Overall, this semester went very well and I think that I learned a lot of new and valuable things. I think that my favorite part was either section 1 or 2. I really liked how to we got to research and design our own labs and choose things that we were interested in. Specifically the crystallization lab and the bath bomb lab I did in the beginning of the year. I liked being able to have freedom when doing it and being able to research and learn a little more independently. I think that I was curious about a lot of things this semester. I liked when we could have class discussions or talks about different subjects. The beginning of the year really got me excited to plan out my labs and choose what I wanted to learn about. The rocket project also made me very curious with space and how the rockets worked. I really liked being able to build a rocket, design a motor, do the math, and see it successfully fly. That felt very accomplishing and I was proud of my work. There actually were not very many things that didn't spark my curiosity. I can't really think of any specific examples but I guess some of the videos were not very interesting. Also, I would have liked to do more independent labs, rather than doing so much work with the rockets. I think that this semester has helped me in many way. I am definitely way more interested in science, specifically space science and rocketry. I also think I learned how to manage my time better. I was a lot of work to keep up with the amount of points that I needed to get for each section. Something I would like to say to anyone going into this class is to work with your time management. Make sure you are blogging everything as you go. You may not want to do it right away, but I cannot stress this enough, you will be very stressed out when the end of the section comes and your blog is not up to date. So, just make sure you do that on time. Also find what you are curious about and try to do labs that are related around that. You will enjoy it way more. To conclude this semester, I really liked it and I am for sure going to miss coming to chemistry class, but I will remember what I have learned and try to continue doing that kind of work.
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Today, we launched our final rocket that we had been designing these past few weeks. It was a success. It turned out that we had chosen good materials and done our calculations correctly. Our rocket launched well, and actually went pretty high. The only problem was that when it came back down, the parachute got burned and slightly melted because of the ejection charge. So the parachute was deployed but it never came out properly, so when our rocket hit the ground it came down hard causing two of our fins to break off. Other than that the rocket was fine.
Today we built our rocket tube. We scratch built it so we could have it weigh the smallest amount possible. Andrew did a small demonstration in the morning teaching us how to make them. We learned that you use wood glue and thick paper that is cut into strips. You use a PVC pipe and wrap that paper strips along it. You need to make sure that the seams are fitted correctly and that they align. Since Genevie and I are using the one that Andrew made during the demo we don't need to make our own, but we still know how to make one.
Our next step is was to build our fins. We knew the shape and material which were, clipped parallelogram and balsa wood. We needed to calculate a few things before knowing the size of our fins. We had to find the center of mass and center of thrust, and from there calculate the surface area of the space above and below the center of thrust. Once we found the top half and bottom half, we had to make the fins a size with the surface area that would equal out the top and bottom parts of the rocket. After that, we made four fins, by using razors to cut the balsa wood. Our initial plan was to have four fins, but we got misinformed that each fin counts as double the surface area, but it actually only counts as one. So, that threw us off a bit, and instead of resizing the fins we already made we just chose to make four more fins, with a total of eight. That equalled out the surface area to where we needed it to be. For our nose cone, we were going to build and shape our own, but then Andrew showed us something that would work even better. It was a PVC pipe cap. Since it was the same size as the PVC it fit perfectly in the body tube. It also just happened to be the right weight and have the right amount of friction so when the parachute needs to come out, it will be deployed properly. For the parachute we used a plastic trash bag. We got a brand-new one and then used a makeshift compass so we could have a close to perfect circle. Then we duct taped four of the edges and hole punched them. We then used fishing line to connect the parachute to the shock cord. Here is what we have planned for our rocket so far:
