SG Chem 2 - Fifth Blog

This week in Chem 2 we really didn't do any experiments, instead we did a lot of reviewing for the test that was this Friday. On Monday we took a quiz that measured our understanding of how to convert moles to grams, grams to moles, and moles to atoms.

On Tuesday we learned/reviewed how to find the empirical formula when we were given the amount, in grams, of certain elements. Then we learned how to find the molecular formula of the compound after we found the empirical formula. At first I didn't understand how to get the number you multiply the empirical formula by to get the molecular formula, but after going through an example I figured out how to do it. I really like doing this type of problem because the math makes sense to me.

Thursday we worked on a review sheet. It was good to go over the review guide as a class because it helped me get a better understanding of everything, while also jogging my memory on how to solve certain problems. For example this problem on the Chemistry - Unit 5 Review:

The Chemistry Unit 5 Review Question 3
It wants us to find the relative mass/mass of each different piece of hardware

This was a question based on the lesson we did the last Monday, which at this point was almost a week and a half earlier. I could remember doing this type of problem but I couldn't remember how to solve it. It was good we reviewed this because this type of problem is actual quite simple. You just have to divide the smallest mass by all the rest of the masses. So for this problem it was the washers mass divided by all the rest. For the anchor you are given the relative mass, so to find the mass you'll need to multiply that number (3.00) by the washers mass (1.74). That gets you the anchors mass.

This week I think I participated less then last week, but I think that was because there was less to participate in. I worked with my table mates on sheets given to us, and I calculated some numbers for Dr. Finnan, but I didn't take that much initiative to speak out answers with the class. I think a goal of mine will be to share more with the whole class, not just my table group.

But although I didn't participate as much as I could have, I still understood the material. The conversions made sense to me, along with (after reviewing it) the relative mass problems. What gave me some trouble was finding the molecular formula. I understood how to do it, the problem for me was remembering how to do it when I didn't have an example to follow. This was something I should have reviewed for more because I'm pretty sure I skipped a step when trying to solve it on the test. Because of this, I would rank my understanding as a 9 out of 10, because for the most part I understood the lessons this week, it was just that small piece that gave me trouble.