Blog #5

Blog Post #5

This past week, we started learning about energy transfer and how to illustrate that with energy bar diagrams and we also did quantitative energy problems.
This is an example of an energy bar diagram.

These worksheets helped us get a greater understanding of energy and how it is absorbed, released, and described.  The main ideas go together because they help us to better understand energy and how it can be used and what it does.  One very important idea is that energy can only be energy.  It can never be in a different form than energy, it can transferred between different systems, but energy itself never changes.  This may be confusing because we use temperature to describe the thermal energy something has absorbed, but temperature and energy are not the same thing.
This is an example we used to describe energy flow from an ice cube to the inside of a freezer to the air around the refrigerator.

The activities that we did that went along with these ideas were just the worksheets and the reading that helped reinforce them.  We came to understand these ideas by doing the worksheets and participating in class discussions.  I don't feel that I have any questions about this week's ideas because I feel pretty confident about this stuff.  My participation in the learning process this week was very good because I find this stuff kind of interesting.  I would rate my understanding on all of these ideas at a 9.5 because I was not 100% sure on some of my answers for the quantitative energy worksheet.  I guess I still need to work on the quantitative energy problems a little more because I have some doubts on my work for those problems.  I have changed my thinking about energy and how it stays the same and never changes, and the only thing different about energy is how much energy is stored in a system.

Blog #4

Blog Post #4

During this past week, we finished learning about pressure and the variables related to it and then did a lab to introduce us to the second part of energy and matter.  So for two days, the main thing we focused on was the difference between heat and temperature.  We learned from the Eureka video that temperature is just the speed of particles, while heat is mass and speed of particles.  These ideas go together because they are related to each other, but they are not the same.  The difference is that temperature is a measurement while heat is something that you can add or remove and it will affect the temperature.  These were also the important ideas that went along with the relationship between temperature and heat.
This is the example that we used on Friday.

The lab that we did was Temperature vs. Heat, and what we did was we melted a ice cube and monitored its temperature.  We observed the water going through the three phases, from a solid to a liquid to a gas.
If we had continued to heat our water to only steam, this is what our graph would have looked like.

In order to understand these concepts, we answered the Question Of The Day, and the lab which included pre-lab questions and a conclusion.  One question I have about this stuff still is; How, if possible, do we measure heat?
My participation this week was very good because I was helping my group when they needed it and I played a part in the lab.  I would rate my understanding of these ideas at a 10 because I feel like I completely understand this topic.  I don't need to work on anything else because there wasn't much that we learned so there wasn't any confusion in the topics.  One new thing I learned was that there is a difference between heat and temperature, and what that difference is.  This has caused my ideas to change on how I perceive and use heat and temperature in a logical way.  So I feel that I will now have to think about how to apply and use heat, temperature, and the difference between the two concepts.

Blog #3

Blog Post #3

This week, we started learning about pressure and how it is has either a direct or indirect relationship with temperature and volume.  We also talked about how much pressure is around us, and how we use it to do a simple task like drinking through a straw.  And the lab we started on Friday showed us how pressure and volume have a direct relationship.  These ideas go together so that we are able to know how to see a change in pressure by altering a variable, such as volume.  One important detail to pressure is that it is caused by the force exerted by atoms against a surface or object. This is an example of pressure.
One activity we did was the one on the computer where we held a variable constant in order to see the relationship between the other two.  By doing that, we found that pressure and temperature have a direct relationship, as do pressure and volume, but temperature and volume have an indirect relationship.  Also, the lab that we started Friday emphasized that volume and pressure have a direct relationship, up until right before the volume is 0.  We came to understand all these relationships by doing the activities, experiments, labs and the question of the day.  One question I have is; How do we calculate volume without using the tools that measure it for us?

My participation was really good this week and I feel that I really understand pressure and it's relationship with temperature and volume.  I would rate my understanding of this week's ideas at a 9.5.  For my understanding to be at a 10, I would like to know how to find the pressure without using any special tools.  I also need to work on the relationship part a little more.  I don't feel 100% confident because the online lab we did kind of confused me because I might of messed up on the data gathering.  My ideas have changed because I used to not know how to define or describe pressure, but now I have learned what it is.  One new thing I have to think about is the relationship between pressure and temperature.