We want to make our rocket go as high as it will go, but it still needs to stay straight up. The body we will make on our own using wood glue and paper. That way we can customize it to our specifications and it will work that way we want it to. 5:1 thrust to mass ratio is the lowest we can go. 6 or 7 would be even better. The maximum that our rocket can weigh is 214.6 grams. Considering that the motor will weigh about 80 grams that give us about 130 grams for the rest of the rocket to weigh. We are thinking that we want to make it somewhere around 15 inches, but that is all depending on what the mass of the body tube. We will want to make it no more than 40 grams or so. We both wanted to make a pointy nose cone. We want to use the expanding foam and then cut it down and shape it to fit our rocket. Genevie wanted our fin design to have the shape be a clipped parallelogram. I wanted four fins on our rocket and to use balsa wood to make our fins. If we do an engineering challenge we want to do a package deployment. We would have to have an extra parachute and when the rocket went up, a small package would come out and float down on it's own. Separate from the rest of its rocket. 11/16 Monday - Make 2 week plan, blog it, introduction to the next rocket project phase
11/17 Tuesday - Start planning rocket build 11/18 Wednesday - Rocket calculations 11/19 Thursday - Plan rocket and do calculations 11/20 Friday - Have completed design for rocket, ready to build after break Thanksgiving Break! ( Possibly do a worksheet ) 11/30 Monday - Build rocket 12/1 Tuesday - Build rocket 12/2 Wednesday - Build rocket 12/3 Thursday - Do a worksheet/ build rocket 12/4 Friday - Update blog Genevie and I took a little while when trying to figure out what out final rocket motor should be. We wanted to do something that was similar to ours, but obviously didn't CATO.
Background Research: Silicates: combinations of silicon(si) and oxygen (o) - 95% of earth's crust and 97% of earths mantle is made of silicates Core: Made of solid iron and nickel Outer Core: Made of liquid iron and nickel Mantle: Made of molten rocks (silicates) - as well as lots of different metals The earths mantle can be related to the skin on an apple since when brought down to scale they are about the same size. The earth also creates a lot of its own thermal energy that is created and stored in the earth inner and outer core. There is so much pressure at the center of the earth that it makes the core solid as well as creates a magnetic field that protects the earth from solar winds and the sun's radiation. The interaction between the outer core and mantle in where the crust begins to form. Convention currents in the earths mantle bring up the crust as well as create tectonic plates and volcano's. When looking at the periodic table we can use the electronegativity line the goes down the side of the periodic table to predict how and if elements will react with each other. Electrons and negatively charged atoms either gain or lose electrons. When you mix an element and silicate you basically create a rock. A silicate is slightly negatively charged The Lab: First we rinsed out a clean beaker to mix the sodium silicate and dilute it with water. We used distilled water which is pure and contains no minerals, which could mess up the experiment. Then we mixed a few different metals that were already mixed with chloride. First we did calcium chloride. This reaction happened fast and is the white solution that you see in the pictures below. It turned into almost like a stringy substance that continued to grow over the next few minutes. We also did cobalt chloride. This the blue solution you see below. This one was a little more reactive and actually began to change colors as the times passed. Reflection:
Honestly, I didn't predict what would happen. When Andrew told us that we were making rocks, I thought that he meant literal rocks and I wasn't even sure that was possible. I liked this lab and think that I learned a lot about the earths layers, how rocks are made, and the actual reaction that takes place when rocks are made. I think that we did get desirable results. The reaction that Andrew predicted did take place and we saw the change in the substances. Since this was a large group activity I didn't work with any one person in particular, but overall I think we worked well as a group. Everyone took turns in doing things for the experiment and we asked each other and Andrew questions about the experiment and background research. I think that this stuff is important to know because everyone needs to learn about our earth, also if you ever plan on doing other experiments about earth this is a basic thing to know and understand. Some of the concepts that we learned are the electronegativity line on a periodic table and how you can use that to predict if and how a reaction between two elements will take place. We also learned the earths different layers, how they work, and a basic overview of what they actually are. If I could continue this lab I would try to mix different metals into the sodium silicate and see what happens. I would predict what I think will happen using the periodic table and then try the reaction to see what actually happens. Here is the thrust curve that Genevie and I put together using the data we collected when we tested our rocket. Since our rocket motor CATO we don't have a complete thrust curve. |
MorganHi. I am a sophomore at High Tech High in San Diego,CA. This is my chemistry blog that I will be posting on for my first semester. Enjoy! Archives
December 2015
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