I came a little late to class today, so I was surprised to see that we were doing an unplanned lab to start off the period. I wasn't really sure as to what was going on, but I could see that my groupmates had this weird goo consistency in a cup on our table. I played with it for awhile, and was curious to see what was in store for this class. I wasn't sure why, but I knew that I saw what I was playing with before. I just couldn't recall why and where. At this notion of thought, I was intrigued. What was this? I soon learned that before I had walked in, my group had poured water over a couple of grams of sodium polyacrylate. I wasn't sure what that was, but I was interested in learning. We went over the basic science of it ( it is a cross linked polymer of organic salt) before we jumped into the lab. I was able to break down the word, which helped me in understanding the molecule better. A polymer is a bunch of monomers linked together, a long chain of repeating units. Cross linked is something intertwined with itself. Then we went over different bonds, which would help us absorb the lab better (did you catch the pun?). Dashes are covalent bonds (share a pair of electrons with each other). It's a fairly weak bond. Since they are so weak they tend to be a gas or a liquid but if there's enough of it, it becomes a solid. A polar covalent bond is a neutrally charged molecule. It causes the oxygen to be slightly negative and the hydrogen slightly positive. Ionic bonds are very strong and very polar. It causes the oxygen to be very negatively charged and the sodium to be very positive. Once this was established, we were ready to start our lab.
Looking Back: What happened?
For this lab, we were to find out how much water the sodium polyacrylate can absorb before it turns into a liquid again. I would say that my group had its ups and downs with it, but we found a reasonable conclusion. I think our experiment turned out pretty cool, and there were different stages that we went through to answer the essential question. We tried many different things throughout our lab, like adding Gatorade to our substance, food coloring, etc. We added a total of 600 ml to the 4 grams of sodium polyacrylate. Overall, I would say that the lab was pretty successful in answering the question, but it was the most successful in terms of the knowledge gained.
Looking Beyond: What do you think has happened? What’s the science?
I think I was the most excited to report back on my blog for this specific question. I never truly understood what was going on in any of the other labs besides this one. I honestly feel like I know this information in my head, and understand it on so many levels. I came to the conclusion that due to osmosis, a solvent tends to move from areas of low solute concentration to areas of high solute concentration. In our case, the solvent is water and the solute is sodium. The water wants to move inside to even out the concentration. The molecule is expanding because the water is being forced in, which is why we get the gel consistency. Sometimes this is called water lock, since it can absorb so much. At the end of the lab, we were able to pour salt on our solutions to turn them back into a liquid. When you add the salt, the high sodium in concentration is outside, so the water wants to rush out again. I thought this was pretty cool.
Looking inward: Humans doing science
I would say that for the most part, we were able to get the desirable results. There were many things I wished we could do differently throughout this lab, but that was mostly because of the group I worked with. I think that we were able to answer the essential question efficiently, so that's good. I think I performed really well in this activity because I helped out my group a lot. I made sure that we were always aiming to answer the question, and get back on track.
Looking outward: Collaboration and Impact
I worked with my normal table group for this lab. I would say that it was pretty difficult this time around, which sucks because I was just beginning to change my view on the group dynamics. It was hard to get everyone in my group to focus on the task at hand, which was figuring out how much water the sodium polyacrylate could take. For a couple members of my group it seemed like play time. They just wanted to mess around with it a lot. I get that the experimentation part is supposed to be fun, but there's still a goal that is trying to be met. It caused a lot of frustration within the group, and although not spoken aloud, it was evident of the tension. For my group, I made sure to take lots of videos and help out as much as possible.
Looking Forward: What next?
If I could do this lab over again, I would probably change some of the people I worked with. I know who works hard in my group, as well as who doesn't. It was very evident today. I think I would enjoy doing this lab again just to do it. It was very fun, and making the connections between what we learned and what was taking place during the lab was awesome. This really made me want to figure out what else I can do with the awesome solution.
Take Aways:
An extra tidbit I learned was that it can absorb 400 times its mass, mineral content makes a big difference,etc. I also wondered: What happens when you add pressure to the concoction? Does the water escape?
Looking Back: What happened?
For this lab, we were to find out how much water the sodium polyacrylate can absorb before it turns into a liquid again. I would say that my group had its ups and downs with it, but we found a reasonable conclusion. I think our experiment turned out pretty cool, and there were different stages that we went through to answer the essential question. We tried many different things throughout our lab, like adding Gatorade to our substance, food coloring, etc. We added a total of 600 ml to the 4 grams of sodium polyacrylate. Overall, I would say that the lab was pretty successful in answering the question, but it was the most successful in terms of the knowledge gained.
Looking Beyond: What do you think has happened? What’s the science?
I think I was the most excited to report back on my blog for this specific question. I never truly understood what was going on in any of the other labs besides this one. I honestly feel like I know this information in my head, and understand it on so many levels. I came to the conclusion that due to osmosis, a solvent tends to move from areas of low solute concentration to areas of high solute concentration. In our case, the solvent is water and the solute is sodium. The water wants to move inside to even out the concentration. The molecule is expanding because the water is being forced in, which is why we get the gel consistency. Sometimes this is called water lock, since it can absorb so much. At the end of the lab, we were able to pour salt on our solutions to turn them back into a liquid. When you add the salt, the high sodium in concentration is outside, so the water wants to rush out again. I thought this was pretty cool.
Looking inward: Humans doing science
I would say that for the most part, we were able to get the desirable results. There were many things I wished we could do differently throughout this lab, but that was mostly because of the group I worked with. I think that we were able to answer the essential question efficiently, so that's good. I think I performed really well in this activity because I helped out my group a lot. I made sure that we were always aiming to answer the question, and get back on track.
Looking outward: Collaboration and Impact
I worked with my normal table group for this lab. I would say that it was pretty difficult this time around, which sucks because I was just beginning to change my view on the group dynamics. It was hard to get everyone in my group to focus on the task at hand, which was figuring out how much water the sodium polyacrylate could take. For a couple members of my group it seemed like play time. They just wanted to mess around with it a lot. I get that the experimentation part is supposed to be fun, but there's still a goal that is trying to be met. It caused a lot of frustration within the group, and although not spoken aloud, it was evident of the tension. For my group, I made sure to take lots of videos and help out as much as possible.
Looking Forward: What next?
If I could do this lab over again, I would probably change some of the people I worked with. I know who works hard in my group, as well as who doesn't. It was very evident today. I think I would enjoy doing this lab again just to do it. It was very fun, and making the connections between what we learned and what was taking place during the lab was awesome. This really made me want to figure out what else I can do with the awesome solution.
Take Aways:
An extra tidbit I learned was that it can absorb 400 times its mass, mineral content makes a big difference,etc. I also wondered: What happens when you add pressure to the concoction? Does the water escape?