Today in class, I was excited to learn the day's lesson. I was always interested in how the Periodic Table worked, and how it all came together. Luckily for me, we were able to learn about just that. We started off by breaking it all down. Quite literally. Right to the atom. Atoms are the smallest unit of an element, so it was really cool to uncover the structure of one, and how it played a part in combining elements. That wasn't the only structure we learned about. We were informed on how the Periodic Table is broken up, which is by the number of energy levels an atom of an element has and the number of electrons in the outer energy level. Our teacher gave us some interesting examples, and we were able to figure out how the structure of sulfur would look, and how to make a nitrogen with two magnesium's. After we absorbed the information a little more, we were able to start our lab: Combustion Reaction.
Looking Back: What happened?
During our experiment, we were able to combine citric acid and water to a flask. We added strips of magnesium to it, and quickly covered it with a balloon. Once we did this, we were surprised to see that the balloon was beginning to expand. A little after this, the bottom of the flask began to heat up a bit. We decided to put it in a bowl of water to cool it down. When we thought our balloon was a decent size, we took it off of the flask and tied it off. Immediately after this, my group and I noticed that the balloon had the ability to float. This shocked us, and we found the lab much more interesting. How was this able to happen? Why wasn't it weighted down like oxygen? Once everyone in the class had their balloons tied off, we turned off the lights and tested them out. We pinned our balloons to a ruler (one at a time) and stood back. We hovered them over a candle until they popped. The reaction was immediate. It exploded in a ball of fire. In the end, we were able to make a little bit of water.
Looking Beyond: What do you think has happened? What’s the science?
After this experiment, I was a little curious. I knew that in our lab, atoms were combining to create new substances with new properties. I found this interesting. I knew that by putting the little strips of magnesium into the citric acid and water, chemicals were reacting. This explained why the balloon ended up inflating, and the reaction it had to the heat. We had created hydrogen gas. We learned that by adding the citric acid and water, we were creating hydrogen, and by adding the magnesium it was giving the hydrogen extra electrons, which was making the gas. I found this really cool, and it made me wonder at the end of the lab: What is fire then? What is that reaction? Our teacher explained that when atoms come into energy, it absorbs it and the electrons jump. When there is no more energy, the electrons go back down and release the energy (light and heat). I later found out that the energy is released at specific times. This is why the flame is above the reaction point.
Looking inward: Humans doing science
I would say that my group did a great job with this lab. We ended up getting all of the results we wanted. We successfully inflated the balloon with hydrogen gas, unlike some other groups who ended up getting water in their balloons. We also were pleased with how well the balloon reacted with the fire. It did everything it was supposed to. I would say that this was the smoothest lab that I have been able to complete in this class. Nothing happened that was not planned in advance.
Looking outward: Collaboration and Impact
In this lab, I was able to work with Monique, Hannah, Rebekah, and Fatuma. I would say that today we all worked really well together. No one goofed off too much, and we were able to pull off a really awesome experiment. Today my group performed really well, and it made me revisit the idea of working with new people. I can see the strengths and weakness' of working with the people I did, and I can acknowledge them rightfully. I contributed to the group by taking lots of videos, and editing them all together. I would say that making the videos for my group is something that I like to do for them. I know that it helps with everyone's blogs a lot, and even though its a lot of extra work, I'm glad to help them out.
Looking Forward: What next?
If I could do this again, I would want to wait a little while longer for our balloon to fill up. It was a bit on the smaller size, so the reaction and fire ball wasn't that big. If I were able to work with anyone to do this lab again, I would probably want to work with just Monique. I feel like we work well together, and sometimes that can get washed out when we have to work with a larger group. We both ride the same wavelength, so when one of us is getting annoyed with someone in our group, odds are the other is feeling the exact same way. Since we are so in tune, I feel like these labs would be beneficial just to have the two of us do them.
