Reflective Blog 2/9/2014

    Over the past week, we basically did lecture quizzes online and were given a handful of equilibrium worksheets that we had to work on. Yes, like Dr. J said, equilibrium is probably the most difficult unit for students. Personally, I am still a little fuzzy on some problems. Dr. J told us that we'll have to make an activity packet this unit like from ACIS II. In one hand, I really think that this will help me do better on the test by making me finish the worksheets. On the other hand, ACIS II is just a little bit irrelevant to me anymore.
    However, at the beginning of class each day, we went through lots of "concept quizzes" with the class. It was very helpful for me because Dr. J basically went through each problem step by step. It was also great that other students were with me together to solve the problem, because what they were confused on, I am confused on the same type of problems as well. Our test is somewhere towards the end of next week. I am about 75% ready for the test, but I am still confused on some problem set ups. I think I'll have to go to Dr. J after school sessions to go over some study materials. One of my favorite part about chemistry class is that Dr. J would also do a small "simulation" as we go over the concept slides, which is help to me because I am a very visual learner. There are many formulas we have to memorize for this test. The basic concepts behind these formulas are fairly simple,but there are just so many of them that sometimes I don't know which one to use. Although this is somehow difficult, but I really like the moodle website for this unit. It has basically all the key information we need to know for the test, as well as listing out all of the formulas for the test.
   Lastly, something that I did interesting over the past week was I donated blood in the Skyline blood drive. It was really awkward because that was my first time giving blood. Although the word, blood, is just uncomfortable for the most of us, but the blood drive really wasn't that bad. Other than that, I had a fantastic week and I still have the equilibrium worksheets to work on over the weekend, so I better get back to that!

Blog 01/21/2014

Boyle’s Law P1V1 = P2V2

Charles’s Law V1 / T1 = V2 / T2

Gay-Lussac's Law P1 / T1 = P2 / T2

Avogadro's Law V1 / n1 = V2 / n2

The Combined Gas Law P1V1 / T1 = P2V2 / T2

The Ideal Gas law PV = nRT

Dalton's Law of Partial Pressures Ptotal = Pa + Pb + Pc + …

Density of a Gas D=m/V

Graham’s Law r1/r2= sqrt (M2/M1)

Partial Pressure Pa= (P total)( mole fraction)

The average kinetic Energy of a Single Gas molecule KE=(½)mv^2

Molecular weight M=mRT/PV

Speed of molecules V rms=sqrt(3RT/M)

All of these formulas and laws basically make up the study of ideal gases. When we uses these formulas with the right variables. It allows scientists to find out the characteristics of different gases. However, sometimes it's difficult to find out which formulas and variables are provided in the question. In our class discussions over the past couple weeks, we basically went over lots of "dingle" worksheets. Everything was very straight-forward, however, it's super important to think about the concepts and how to apply the formulas into real world applications.

I felt very strong in understanding the concepts behind the gas laws. I am very confident about the upcoming test, mechanical calculations, and logics of ideal gases. If I am given all the needed variables. I am still confused on multiple step problems. On the taskchain and chemistry worksheets, I do not know what to do because there is no clear path (By clear path I mean it is not as straightforward like finding V2 if T1, T2, and V1 is given). I think to fix this, I should just do more problems to get more experience. Sometimes I still have couple mistakes when I am solving problems. I get lost very easily when the question gives out multiple variables in just one or two sentences. It distracts me from spotting out what variables are given to me and to determine which formulas should be use.

Although I get very confused sometimes in class. The moodle quizzes and lectures available for us online really helped me greatly. It gives me an understanding through just examining the components and step-by-step solving method. All I have left to do is basically just review and practice the worksheets and taskchains once again online to help me refreshing my memory. Practice! Practice! Practice! Hopefully I will do well on the test, or at least better than the last test that I took.