Today we started on our rockets. We first had our pipe. We then used flouring paper strips to wrap our rocket. We used about five strips total. After we would wrapped a strip, we would use elmer's glue to coat the strip and then wrap the next one. We didn't get that far because we messed up a few times. There wasn't much science in this process. It looks good so far but we need to finish it. I'm working with Matthew, Andrew and Brooklyn. We work really well. I've worked with Andrew and Brooklyn before but not with Matthew. I still have yet to see how Matthew and I work together. Looking forward, we have to finish up on the body of the rocket and add the fins. After that we have to make the engine.
Kobe's Chemistry Blog
For the past few weeks, I've been doing bismuth crystals every single day. It's really frustrating doing a project over and over again, especially when you try almost every method to make the perfect crystals. We go through the same process but the thing we do differently is wait for a specific time for them to cool. We want to get the perfect crystals for our necklaces but it's hard when you can't form them yourself and have to trust that they will cool the right way. I have no idea how the crystals form, but I do have an idea on how you can color them. I think that after it cools, the oxygen rearranges the molecules, changing it's colors. I'm working with Andrew and we work well together. We contribute different ideas on how to do the project and I feel that helps make it better. We are going to keep trying to get the perfect crystals by waiting a specific time for the crystals to cool. We are going to try next week because the hot plates aren't working.
Today we made bismuth crystals. We first melted the bismuth over a hot plate. It took about 20 minutes for it to melt. After it melted we had to scrape all the excess stuff off the top and then waited for it to cool. After it cooled, we poured all the molten metal into a mortar to reveal the crystals. They were pretty good but we could have done better. The crystals started to form on the sides but Andrew said that the best crystals form in the middle. I'm really interested in how the bismuth forms in such a specific way. I feel we didn't get what we were looking for because we didn't wait long enough for the crystals to form. We waited about 5-8 minutes for them to cool but I think next time we should wait a little longer. I conducted this experiment with Alex and Brooklyn. I feel we communicate really well and we get along. When we do it again we are going to wait longer for them to cool for better crystals. Hopefully so we can make jewelry.
Today we conducted our glowing water experiment. We poured water into a beaker and cut the highlighter. We then squeezed the ink from the highlighter into the water and it turned a bright orange. After that we poured the liquid into a metal bowl and shined the black light on the water and it glowed a bright neon yellow color. It didn't turn out as cool as I thought but it was still very interesting. I learned that UV light doesn't shine through glass. There is a chemical in the highlighter ink that captures light and releases it back which causes it to glow. Some questions I had was why doesn't a UV light shine through glass? How come it doesn't stay glowing? It didn't turn out the way I wanted because I didn't use tonic water. If I had used tonic water it would have stayed glowing without having the UV light on all the time. I worked with Madison because she is someone I haven't worked with before and it's always good to work with someone new.
My favorite quote from the interview we watched was,"Poets show you the beauty in something so simple, you've taken it for granted." It really struck me how what he said was very true because we do take things for granted and we don't realize what we have until we lose it.
Today in class, my partner and I were looking for a project we could do for the next two weeks. We were interested in various things like glow in the dark crystals to a chemical garden. I'm really looking forward to getting a full experience out of chemistry because it's not like anything I've done before. In all my other classes, we usaully don't do hands on things. It's usually writing and solving problems but in chemistry, we get to do stuff like hand held fireballs. Here is the list of ideas I look forward to doing:
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