Take Aways:
Doing this lab was definitely really fun. I had a connection to it, because my teacher made a hydrogen balloon for my birthday, and had me pop it in front of the whole class using the candle. I thought it was super cool, and I was intrigued on how it worked. I'm glad I was able to see on a molecular level, the reactions taking place. Also, two kids who were in my class last year did this same lab, and I always wondered how they even came across something like making hydrogen balloons. It was almost unheard of for me. Now I can see that it's not so crazy after all, and instead is super cool.
As always, down below is the video I made on this lab. Enjoy!
Looking Back: What happened?
During our experiment, we were able to combine citric acid and water to a flask. We added strips of magnesium to it, and quickly covered it with a balloon. Once we did this, we were surprised to see that the balloon was beginning to expand. A little after this, the bottom of the flask began to heat up a bit. We decided to put it in a bowl of water to cool it down. When we thought our balloon was a decent size, we took it off of the flask and tied it off. Immediately after this, my group and I noticed that the balloon had the ability to float. This shocked us, and we found the lab much more interesting. How was this able to happen? Why wasn't it weighted down like oxygen? Once everyone in the class had their balloons tied off, we turned off the lights and tested them out. We pinned our balloons to a ruler (one at a time) and stood back. We hovered them over a candle until they popped. The reaction was immediate. It exploded in a ball of fire. In the end, we were able to make a little bit of water.
Looking Beyond: What do you think has happened? What’s the science?
After this experiment, I was a little curious. I knew that in our lab, atoms were combining to create new substances with new properties. I found this interesting. I knew that by putting the little strips of magnesium into the citric acid and water, chemicals were reacting. This explained why the balloon ended up inflating, and the reaction it had to the heat. We had created hydrogen gas. We learned that by adding the citric acid and water, we were creating hydrogen, and by adding the magnesium it was giving the hydrogen extra electrons, which was making the gas. I found this really cool, and it made me wonder at the end of the lab: What is fire then? What is that reaction? Our teacher explained that when atoms come into energy, it absorbs it and the electrons jump. When there is no more energy, the electrons go back down and release the energy (light and heat). I later found out that the energy is released at specific times. This is why the flame is above the reaction point.
Looking inward: Humans doing science
I would say that my group did a great job with this lab. We ended up getting all of the results we wanted. We successfully inflated the balloon with hydrogen gas, unlike some other groups who ended up getting water in their balloons. We also were pleased with how well the balloon reacted with the fire. It did everything it was supposed to. I would say that this was the smoothest lab that I have been able to complete in this class. Nothing happened that was not planned in advance.
Looking outward: Collaboration and Impact
In this lab, I was able to work with Monique, Hannah, Rebekah, and Fatuma. I would say that today we all worked really well together. No one goofed off too much, and we were able to pull off a really awesome experiment. Today my group performed really well, and it made me revisit the idea of working with new people. I can see the strengths and weakness' of working with the people I did, and I can acknowledge them rightfully. I contributed to the group by taking lots of videos, and editing them all together. I would say that making the videos for my group is something that I like to do for them. I know that it helps with everyone's blogs a lot, and even though its a lot of extra work, I'm glad to help them out.
Looking Forward: What next?
If I could do this again, I would want to wait a little while longer for our balloon to fill up. It was a bit on the smaller size, so the reaction and fire ball wasn't that big. If I were able to work with anyone to do this lab again, I would probably want to work with just Monique. I feel like we work well together, and sometimes that can get washed out when we have to work with a larger group. We both ride the same wavelength, so when one of us is getting annoyed with someone in our group, odds are the other is feeling the exact same way. Since we are so in tune, I feel like these labs would be beneficial just to have the two of us do them.
Take Aways:
Doing this lab was definitely really fun. I had a connection to it, because my teacher made a hydrogen balloon for my birthday, and had me pop it in front of the whole class using the candle. I thought it was super cool, and I was intrigued on how it worked. I'm glad I was able to see on a molecular level, the reactions taking place. Also, two kids who were in my class last year did this same lab, and I always wondered how they even came across something like making hydrogen balloons. It was almost unheard of for me. Now I can see that it's not so crazy after all, and instead is super cool.
As always, down below is the video I made on this lab. Enjoy!