Mini Project Hard Rock Candy

Photo Credit: Kevin Chan 5th
Today in chemistry we made rock candy!! Our teacher Mr.Olsen showed us a process that will lead us to the product of rock candy. Here are the tricks: First the materials you need are:

• Sugar
• Candy (lifesaver)
• Cotton string
• water
• glass

Here are the steps:

1. First fill you glass with a heated sugar solution about half way full.
2. Then dip you candy in sugar covering it completely.
3. Then cut a string and tie the candy and connect it to the Popsicle stick. When doing this make sure the candy is a few inches above the bottom of the glass.
4. You can now add food coloring to make it look nice.
5. Wait about 24 hours and if this doesn't work you should repeat these steps.

Science:This experiment has to do with solutions and dissolution. Water is a natural solvent, since many substances can dissolve in it. Sugar is a good example- sugar contains a lot of polar hydroxide groups that cause it to dissolve in water fairly easily.
However, all substances can only dissolve up to a certain point. At that point, the solution becomes saturated, and if you add any more sugar, it will remain solid because it has no room to dissolve.
When we heat water and sugar, we increase the saturation capacity, so more sugar can dissolve. This is because heat causes molecules to move apart and have more energy, so the sugar molecules can dissolve in hot water better than in cold water.

Mini Project Making play dough

Photo Credit: Kevin Chan 5th
In chemistry class with a mix of brilliant mixtures I made Play-Dough!!! Here the trick:

• First of all put a solution on the a hot plate.
• Put the flour down on it.
• Heat this flour and mix it by stirring this flour.
• Drop in some food coloring to add an effect for color.
• Keep Mixing until dough is ready and heated.
• Turn of the burners and let it set. Soon you will have Play-Dough!!!

Science: The chemicals mixed form a compound the compound is essentially a starch-based binder mixed with water, salt, lubricant and preservative. To be more specific, it contains:

• Water
• Starch-based binder
• Retrogradation inhibitor
• Salt
• Lubricant
• Surfactant
• Preservative
• Hardener
• Humectant
• Fragrance
• Color

Each of these ingredients has an effect on the compound's texture, fragrance and appearance. One of the major contributors to the softness and texture of Play-Doh compound is the interaction between its two primary ingredients - starch-based binder and water. To understand how the dough works, you have to know a little about starch and what happens when it comes into contact with water.Starches are polysaccharides, or strings of sugar molecules.

Mini-Project Air Pressure

Photo Credit: Kevin Chan 5th
Today I help a cup of water upside down while keeping the water in by placing a piece of paper under the opening of the cup. Isn't that great!! Here are the tricks:

• Fill the cup up with water half way.
• Get a thick piece on paper.
• In one quick movement flip the cup to the paper side so that the cup is covered by the paper.
• Then maintain holding the cup upside down with the paper under to keep the air pressure so there will be no leakage.

Science: Atmospheric pressure is the force per unit area exerted against a surface by the weight of air above that surface in the Earth's atmosphere. In most circumstances atmospheric pressure is closely approximated by the hydrostatic pressure caused by the weight of air above the measurement point. Low pressure areas have less atmospheric mass above their location, whereas high pressure areas have more atmospheric mass above their location. Similarly, as elevation increases there is less overlying atmospheric mass, so that pressure decreases with increasing elevation.

Chem Standard

I am a member of the transition metals. I will teach you standard 3C: Students know one mole equals 6.02x10²³particles (atoms or molecules). Simply put, the mole represents a number. Just as the term dozen refers to the number twelve, the mole represents the number 6.02 x 10²³.Now that's a big number!The mole is used when were talking about numbers and molecules. Atoms and molecules are very tiny things. A drop of water the size of the period at the end of this sentence would contain 10 trillion water molecules. Instead of talking about trillions and quadrillions of molecules (and more), it's much simpler to use the mole.The number of objects in one mole, that is, 6.02 x 10²³, is commonly referred to as Avogadro's number. Amadeo Avogadro a Italian scientist created the term and concept of the mole.

Defining moles?

• 1 mole of molecules has a mass equal to the molecular weight in grams.
• 1 mole of atoms has a mass equal to the atomic weight in grams.
  

Mills Creek Canyon

On Thursday 29 April 2010, I walked to Mills Canyon Creek with Mr.Olsen and all of his chemistry classes. We walked all the way to the Mills Canyon Creek, here we observed many chemical reactions and natural enviromental changes. This was a very fun and exciting field trip. I learned a lot as i got to observe the natural enviroment. This field trip was great.

View Mills Creek Canyon Park in a larger map

Mills Canyon is a great field trip and learning experience.