Post- Unit Exam

I found this unit to be really easy for me personally. Last unit, I had a really tough time learning all of the polyatomic ions and remembering the different ways to name compounds. Once I got that unit down, though, this one was a breeze! The pretest seemed impossible, but once the information was given to us, it all made sense (funny how that works). I was actually pretty excited for this unit because I used to want to be a nuclear engineer. Also, decay and half life was interesting to learn about because it can tell us so much that I would have never thought we could know! I think I did okay on the test, but whenever I say that I end up doing bad, so fingers crossed. Overall, I enjoyed this unit and am curious to hear what we will learn about next.

Alpha Beta and Gamma Radiations

The three different radiations can be a little bit confusing to keep separated in my mind, so I thought compiling my information and creating a blog post might solidify some information. :) 

Alpha Radiation/Decay
The symbol for alpha radiation is 

Symbolized with a sideways fish that I can't type.

Helium nucleus

Mass # -4
Atomic # -2

Beta Radiation/Decay

The symbol for beta radiation is 

Symbolized with a fancy capital B that I also cannot type.

Electron

Mass #- no change
Atomic #- +1

Gamma Radiation/Decay

The symbol for gammas radiation is 

Symbolized with a lowercase fancy Y that I, yet again, cannot type.

Releases high energy forms of light called photons.

Mass #- no change
Atomic #- no change

Accompanies alpha and beta decay. 

I found this website extremely helpful in learning more about the three different type of decay.
Also, this video is helpful  to learn how to write nuclear equations with these 3 radiations.

Mid- Star Project

     As of right now, we are in the middle of completing a "star project". This is where we look up stars, find their location, chemical composition, stellar classification, and the spectral analysis of the most abundant chemical. The first five or so stars were super hard to complete just because of the research aspect- it took me 30 minutes (on average) per star! The odd objects in space took even longer. I decided to do a black hole, a supernova, and a crab nebula. The number of research papers I read alone was astounding! 

     Then, when I only had 2 or 3 stars left, Mrs. Frankenburg posted these awesome resources on schoology. This website here allows you to search for stars based on location or even just name. It then gives you all the information required to complete this project-- how handy! Then, Mrs. Frankenburg posted a link to this collection of visible spectra of the elements.  This allowed me to paste the spectral analysis of all the needed elements (even though most of the time it was Hydrogen). This project is coming along nicely and it is interesting to learn about objects so far away. I will post on my blog once the entire project is complete. 

Beanium Lab

Yesterday in class we did a lab about a newly discovered element, Beanium.

We had a sample of different isotopes of the element Beanium and had to record their frequency and mass. One of the things we did first was measure the cup without any beanium in it to ensure accurate measurement.

 Then we did the rest of the experiment, measuring each different isotope to find the average atomic mass.

This lab helped me learn how to use the equation to find average atomic mass and the importance of taking every isotope into account. 

**Helpful hint: I found that this website is really helpul if you're having trouble figuring out how to calculate the average atomic mass! 

Atomic Theories

Here are all of the atomic theories we learned about in class:

Dalton's Atomic Theory

• all elements are composed of atoms
• all atoms of an element are identical WRONG. isotopes
• atoms of different elements are different
• compounds are formed by a combination of two or more different kinds of atoms
• atoms are indivisible, nor can they be created or destroyed. Atom bomb disproves this. 

JJ Thompson

• used cathode ray tube to show atoms of any element
• chocolate chip cookie model
• electrons placed randomly in positive matrix
• distinct border

Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment

• proved presence of + charge in the center of an atom
• area of + charge small and dense 

Current Atomic Model

• cloud model 
• electrons located pinpointed with probability
• Schrodinger wave 

Pre-Unit/ Reflection of Pretest

Why am I interested in this unit?

I used to want to be a nuclear engineer, so learning about decay and atomic structure has always fascinated me.

What am I excited to learn?

I'm excited to learn about what goes on inside a nuclear reactor.

What do I not know?

I have not learned about the density of a nucleus, the difference between gamma, beta, and alpha radiation, how to balance nuclear equations, and the laws regarding nuclear science.

What do I think I'll have the most trouble with this unit?

I think remembering the difference between the three different radiations will be hard.

How did the pretest go?

I was confident in literally 1 answer. There is a lot to learn.