We started off the term with measurements, which included physical quantities and mass. The vernier calipers and micrometer screw gauge are tools which help us to measure things more accurately and in ways which a ruler cannot. Vernier caliper can be used to measure the depth of an object. Reading the vernier caliper and the micrometer screw gauge was quite difficult initially as it operated quite differently from a ruler and had another decimal place. But after some hands on experience with them, I finally understood how they are to be used. Other modes of measurement which included the electronic balance, spring balance, stop watch and thermometers were not that difficult. Physical quantities and units basically expect us to be able to know the prefixes and S.I units well enough. All it took was just some time to memorize them.
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| Vernier Calipers |
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| Micrometer Screw Gauge |
Density was what we covered next. As density is mass divided by volume, we learnt the ways to find out the mass and volume.
Kinetic particle theory, KPT for short, was what we learnt next. This was actually a more detailed version of what we had learnt in Primary Four. Knowing how the particles of solid, liquid, gas move, vibrate, the bonds between each particle and arrangement. This topic may seem east initially, but it requires adequate revision and studying to make sure that the information stays in our mind. Also, we had to apply out knowledge of KPT to real life and this reinforced our understanding of the topic.
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| Kinetic Particle Theory |
Brownian motion is actually on how air particles move, which is basically covered in KPT. Ms Nada did a practical with us on Brownian motion and honestly, that was the first time we saw air particles. It was an eye opening experience.
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| Brownian Motion |
The next topic was Elements, Compounds and Mixtures. We started off by memorizing the first 20 elements on the Periodic Table. Initially, when I first saw the Periodic Table, I was astounded by the number of elements mankind has discovered and was quite curious on each of them, or rather the practical uses of each of them. Homework was given and I did some research on some of the elements for a better answer. From elements, we went on to learn what a compound is. A compound is made up of 2 different elements chemically combined together. One of the most fascinating thing is that compounds have different properties from their constituent elements after combining it together with another element. Mixture is basically 2 elements are mixed together but not chemically combined. Ms Nada did a practical with us using Iron filings mixed with sulphur powder.
Learning about solutions and suspensions was next. We learnt what solvent and solutes are, how to describe solutions, factors affecting solubility and the characteristics of a solution and suspension. We did a practical to find out if the solubility of different solutes differ in the same solvent. In this experiment, we kept the solvent, water, the same, and changed the solute, salt, baking soda and iodine crystals. We concluded that different solutes have different solubility in the same solvent as the maximum amount of baking soda dissolved was less than 2 g while iodine crystal was less than 1 g. The maximum amount of salt dissolved was 6 g, which makes it the most soluble solute.
After knowing how to form a solution, we now learnt how to separate them. Some of the methods include burning, evaporation, filtration and distillation. A practical was done to try out 2 of the method- filtration and burning to evaporation. For filtration, we had a mixture of salt and sand in a beaker of water. We poured the mixture into a filter paper on a filter funnel and sand is thus filtered. Now, the filtrate is a solution of salt and water. We placed the salt solution in an evaporating dish rested on a beaker , with the Bunsen burner burning. It was quite a slow process for the water to evaporate but after some waiting, we managed to see some salt.
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| Filtration |
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| Distillation |
Picture of Vernier Calipers from:
http://www.tresnainstrument.com/measuring_instrument_images/vernier_calipers/x/vernier_calipers_vc03.jpg
Picture of Micrometer Screw Gauge from:
http://www.ambascientific.com/product/thumbnails/Micrometer-Screw-Cat-410b.jpg
Picture of KPT from:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfBa4uqHktoIMUbXWvK_eVPa_3tJuPunXtR9c14X3xoGxnE9ZKRyV1B4kyQJ7XyfjAtGSFm867bG7aSyD8cQp_r5AVgtjS4NADhOflAAz-958hSXYXtJtj3oJjIrEC3lp5M1smDJuw_2D0/s320/image008.jpg
Picture of Brownian Motion from:
http://images.tutorvista.com/content/matter/brownian-motion.jpeg
Picture of Elements, Compound, Mixtures from:
http://www.glogster.com/media/4/25/28/10/25281084.gif
Picture of Iron Filing and Sulphur Powder from:
http://www.sciencephoto.com/image/3084/530wm/A2300065 Magnet_pulling_iron_filings_out_of_sulphur-SPL.jpg
Picture of Solution and Suspension from:
http://www.omex.co.uk/_Attachments/Resources/312_S4.jpg
Picture of Filtration from:
http://www.micromountain.com/sci_diagrams/sci_app/sci_app_assets/filter_lab_eng.jpg
Picture of Distillation from:
http://static.newworldencyclopedia.org/1/16/Fractional_distillation_lab_apparatus.png
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