Flame Test Lab

We did the flame test lab today in class. I think this was one of the cooler labs we have done, and it was really interesting to see how different metals burn in different colors.

I'm not sure what those rings are, but it looks awesome... :P

This is the source we used to find the wavelengths from knowing the colors: https://sites.google.com/site/thecreativechemistsprogram/flame-test-lab

Review of Acids and Bases

http://www.chemtutor.com/acid.htm

This was a website that I found very valuable in reviewing acids and bases. It provides everything you need to know from the properties of acids and bases to how to conduct titration. I wish that I would have had this source in studying for the test.

Titration

Titration was the most challenging aspect of this unit for me. Although the problems are generally conducted in the same way, it becomes confusing whenever there are contradicting mole ratios and confusingly worded questions. I would say that this was definitely the thing I struggled with most during the exam.

Here is an intro to titration: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry/acid-base-equilibrium/titrations/v/titration-introduction

Post Exam Thoughts

Before taking the exam, I felt like I had a pretty good idea as to what I was doing with acids and bases and titration... After, not so much. The way that the questions were worded on this exam really threw me off, so I had to definitely make educated guesses on a few. I hope that what I knew led me to get a decent grade, we'll see!!

http://www.chem4kids.com/files/react_acidbase.html

Acid/Base Strength

Acid and base strength depend on different things.

Acid strength depends on the list of strong acids and also whether the oxygens outnumber the hydrogens by more than two. The chart below shows the memorized list of strong bases:



Strong bases only depend on one thing: whether they have a group 1 or group 2 metal in them.



Here is a quiz to review: http://chemistry.about.com/od/acidsbase1/l/blacidbases.htm

Conjugate Acids & Bases

Conjugate acids and bases are found by using Bronsted-Lowery. In this method, acids donate a proton (H+) and bases accept a proton. Basically, the acid on the left side of the equation donates a proton to the product, making it the conjugate base. The base on the left side accepts a proton, making its product the conjugate acid.





Above are two ways of showing conjugate acids and bases.

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry/acids-and-bases-topic/copy-of-acid-base-equilibria/v/conjugate-acids-and-bases

http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Physical_Chemistry/Acids_and_Bases/Acid%2F%2FBase_Reactions/Conjugate_Acids-base_Pairs

Vitamin C Lab

Today, we started the Vitamin C lab. It is essentially testing different common drinks, such as apple juice and V8, for their vitamin C concentration. You add 20 drops of the liquid along with 3 drops of starch, and then you continue to add iodine drops until the solution remains a dark blue color. It was really interesting to see how different drinks that people drink every day have such different concentrations of this citrus-y vitamin even though they're all fruity.





Here is a link that may help with this unit: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hph.html