Monday, June 29, 2015

I.C.E., R.I.C.E and Equilibrium

Need to calculate an equilibrium constant, but, you haven't been given all the equilibrium concentrations?
Then you need an I.C.E. Table (also known as a R.I.C.E. Table, an ICE chart, a RICE chart), and you can find out all about that at AUS-e-TUTE's new tutorial:
http://www.ausetute.com.au/ricetable.html

Now, if you are an AUS-e-TUTE Member, not only can go to the great member's only tutorial, but you can also:
  • play the R.I.C.E. game
  • answer the R.I.C.E. test questions and get immediate feedback
  • do the R.I.C.E. exam
  • make a R.I.C.E. worksheet (if you are a Teacher Member)
  • do a R.I.C.E. quiz (if you a student with a Class or School Group)
And if you still haven't joined AUS-e-TUTE, you can sign up right here !

Sunday, June 28, 2015

How many molecules are present?

Question: How many molecules are present in 4.21 mol of hydrogen gas?

Answer: 1 mole of anything contains 6.02 x 1023 particles.
(Note that "mol" is the abbreviation for mole.)
So, 4.21 mol of hydrogen gas contains 4.21 x 6.02 x 1023 = 2.53 x 1024 molecules of hydrogen.

You can find a tutorial with worked examples at http://www.ausetute.com.au/namole.html

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Which of the following is an acid-base indicator?

Question: Which of the following is an acid-base indicator?
  1. hydrochloric acid 
  2. sodium hydroxide 
  3. water 
  4. phenolphthalein
Answer: Phenolphthalein is an acid-base indicator
  1. Hydrochloric acid is an acid
  2. Sodium Hydroxide is a base
  3. Water is neutral

Sunday, June 21, 2015

What is the best indicator for titration?

Question: What is the best indicator for titration?
Answer: That all depends on what you are titrating!

If you doing an acid-base titration, then you will need to know the relative strengths of the acid and base you going to be using.
Once you have determined an approximate pH for the equivalence point of the neutralisation reaction, you use this as the pH of the endpoint of the titration in order to determine the best acid-base indicator to use.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Packing Heat the Chemistry Way



Have you ever twisted your ankle or been bruised while playing sport?
The first thing you probably did was place an instant cold pack on the injury.

Sore, aching muscles? There's an instant heat pack for that!

The chemistry of instant cold packs and instant heat packs is discussed in the June 2015 issue of AUS-e-NEWS.

Contact us if you have not received your June 2015 AUS-e-NEWS yet.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Buy and Sell Essays

If you want to know where to go to buy a high school-level essay suitable for use in Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald has a number of suggestions, with some indication of prices:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/cheating-endemic-in-nsw-high-schools-20150607-ggw8h9

A couple of years ago I went to a high school science teachers workshop, where, over lunch, I shocked a number of teachers of physics and chemistry by telling them how easy it was for students to buy their "extended experimental investigation" online, and, how cheap it was. My point in doing this was not to shock the teachers (I thought everyone knew about this), it was to point out that the notion of using this type of investigation as an assessment tool was not assessing students' scientific abilities it was only assessing their ability to find relevant information online (arguably just as important and useful in its own right). Unfortunately, as an assessment tool, it also favours those with money to spend. The answer is not to try to "crack down" on this "cheating", which, although possible would almost certainly not be practical, rather the answer is to change the way students are assessed.

There is probably a much more deeply-rooted problem in all of this "cheating". I strongly suspect that for many students, there is no joy in learning or indeed in trying to understand concepts, the only purpose for going to school and doing assessments, is to get a good mark in order to go somewhere else after school (university, TAFE).(No doubt, the only reason they want to go to a tertiary education institution is in order to get a good mark in order to go somewhere else again ..... and it is entirely possible they will spend the rest of their lives being dissatisfied and buying their way to "somewhere else").
Perhaps if we could take everyone's focus off "assessment", and get them to focus on "learning", students might find that not only is there a lot of fun to be had out of learning something new, there is also an intense sense of satisfaction when you realise that you now understand a concept well enough to use to it in different situations, and, there is an enormous sense of power in using your understanding to make and test predictions. They might even find the learning process enjoyable.