Blog #2

Blog Post #2

This past week, we have recapped density, found the mass, volume, and density of a gas, and found the thickness of aluminum foil.  The main idea for this week was density and using our knowledge of density to find the density of a gas, and also finding the thickness of aluminum foil.  The most important part was the relationship between density, mass, and volume, and how you can use that relationship to find one of those measurements. But to find one of those measurements, you need two of the others to find it.  The activities we did this week were finding the density of a gas and finding the thickness of aluminum foil.  To find the density of a gas, we found the volume, the mass and then the density; for the thickness of aluminum foil, we had to find the density in order to get the thickness of the aluminum foil.
Here is a close representation of the lab we did.
One way we came to learn this week's ideas was by answering the question of the day each day, and doing the experiments.  Also, our review guide helped us refresh and enforce the main ideas from this week and last week.  One question I have is; Which measurement for volume is more accurate? Does it depend on the object?  Another question I have is; Why does the density of some objects, when shown on a graph, sometimes have a negative y-intercept?  My participation in the learning process this week was very good because I did every 'Question of the Day' and all the experiments.

I would rate my understanding of this week's ideas at a 9.5 because I feel confident for the test coming up.  I wouldn't put it at a 10 yet because I think there is a little doubt in my mind because of the 'finding the thickness of aluminum foil' lab.  I feel that I don't need to work on anything more because I feel pretty confident about my understanding of this week's ideas.  My ideas have changed in the sense that I can find the density pretty easy whether it is in a lab or with given measurements.  I don't have any new questions for this week.  But I have to start thinking about my measuring accuracy when it comes to finding density.

This week's ideas about density and its relationship to mass and volume haven't really added any confusion to my understanding.  It doesn't seem like a very confusing idea because it is pretty simple and is some simple math, which I understand fairly easily.  Another very important part of density is that it represents the slope on a graph in which the two axes are mass and volume.  That is important because it is a good way to see the relationship between mass and volume because it is visualized very well on a graph.

Blog #1

Blog Post #1

The main ideas that we have been learning about are mass, volume, significant figures, and density.  These main ideas all link together when we are taking measurements of certain things, such as a prism or other objects.  The big thing in significant figures, that we focused on, was determining whether or not certain values, mostly zeros, should be included in the measurement.  Also, for density, we emphasized the relationship between mass and volume in order to find the density, and that the density of an object represents a slope on a graph comparing mass and volume.
Here is a graph of the density of water.

An experiment we did relating to mass was when we simply found the mass of different objects to see if we could change it.  But we later found out that, due to the Law of Conservation of Matter, we cannot create or destroy matter, thus we could not change the mass of those items unless we made a chemical change.  When we were investigating volume, we would find the volume of an object two different ways, one was water displacement, and the other was by using centimeters and equations.  We then discovered that the relationship between these two units of volume should be equivalent.  We found out all our answers by discussing with each other, doing our experiments, and simply using logic and past knowledge to comprehend these new ideas.
One question that I had (but figured out later) was:

1. How can you graph the density of an object if you only have the density value, but not either of the mass or volume values?

I feel that my participation this week was very good because I have been learning a lot of new stuff that I had never even heard/learned about before.  I would rate my understanding of all the material that we have learned at a 9.5/10 because I am pretty sure I know everything, but there is a very little part of me that has some doubt.  I feel about 100% confident about everything, but if I had to review something, it would probably be in determining which zeros are significant in measurements.

This is a good diagram for significant figures.

I have some new things to think about relating to volume, significant figures, and density.  For volume, I did not know that if the volume measurement for an object is 8 cm^3, then it is also 8 mL.  For the significant figures, I need to start thinking about which zeros are significant and which aren't because I get tripped up on that sometimes.  For density, I have to remember that density is mass divided by volume, and that it is the slope of an equation relating to a graph with volume and mass as the axes.