Reflection: Soap is not an element found in nature but is made when two natural chemicals (an acid and a base) are brought together. It is basically a salt that forms when a weak fatty acid (oil) is blended with a strong base such as lye. When combined, a salt is formed in a process called saponification. In this method the oils and lye (a strong alkali) form fatty acids and glycerin. The chemical reaction of mixing oils with lye that has been dissolved in water results in a completely new substance which is soap. Looking Back: I thought that this lab worked really well but not the best results as we could have gotten. We we're sure when our soap would be ready so we left it alone for about a two weeks. When we came back from break, we tried out our soap and put it in water and turns out it actually worked! It was oddly shaped because of the shape of the container it was in. We tried to add in a little bit of the lavender scent in it but I don't think we put enough based on the smell we had. I mainly smelled like oil, which we were pretty upset about, but the on the bright side the soap made our hands super soft! It was pretty awesome because my hands have never felt so soft in my entire life so I was pretty amazed. I am happy with the results though because I just made myself amazing soap that makes my hands incredibly soft. Looking Beyond: During this lab, I learned that soap isn't an element, it's more of two natural chemicals that are brought together. When the chemicals are brought together a salt is formed in a process called saponification. Coconut oil can be used as a skin moisturizer, helping with dry skin and reduces protein loss when used in hair. Looking Inward: I don't think we got the best results, but we got pretty good results. This lab was kind of hard because there wasn't many steps, but it's very easy to mess up so you have to be really carefully and cautions of what your doing. Personally I thought it was challenging but really fun to do because I learned how to make my own soap. I wish we had at least one more person in the group because I felt like only Ivy and I were doing most of the work only because Daisy wasn't able to do much because she was in her wheelchair at the time and couldn't move around much in such a small area to work. I felt like our other group member wasn't really there and helping us that much because I don't really recall him doing much besides taking pictures. Looking Outward: I worked with Ivy, Daisy, and Zion on this lab. I thought our group worked well with each other. Were all pretty good friends outside of class, so there wasn’t any disagreements on what was happening. I’m pretty sure the only disagreement was what container to put it in. I'm pretty cool with everyone that was in my group, we knew each others strengths and how to help each other with this lab. Looking Forward: For better results, I think we should have added a lot more essential oil to have a better scent to cover the many oils we put in the soap mix. If I were to do this project over again, I would add more essential oils to make it smell a lot better, and to add more coconut oil to make my hands even softer and my skin would be my hydrated. I would also consider the size of the container we put the soap in because it was kind of big and somewhat oval shape looking and that's the shape our soap turned out to be. Takeaway: A takeaway I had was that it’s really hard to make soap. It took pretty much the whole period to make it. We weren't really done when the period was over so we kind of had to rush the end to clean up after ourselves. Group members: Ivy Tran, Erika Leano, Zion Maly and Daisy Martinez During this project we made our own battery. We used copper, zinc, and a couple pieces of cardboard cut in the shape of the penny and let it soaked in vinegar. After letting the pieces soak for a little, we stacked all of them together. Each cell we stacked added onto to the overall charge of the battery. When these things are in contact all together, with the electrolyte solution, Each metal forms positive ions. However zinc loses electrons more easily causing them to travel to the copper ions. Therefore the electrons transfer from the zinc to the copper. Looking Back: At first, our experiment didn't work. We asked another table if they could figure out why it wasn't working and what we did wrong. Turns out we had everything stacked in the wrong order. After we rearranged everything, it eventually worked out very well. We were able to construct a functional battery that gives powers to an LED light. First we had to sand down one side of a penny to expose the zinc and leave the other side of the penny alone because we needed it to have copper. We then put the copper side down, the zinc side up and the soaked cardboard that was in vinegar and placed it on top of the copper and repeated the stacking process seven more times. Then we tested the battery by trying to light up an LED light and it worked! This is because electrons flow from the zinc through the soaked cardboard to the copper.The reason why we repeatedly stacked the materials was so that the overall charge of the battery could increase which strengthens the battery. Looking Beyond: In order to make the battery and make sure it works, there needs to be zinc, copper, and a source of electrolytes. This is because when an atom that can lose electrons easier than an atom from a different element make contact, the electrons transfer. Just like how in the experiment, when in contact with the electrolyte solution (vinegar), the zinc loses its electrons easier so they transfer to the copperions. This illustrates the concept of oxidation and reduction. Oxidation is the loss of electrons while reduction is the gaining of electrons. In this case, the zinc goes through oxidation while the copper goes through reduction. Looking Inward: I believe my group got the desirable results that we had planned because we had great teamwork and good understanding of what we had to do. I worked with Morgan, Ivy, and Daisy. We all knew what to do and communicated very well. I believe I did well in this project and contributed a good amount to the success in the group as well as the others. Looking Forward: If I were to do this project again, I