Monday, May 2

We did not do anything today in chemistry that was out of the normal. We learned about chemistry, and then we had a quiz. Because images make any blog post better, I found a picture of an ICE table, since ICE tables are relevant to what we are learning.












Today in chemistry we used our ICE tables to determine the pH of some acids. We started on page 7, and worked through #'s 15 and 16. To determine the pH of the acids in these problems we had to calculate the Ka value, and then use logs to find the pH. Nothing too abstract for our sophomore minds to grasp on to.
But anyway, what you really came here for. Answers to 15 and 16.

15. 5.05
16. 2.036

We flipped back to page 4, but the ICE table problems on this page are review. Nothings difficult. Grace immediately became frustrated with this, and asked if there were going to be any harder problems. This was no problem, and her frustration quickly dissolved when she discovered we were moving on. We flipped to page 8.

Page 8 was nothing special. Plain white sheet of paper, black text, the usual. I'm sure your asking yourself right now "Will, why is page 8 important?" It's problem number 19 on page 8 that's important. It captivated the entire class and left us speechless afterwards. I myself could not help but sit in my seat and gape in awe at the elegant nature of the problem. The problem required us to solve for the pH and the % dissociation of the 0.80 M solution of acetic acid. If you were able to hold off admiring the problem for just long enough to solve it, you would get a pH of 2.420 and a % dissociation of .0047. The % dissociation was much less than %, so we got by using the 5% rule to obtain a fairly accurate answer without the quadratic formula. If it was not less than 5%, than we would most likely be in an AP Chemistry class.

We finished the class today with the recently usual quiz covering current topics in class. It was very enjoyable and I can genuinely say that I enjoyed the quiz's unique option. It was 2 sided, and we were able to choose which side we wanted to do. Mr. Henderson truly is a visionary in the field of quiz making. The quiz definitely sent the class out with a bang.

*Important Disclaimer: Fabrication is evident*