Flame Test

Hi Honors Students,
Hope all of you are working on your formal lab reports this weekend.  I will post some of the pictures that we took Friday in the lab.  I know that everyone enjoyed all the beautiful colors and hopefully the chemistry that goes with it.  Please follow the rubric for the lab report.  Also, study the filling pattern for the electron configuration and orbital notation.  We will have an exit quiz on Tuesday!  Don't forget to study the exceptions to the filling pattern.  Tuesday - we will begin chapter 6.  Looking ahead - Unit 4 test is on November 11th.  This is also the day that the portfolio will be due.

Lithium flame test

Oh Where is the electron!

Good morning Honors Chem. students:
This week has gone faster than one of those pesky neutrino particles so I have not been keeping up with the blog.  I apologize for that.  We have been using the quantum model to describe the energies of the electrons in their ground state.  Remember there is a pattern of filling.  Study the energy levels, sublevels, and orbital pattern.  Tomorrow in class, we will review with guided practice.  Yesterday in class, you completed the electron structure lab.  The post lab questions will be due tomorrow.  Also, I would like you to bring a rough draft of your introduction, purpose, and hypothesis for the flame test lab to class tomorrow.  We will peer review this prior to your formal lab report.  Tomorrow is a close-toe shoe, tie back long hair, and do not wear loose clothing day.  We will be using the bunsen burners as part of our flame test lab.  Looking forward to next week, Monday will be an exit quiz on electron configurations.  Be prepared!
See all of you tomorrow,
Mrs. E

Where in the world is the electron

Hello fellow chemists,
Today we delved into the nebulous world of quantum mechanics.  Remember it is based on the probability of finding an electron in a region of space.  Here is a Heisenberg joke for you - Heisenberg is out for a drive when he's stopped by a traffic cop.  The cop says, "Do you know how fast you were going?"
Heisenberg says, "No, but I know where I am."  Bazinga! Remember if we can precisely know the position of the electron than we cannot  precisely know the momentum.  A good study tip for the weekend is to compare and contrast the Bohr model of the atom with the quantum mechanical model of the atom.  I think there is a very good probability of this being an exit slip question on Monday ( another Bazinga reference there)  So where will Mrs. Engel be at precisely 7:00 pm tonight?  Email your best guest to dengel@mchs.net.  Don't forget to answer all of your post-lab questions for the marble lab from today.  We will be reviewing the theories of quantum mechanics on Monday along with learning how to write electron configurations for ground state electrons.

See you then,

Mrs. E

Quick reminders

Hi everyone,
I'm finishing up grading the unit 3 test tonight.  Just a quick reminder that the nuclear projects are due tomorrow.  We will begin the quantum mechanical model of the atom tomorrow and I have several short film clips to show.  We will also be in lab dropping marbles as a model for the electron.

End of the 1st quarter and beginning of the 2nd!

Dear Honors Chemistry Students -
Sorry - life became very busy this past week so I did not keep up with the blog as I should have.  The good news is that your quarter grades are complete unless you need to turn in absent work or missing assignments.  We have completed our study of the nucleus of the atom and will have our unit test tomorrow.  I'm very excited to read your portfolios.  Hopefully, you found some interesting colleges that might match your needs.  Make sure you practice nuclear expressions and half-life problems.  I suggest reading through the end of the unit questions.  Remember the answers to the odd questions are in the back of the book.  Also, please remember your brain needs to be refueled every 40 minutes.  This means to hydrate your body and eat protein while changing the scenery in front of your eyes.  Remember cramming for an honors chemistry test will not work.  Hopefully you reviewed a little bit each day during the unit.  Also - a good night sleep will do wonders for you tomorrow.  Congratulations to our teams this weekend.  I enjoyed  MCHS football and Lacrosse.  I also heard good news about our cross country team.
See you tomorrow,
Mrs. E

Nuclear Decay - take two

Hi everyone,
Today ends our homecoming week.  I hope all my students enjoy the game tonight and the dance tomorrow night. In class yesterday, we furthered our understanding of decay.  From watching a music video to practicing on whiteboards, we should all have an understanding of the following types of decay: alpha, beta negative,  and positron.  We also practiced electron capture and bombardment reactions.  I have graded the quizzes and I am really happy with the overall results.  Nice job everyone!  Please don't forget to continue to review these reactions and the graphic organizer that we did for a bell ringer.  The graphic organizer is a great study tool.  How many test questions can you develop from this?  Remember - if you dream of the question than I can too.  Although it might be a scary journey, begin to think like a teacher.  Develop your own test questions.  Try to answer them.  When you begin to anticipate the test questions, you are actually studying.  I will be grading the lab reports over the weekend.  Looking ahead to next week - we will begin our study of half-life on Tuesday and do a lab activity.  We will finish the unit on Thursday with more practice and activities.  The unit test will be October 17.  This will also be the day that the portfolio is due.  Nuclear projects will be due October 19.
Have a great three day weekend.  Enjoy your day off!
Until next time,

Mt. Meru in Tanzania

Mrs. E

October 4, 2011

Delving into the nucleus was the theme for today's class.  I hope everyone enjoyed the Dr. Seuss book.  It is often hard to imagine the impact our knowledge of the atom has had on our society. After learning of the impact of discovering nuclear power and the effect of this on our society, we began to learn about radioisotopes and nuclear decay reactions.  Don't forget that charge and mass are both conserved in our decay equations. Practicing these equations is the best way to learn how to do them.  We will review these concepts tomorrow plus have a quiz on sample nuclear equations towards the end of the class period.

Data from geiger counters

Lab set-up from 9/30/11

Today was the first day of our nuclear chemistry unit.  This also means we are ready to write our first formal lab report.  Don't forget to follow the grading rubric for the lab report.  This is a major grade for this quarter.  Speaking of the quarter, we are entering the final two weeks of the quarter.  The plan is to have the nuclear chemistry test on October 13th.  Today in class we gathered data on three different types of radiation: alpha, beta, and gamma.  It was a very extensive lab today.  Just remember, true science data gathering takes time and patience.  For Tuesday, don't forget to read and outline 25.1 and 25.2.  We will be hitting the content from these two sections hard on Tuesday and Thursday.  Looking ahead - we will be in lab on Thursday and we will have a quiz on nuclear decay equations also on Thursday.  Stay on top of the content in this unit!  Enjoy your homecoming week!
Mrs. E