would probably use the concrete instead of sand paper to sand the penny because it's a lot faster. When we were inside to try to sand the pennies, it was slow and not as effective as when we went outside and sanded the pennies for a couple minutes. Other than that I wouldn't change anything. Take Away: This experiment taught me more about utilizing metals. I never new you could make a battery out of pennies and cardboard! It was interesting to make a battery without any wires besides the LED light. I also didn't know that under a pennies shiny coating was a metallic like substance, I always thought that pennies were just pure copper. Magic Sand is regular sand covered in a hydrophobic substance, which prevents the sand from getting wet; therefore keeping it dry. Hydrophobic substances repels water, as for hydrophilic substances which absorbs water. Looking Back: I think our moon sand turned out pretty well and looked really cool. When we put it in water, it came out dry as if the sand was never in the water at all. It was it was actually kind of cool to see the sand float on top of the water and being able to stick your finger in and it would come out dry. While we were playing with the magic sand, our group ended up putting just a bit too much water and it kind of got diluted pretty quickly. The sand ended up not working after that because of the amount of water, so it turned back into regular sand sadly. Some of the grains just sunk to the bottom and was wet when it came back up. The method wasn’t exactly perfect, even though we used about 7 layers of the hydrophobic substances. Looking Beyond: During this lab, the class learned the properties of substances that are hydrophobic and hydrophilic. Hydrophobic substances does not mix well with water. The term “water-fearing” is often used to describe the word hydrophobic. Hydrophilic substances, on the other hand, are “water-loving.” For example, oil and water don’t mix well because it’s hydrophobic. Since oil is hydrophobic, the oil does not mix with food coloring or the water. Magic sand is regular sand that has been coated with an oil-like substance that is "water-hating" or hydrophobic. The surface of sand grains is made wet by water, which means that water molecules are attracted to sand grains and makes it hydrophilic. Looking Inward: I don't think we got the best results, but we got pretty good results. This lab wasn't very hard nor did we have to do much because Andrew just sprayed a hydrophobic substance on the sand and we mixed them together and put it in water. Personally I thought it was kind of boring to make it because only one person was mixing it together while the rest of the group was either sitting around, talking, or taking pictures. I wish we had less people in a group instead of six or seven so not many of us would've been off task. There wasn’t a lot to do for everybody in the group. But overall, in the end we all enjoyed messing around with the sand and water. Looking Outward: I worked with Carmina, Ivy, Daisy, Morgan, and Maia on this lab. I thought our group worked pretty well with each other. Were all really great friends outside of class, so there wasn’t any disagreements on what was happening. I’m pretty sure the only disagreement was what sand color to pick which was kind of funny and we just ended up picking both. I'm pretty cool with everyone that was in my group except for Maia because I didn't know her that well, but I've gotten to know that she's a really cool and awesome person to chat with. Looking Forward: For better results, I think real sand from the beach would have probably worked a lot better instead of hermit crab stand. The Hermit crab sand didn’t really have the same effect as we should have gotten because it’s artificial. I would’ve liked to see the difference between the two. If I were to do this project over again, I would stick to one color because the green and pink sand mixed looked really weird and it just didn't look pleasant to me. I would also consider the amount of people in each group because 6-7 people in one group was just a little too big. Takeaways: A takeaway I had was that it’s really hard to make your own magic sand. It took about 7 coats of the hydrophobic substance to cover almost ever grain of sand. Some of the grains didn’t even have the substance on it and it because wet. Also, it's not bad to work with other people in the class because you never know what you'll learn about them if you never try. Reflection: We are making bouncy balls out of corn starch, elmer's glue, borax, water and food coloring. We were trying to see how bouncy we could make the ball. So what's happening is a chemical reaction between mainly borax and the glue. The borax acts as a “cross-linker” to the polymer molecules in the glue, creating a chain of molecules that stay together when you pick them up. The cornstarch also helps bind everything together to hold the shape. Looking Back: The first time I made my bouncy ball it was not a success, but the second time it was very successful. I think the reason why it didn't work the first time was because I tried making the ball within 10 minutes and I tried to rush everything. If I haven't learned anything, it's that experiments take time if I want the desired results. The second time I took my time and I actually was very patient with forming the ball and waited for it to dry and be put to use. Looking Beyond: When we mixed the warm water, borax and cornstarch; I noticed that it looked kind of liquidy. Then in a separate cup we mixed the glue and food coloring together, and I noticed the glue changing to a really light color because when we add the liquid coloring it's dark, but when mixed it gets lighter. When we put the two together, we ended up getting a really slimy glob that looked very deformed. At first I thought that we did the experiment wrong but then I looked back at the instructions and realized that we had the correct results. Looking Inward: We got the desired results we were looking for. We got the desired results because my partners and I work well with each other. We paid really close attention to the instructions we looked up and followed the instructions well. Looking Outward: I worked with Ivy, Carmina and Daisy for this lab. I