Week One Blog Post

          This week we learned the basics on a few topics such as the Mole, stoichiometry,  and dimensional analysis (or conversions for short). We also dove into our very first lab this week on the relationship between absorbency and the concentration of a liquid. The main focus of this week though was molarity. Molarity tied together each of the basic lessons we learned this week and helped us use each to complete various parts of the lab.
           The week started with two lecture quizzes, one on the mole, one on dimensional analysis. We learned that a mole is basically the total amount of atomic mass of each element in an equation added together. We also learned that the molar mass of each chemical equation is the atomic mass of that equation in grams. The dimensional analysis quiz taught us basic conversions we would need to know for the future like those below.

          We then worked with stoich problems filling out two worksheets by learning the basic concept of the mole ratio. The mole ratio was very easy for me to comprehend because I am much more number-oriented then word-oriented. These equations we dealt with in these worksheets did just that. That same day we also worked on a lecture quiz on Molarity. The main concept from this lecture was that a solution's Molarity(M) = moles of the solute/ liter of the total solution. This concept was a main factor in completing the lab we did the rest of the week. Another huge concept from that lecture was that volume is dependent upon a solution's temperature. We learned that if the temperature of a solution went up, so does the volume, but the molarity of the solution will then decrease. The link below gives a better understanding on this subject.

http://www.screencast.com/t/vhaDPfok3y9





          The last thing we did this week was a lab on the relationship between the concentration of a solution and the amount of transmitted light through the solution. After breaking off into groups, we tested many different dilutions of a liquid called blue #1, finding the absorbency and concentration of each liquid. We then performed the same test on Powerade and G2 samples to determine their absorbency. The data from these experiments led us to create a linear relationship between the concentration of each solution and the amount of transmitted light in each solution. This lab combined all of the things we learned this week and rolled them into one big experiment.

          Overall, my participation in class and other such things have been pretty good this week. Rating my understand of the unit on a scale of 1-10, I would probably be right around a 7.5. I understand most of the material, but some of the conversions and equations still very much confused me. I was mainly confused on the equations in the third lecture quiz and lecture on Concentration Molarity. I think I just need a little more experience dealing with those kinds of equations and I'll be A-Okay. I need to continue to drill into my head the basic principle of molarity as measuring the moles of a solute over the liters of a solution. Besides that, I have no new questions from this week's lessons.