyed this class because the environment wasn't stressful. I could use a tablet if I wanted to in order to take notes without being yelled at. I liked that I could reassess on standards I felt I struggled with and wanted to improve upon. The class activities, I thought, were engaging and entertaining, but helped me learn in a more … observant fashion. When student volunteers had to align themselves and then move around a certain way to demonstrate the movement of particles in solids, liquids, and gases, I thought it was humorous when the students dumped into each other as if though particles would. This made me chuckle a little and see how particles moved. These are the reasons why I enjoyed this class and will be missing it while I take AP Chemistry next year. As a whole, I would say that my learning experience, on a scale of 1-4, was a solid 4 because I learned every step of the way.

May 28-31

This week primarily focused on the Coke bottle lab. In this lab, I had to make the silver precipitate that would form on the inside surface of the bottles.

The first step I took was drinking the pop. This I did, and even though I wanted to rinse it out with water, I was told not to. This makes sense because the water would interfere with the chemical reaction and perhaps cause disassociation.

In every experiment, of course, following the instructions is important. That is why I ensured that I was double-checking the instructions. I made sure that I was using 10 mL of glucose, for example, not 50. The proportion of the reactants is very important in a reaction, and if there is too much of one reactant, then not enough of the excess reactant will react. It could ruin the experiment.

In the experiment, I measured out 10 mL of glucose and put it in the bottle.

I then got the silver nitrate and volumed it at 40 mL, but did not put it in with the glucose since the instructions said not to. I thought that since the silver nitrate would have to go in with the glucose eventually, what would happen if it were mixed with glucose first?

The next step I took in the experiment was I added drops of ammonia to the silver nitrate. As soon as I did this, a brown precipitate form, but to dissolve it, I added more ammonia. This I think happened because the silver nitrate was an aqueous solution, and the ammonia ions separated the silver nitrate, hence forming the precipitate. The more ammonia ions there were, logically, the precipitate would eventually dissolve depending on the number of ions it needs. This then formed silver ammonium (Ag(NH3)2).+

Then, I added the 15 mL of potassium hydroxide to the silver ammonium complex. Then, I combined this with the glucose inside the bottle. In order for the reaction to occur, though, I had to shake the bottle in order for the particles to collide together, hence the electrons could be transferred from one element to another. Hence, motion also plays a role in catalyzing chemical reactions.

The bottle, of course, needed to have a stopper so that none of the substance would come out. So, I sealed it carefully before I shook the bottle. As I continued shaking the bottle, I noticed that it was turning black. As the instructions said, fine particles of any metal are black. This was how it appeared when I performed the experiment, so I knew I was doing the experiment correctly. As soon as the coating appeared to be even, I stopped shaking, and now I'm waiting for the solution to solidify to form the silver layer inside.

This reaction, overall, is known as the Tollen's test, which is used to identify the aldehydes in the reaction. The mirror forms when metallic silver deposits on the inner surface of a glass container solidifies, hence forming the silver precipitate. In this experiment, the aldehyde was glucose. When it combined with the ammonia complex of silver in an aqueous solution, the silver was eventually disassociated from the rest of the complex, hence isolating the ions to form the silver precipitate.

This would explain how mirrors are made. In normal mirrors, the silver is used, and since the test forms reflective silver, light can reflect off of it due to its physical and chemical properties, which explains why mirrors often look silver, or depending on the color of the metal used like copper, the light reflecting off the mirror makes it appear to be that particular color.

This week, I also reviewed over the whole course of the semester. The concepts that I learned this semester played into this lab. One of the basic concepts that played a role in this lab were the properties of matter. In this lab, I observed that the silver nitrate, the potassium hydroxide, and the ammonia were all liquids. This was different than most of the chemical reactions because if look back on the copper chloride experiment, for example, a solid (copper) reacted with a liquid (chloride) in an aqueous solution in water. Water happened to separated the ions through disassociation. But, in this one, all were liquid, which may have played a role because they didn't require a solvent to form an aqueous solution. Rather, it required the glucose to react to help form the silver precipitate.