Thursday, October 28

Thursday was test day. We took the Unit 3 test with 15 multiple choice questions, a page of short calculations and a page of longer calculations.  This day marks the official end of Unit 3.

Unit 4 will begin on Friday. Unit 4 is concerned with the topic of chemical reactions. We will learn what a chemical reaction involves and how different reactions can be characterized based upon their features. We will also learn how to use atom counting as a means of balancing chemical equations via the trial and error method. The unit will end as we focus upon precipitation reactions and learn to predict what precipitate will form as two aqueous solutions of ionic compounds are mixed. There will be virtually no mathematics in this unit. There will be a lot of symbolic representations.

Friday, October 15 - Unit 3

Friday was test day. We took the Unit 2 test with 33 multiple choice questions and one page of naming and formula writing with a short calculation. There were 50 questions worth 2 points each. Up-to-date grade printouts will be available on Monday.  This day marks the official end of Unit 2. 

Unit 3 will continue on Monday. (We've already had a day and a half of this unit, in which we learned how to use conversion factors and the meaning of the atomic mass unit and relative atomic masses.) As we continue through Unit 3 we will learn about the mathematical relationships associated with the chemical formulas. We will learn that a chemical formula reveals quantitative information about the gram-to-gram and atom-to-atom relationships for the elements within a chemical compound. This unit will be the first of several math intensive units within the course.

Friday, October 15

Friday was test day. We took the Unit 2 test with 33 multiple choice questions and one page of naming and formula writing with a short calculation. There were 50 questions worth 2 points each. Up-to-date grade printouts will be available on Monday.  This day marks the official end of Unit 2. 

Unit 3 will continue on Monday. (We've already had a day and a half of this unit, in which we learned how to use conversion factors and the meaning of the atomic mass unit and relative atomic masses.) As we continue through Unit 3 we will learn about the mathematical relationships associated with the chemical formulas. We will learn that a chemical formula reveals quantitative information about the gram-to-gram and atom-to-atom relationships for the elements within a chemical compound. This unit will be the first of several math intensive units within the course.

Thursday, September 23 - Unit 2

Today marked the official end of Unit 1 as we took the Unit 1 Test. There were 35 multiple choice questions and a page of long answers.

The unit involved a lot of learning - much of which was unrelated to course content yet nontheless important. Consider all you have learned that is not normally associated with chemistry:

• How to do a lab report
• How to remain safe in a laboratory
• How to find our course page at gbschemphys.com
• How to use ChemThink
• How to use WebAssign to do a reading sheet
• How to use WebAssign to complete a question/problem set
• How to use the Graphical Analysis software package
• How to use Delicious to make and share a bookmark
• How to use log in and create a blog post

Now that we have learned the Chemistry Basics and mastered the logistical items above, we will move a little quicker. The second unit pertains to Atoms, Molecules and Ions. We begin Friday with a laboratory.