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.