Thermodynamics

Thermodynamics is the study of energy transformations. Energy is defined as the ability to do work in physics. In chemistry, work is defined as directed energy change resulting from a process. Teo common forms of energy in chemistry are kinetic energy and potential energy. In a reaction, if there is an output of energy out of the system, then the reaction is exothermic. If there is an input of energy into the system, then the reaction is endothermic.

Characteristics of Gases

In our calculations, we consider gasses to have no definite volume which means that they expand spontaneously. Other properties of gases include being highly compressible and able to form homogeneous mixtures. Boyle's Law also states that pressure and volume of gasses are inversely related. For instance, if the volume of a container increases, fewer collisions with the container occur which is interpreted as a decrease in pressure.

Helpful Links
http://www.chemteam.info/GasLaw/Gas-Boyle.html
http://www.iun.edu/~cpanhd/C101webnotes/gases/boyleslaw.html

Covalent Bonds

Covalent bonds result from two nonmetal atoms sharing electrons. Both atoms share these electrons to fill their octet. When atoms of different elements share electrons through covalent bonding, the electron will be attracted more toward the atom with the higher electronegativity. This unequal sharing of atoms creates an electric dipole which makes the bond polar.

Helpful Links:
http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Core/Theoretical_Chemistry/Chemical_Bonding/General_Principles_of_Chemical_Bonding/Covalent_Bonds
http://chemistry.tutorvista.com/physical-chemistry/covalent-bonding.html

quatr.us

en.wikipedia.org

Molecular Geometry

The VSEPR theory is used to predict the molecular shape and function of a molecule. The way the molecule arrange themselves will depend on the number of lone pairs and bonded entities. Remember that a lone pair is a pair of electrons not shared between atoms. In this class, we only learn about five types of molecular geometries: tetrahedral, trigonal pyramidal, bent, linear, and trigonal planar. Remember that symmetry will result in a nonpolar molecule so tetrahedral, linear, and trigonal planar molecules are nonpolar.

Helpful Links

https://people.ok.ubc.ca/wsmcneil/vsepr.htm

http://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/topicreview/bp/ch8/vsepr.html

Biodiesel Boat Race

After spending an entire day constructing our boats for the lab, we finally raced them today! Our boat finished but was not the fastest in the class. Speed depended on the composition of your boat and the quality of your biodiesel. The purer it is, the hotter it will burn which also makes the boat go faster. Unfortunately, the biodiesel of some groups eroded through the cups and spilled so they won't be using their own products. In the pictures below, you can see that our boats were very small as we only raced them in a rain gutter.

Biodiesel Day 2

Today we separated the biodiesel in our lab from the other useless liquids in our blend. We did this by letting it sit for a day for the solution to naturally separate first. Then we pipetted out the pure biodiesel that can be burnt. As you can see from the pictures below. we tested the fuel and it worked great!

Biodiesel Lab

Today we started the first step in our main lab of this biodiesel unit! We created a mixture of biodiesel that will be used to power a put-put boat in a race. By placing a combination of used fryer oil and potassium hydroxide in a hot water bath, we produced a blend that will have to be separated later for pure biodiesel.

Fryer oil

Hot water bath

Finished solution