The Day the Stars Went Out

Finally done with the star project. I actually enjoyed it very much, learning about lots of stars and their history was really interesting. Excited for the new unit though, wasn't incredibly fond of this one. 

Helpful star log links: 

http://www.universetoday.com/45775/famous-stars/

http://www.astronoo.com/en/stars.html

http://www.astronoo.com/en/brightest-stars.html

Atomic Structure and Radioactive decay chapter 19

Today we learned about Radioactive Decay. One type of radioactive decay is Alpha particle decay. These are helium nuclei 24He. The mass changed by 4 and the protons change by 2 from parent atom to daughter atom. We also learned about beta particles which are electrons in which the mass does not change and the proton changes by one between the parent atom and the daughter atom. Gamma decay is always there accompanied by either alpha or beta decay.

More info: http://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/topicreview/bp/ch23/modes.php

Atomic Structure and Radioactive Decay Chapter 3 quiz

Chapter 3 Quiz was relatively easy as long as you knew who was who. Some of the questions made me second guess a lot thought, which I dislike. Questions that you genuinely feel like you have no idea how you could even know the right answer are so frustrating. But other than that, the quiz was easy and I'm happy with the results. On to chapter 19!

Atomic Structure and Radioactivity Day 1

9. 16.15

Today we learned about Dalton's Atomic Theory. Dalton was the first to discover subatomic particles. He did not know of subatomic particles. Some of his theories have been proven wrong, but some are still true and fundamental (Ex. All elements are composed of atoms.) Another thing talked about was the Law of Constant Composition, which tells us that a given compound always contains the same Proportion by Mass (Percent Composition.) Another scientist, JJ Thomson, found the subatomic particle, electron, with a negative charge.He used the "Chocolate Chip Model" - Electrons placed randomly in a positive matrix. Ruthford, a student of Thomson, discovered positively charged protons by the Gold Foil experiment.  He also found the nucleus, a small and dense area containing protons.

More info: http://www.iun.edu/~cpanhd/C101webnotes/composition/dalton.html

First look at Atomic Structure and Radioactivity

    The pretest for Atomic Structure and Radioactivity was undoubtedly hard, I was able to figure out some patterns within the questions, but mostly it was foreign to me. It's hard to imagine that these things will soon be incredibly familiar to me.  Not totally looking forward to the whole math aspect of it, but I'll get used to it.

More info: http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-bomb1.htm