think we all work very well together because we're all very close friends inside and outside of school. I don't think there was ever a time we've ever argued with one another. We all know each others strengths and weaknesses so we know how to support each other. I believe that we did a very good job by working together and helping each other get a full on understanding of what reaction is happening with whatever is being mixed together. Looking Forward: The results we got was the perfect results if you ask me. I don't think there's really anything I would change about this lab, except I really need to be patient with my experiments if I want the best results. I love working with my friends but at the same time I'd want to get closer to my classmates and get to know them better. Takeaway: The thing I took away from this was that I realize this could have easily been a one person lab because it wasn't that hard. This was a simple lab with not many steps either. I need to take into consideration that nothing will work if it's rushed. Group: Ivy Tran, Carmina Nicolas, Daisy Martinez, and Erika Leano Essential Question: What makes bouncy balls bouncy? Sources: http://chemistry.about.com/od/demonstrationsexperiments/ss/bounceball.htm http://www.hometrainingtools.com/a/make-a-colorful-bouncy-ball http://www.pbs.org/parents/crafts-for-kids/super-bouncy-balls/ Science Behind Bouncy Balls: There is a chemical reaction going on between mainly borax and the glue. The borax acts as a “cross-linker” to the polymer molecules in the glue, creating a chain of molecules that stay together when you pick them up. The cornstarch also helps bind everything together to hold the shape. Materials:
Clean up: Everything should be washable after the experiment. Reflection: We are soaking clear water beads in high lighter ink and water mixed together. What water beads do is absorb water that they are soaked in, so the water beads are absorbing highlighter water. The highlighter ink is the thing that makes the beads glow under a UV light. High lighters contain phosphors that emit light that are also called luminescence. The type of luminescence that is in highlighters are called fluorescence which only glows when the UV light is turned on. The UV light is also called a ultra violet light or a black light and it is part of the electromagnetic spectrum. What the UV light does is that it emits a UV light that illuminates objects and materials that contain phosphors. UV light is a light that isn't visible to the human eye but when the UV light goes through the phosphors, the phosphors turn the UV light into visible light which is the light that the human eye can see. So the water beads glowed because they contained phosphors that were excited by the radiation. The UV light reacted with the phosphors that were in the high lighter ink. Looking Back: This experiment definitely worked. The high lighter ink in the water turned the clear beads yellow. Ivy and I tested the beads under a UV light to see if it would glow and it did! Below are pictures of the process of making the water beads glow. Looking Beyond: When we put the water beads into the water, I noticed that the water beads became invisible because they are clear. After some research, I found out that the water beads looked like they were invisible because the water beads we used were already hydrated and when water beads are fully hydrated, they contain 99% of water. There is a property called a material’s refractive index, which is different materials bend light waves by different amounts when the light waves pass through the material. Since the water beads are mostly water, the water beads have the same refractive index as the water which is why they appear invisible. Once you take them out of the water, they aren't invisible anymore because water and air have different refractive indexes. The water beads glowed because they absorbed the high lighter ink mixed with water. The highlighter ink contains phosphors that react with the UV light to illuminate the water beads. The UV light reacts with the phosphors and the phosphors turn the UV light into visible light. Looking Inward: We got the desired results we were looking for. We got the desired results because my partner and I work well with each other. We looked up instructions and followed the instructions very thoroughly. I also think that since the lab was pretty simple, there wasn't much that we could do to actually ruin the lab so that content also contributed to good results. Looking Outward: I worked with Ivy in this lab and I think that we always work well together. I have done many labs with Ivy so I know the work ethics the both of us have and I knew from previous labs that we work very well together. We hardly ever get distracted and off task and that helps the both of us because out work normally comes out good. In this lab I believe that I performed pretty good. I was doing one lab and trying to do research for other labs that I would like to do at the same time. While Ivy was doing two labs at once so she was kind of all over the place but I knew that our lab wasn't that complicated so I wasn't putting a lot of stress on her about it. I think this lab could also be a one person lab because the lab had very few and easy steps but it's always fun to work with a friend. Looking Forward: There really isn't a way to get better results than the way we did. I wouldn't change anything about this lab because we got the results that we wanted. I would like to work with Ivy again in other labs because I know that we work well together and she is a very close friend. But I would also like to work with new people so I can get to know them better and have fun doing so. I know that I would definitely like to learn and see what other stuff high lighters can make glow. Takeaways: I took away that some labs aren't really meant for more than one person, especially if the steps are very simple. I think I need to take that into consideration next time instead of thinking that I just want to work with my friends. Erika Leano & Ivy Tran 3/17/15 Period 4 & 5 Glow in the dark Water Beads proposal Essential Question: What makes the water beads glow? Sources:
The Process:
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