This week in the lab, you will complete a Titration.
The point of a Titration is to discover the concentration, or Molarity, of an unknown substance. The only part of the lab that is initially revealed to you before the lab begins is the concentration of the titrant, or substance performing the Titration. The titrant in this case would be the 0.500 M of HCl. Your goal in the lab is to reach the endpoint, or the point where the HCl concentration and the NaOH concentration are equal. At this point, you can determine the Molarity of the NaOH, the "unknown substance", using the following formula:
M1V1=M2V2
After recording the volume of HCl used and the volume of NaOH used, you can determine the concentration of the sodium hydroxide since the concentration of HCl is already known. .
What are some common uses of Titration?
The medical field has very real-life applications of Titration. Pharmacists use Titration in their field. Doctors also use Titration to ensure they give patients the proper concentration of anesthetics before performing major surgeries. Titration is also used to measure glucose levels in the blood for those with diabetes.
The medical field is not the only area where Titration is commonly used. The food industry uses Titration to determine saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids. Specific techniques can also be used to determine the chain length of those fatty acids. Also, Titration helps to determine the concentration of salt, sugar, and various vitamins in the foods and drinks we consume. Titration can also be used to determine if wines or cheeses are ready for consumption.
The automotive industry is always trying to find more ways to become more productive. The production of biodiesel fuel is another area where Titration is very commonly used. By measuring the pH of the biodiesel, you can easily determine how much base is needed to bring the solution to the correct pH. Since the concentration of the base, the concentration of the fuel, and the volume of fuel is known, you can use the above formula to determine the volume of base needed to create the optimal fuel.
Another common use of Titration is testing aquarium water. Fresh water fish can only survive under the right conditions. If the pH of the water or the concentration of ammonium, nitrates or nitrites is thrown off, the fish will die. By using Titration, you can determine if the concentrations of these compounds is correct or change them if necessary.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Summer Science Opportunities
Gentlemen,
Bro. Ben has recently sent out a letter listing opportunities to advance your knowledge in Science. Links are provided for you if you are interested in one or more of these opportunities!
Here is the letter from Bro. Ben:
St. Albert the Great, Patron of Natural
Scientists…Pray for us!
Bro. Ben has recently sent out a letter listing opportunities to advance your knowledge in Science. Links are provided for you if you are interested in one or more of these opportunities!
Here is the letter from Bro. Ben:
+
J.M.J.
February 25, 2014
Dear
Parents and Students,
A
few weeks ago Chaminade held its 44th Annual Science Fair. What a great day! It was wonderful for me as
a teacher and as the Science Department Chair to see such enthusiasm for
science on all levels from freshmen through seniors. Also a few weeks ago, Chaminade’s three
Science Olympiad teams competed at the local Regional Competition. Held at Kellenberg, Chaminade’s teams were
pitted against some very tough competition.
Our best team, ‘Team A,’ placed 3rd out of 35 teams and thus
qualified for the next level of competition, the New York State Science
Olympiad Tournament, in mid-March. A bit
later on this year in late April Chaminade students will compete at the Long
Island Regional Envirothon hoping to qualify for the New York State Envirothon
in May. Chaminade has had a number of
students involved in research at North Shore-LIJ’s Feinstein Institute, Cold
Spring Harbor Lab, Brookhaven National Lab, to name a few. Many students participate in the Hospital
Volunteers Program to get a taste of what the health care system is like.
Why
do I mention all of this ‘science stuff?’ Simply put science and technology has
been, continues to be, and will become an increasingly important part of the
United States’ and the global economy. I
firmly believe that Chaminade students involved in all of the above-named
activities will play an integral role in preserving our country’s place in the
world as well as play a vital role in keeping the New York metro area the
thriving hub it is.
Summer
need not be a time when you forget about science until the next school
year. There are many interesting and
exciting summer science programs available, some local and some quite
distant. I have listed a number of
programs below. It is not an exhaustive
list. However, as I receive information and
discover additional programs I will update and revise this list.
To
Chaminade students…if you have a strong interest in science and/or mathematics,
I encourage you to pursue some sort of organized summer science program. To Chaminade parents…if your son has a strong
interest in these areas, I hope you will support him in his interest as best
you can.
While
a number of these programs are restricted to juniors or seniors, most of them
are open to high school students of all ages.
It’s not too early to think about science in the summer! Some
application deadlines are closer than others.
If
you or your sons have any questions, please never hesitate to ask.
Regards,
Bro.
Benjamin F. Knapp, SM
Summer
Science Programs
(in no particular order)
1.
North Shore-LIJ Hospital System – Feinstein Institute for Medical Research –
Student Intern Programs (Long Island)
2.
Columbia University – Summer Programs for High School Students (New
York City)
3.
The Whaling Museum of Cold Spring Harbor – research opportunities
A ‘relationship’
with Chaminade is in the exploratory phase.
TBD
4.
U. Penn Summer High School Programs (Philadelphia area)
5.
U. Penn Sumer Academy in Applied Science and Technology (Philadelphia
area)
6.
DNA Learning Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (Long
Island)
7.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Lab – Partners for the Future (Long
Island)
- Nominations
through Chaminade only. You may pick up
application/nomination materials from Bro. Benjamin.
8.
Brookhaven National Lab – High School Research Program (Long
Island)
9.
Brookhaven National Lab – Summer Science Explorations (Long
Island)
10.
SUNY Stony Brook (Long Island)
Stony Brook has so many offerings there are too
many to list separately here. The link
below is the ‘home base’ for their high school summer science opportunities in
addition to the high school research program.
The opportunities include laser research, biotechnology, physics, and
research. (Long Island)
11.
Alfred University (upstate New York, sort of close to Corning)
12.
The Cooper Union – Summer STEM Program
(New York City)
11.
Stevens Institute of Technology – The Stevens Summer. (Hoboken,
NJ)
Stevens has so many offerings there
are too many to list separately here.
The link below is the ‘home base’ for their high school summer science
opportunities.
13. Fordham University – Pre-College Program (New
York City)
Fordham has so many offerings there
are too many to list separately here.
The link below is the ‘home base’ for their high school summer science
opportunities.
Continued on next page.
14.
Shoals Marine Lab (cooperative venture between Cornell University and
University of New Hampshire)
The lab has a summer course open to
juniors and seniors – Marine Environmental Science
15.
Cornell University – Summer College
Summer College at Cornell has a
large number of program offerings. The
link below is the homepage for Summer College.
16.
College of the Atlantic – Summer Field Experience for High School Students (Bar
Harbor, Maine)
COA has three offerings at the link
below.
17.
Whale Camp (Grand Manaan Island, Newfoundland)
18.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Daytona Beach, Florida)
Embry-Riddle has quite a few summer
opportunities. Use the link below.
19.
Hofstra University – Pre-Collegiate Career Discovery: STEM (Long
Island)
20.
Hofstra University Summer Camps – Learning Institute (Long
Island)
21.
Adelphi University – Summer Pre-College Programs for High School Students (Long
Island)
Adelphi has a number of
offerings. The two math and science
offerings are for ‘Game Programming’ and for ‘Exploring the Health
Sciences.’ Use the link below for the
homepage.
22.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
(Cambridge, Massachusetts)
MIT has a few non-traditional
programs for high school students. The
linked homepage below also lists quite a few non-MIT programs.
23.
Joint Science Education Project (JSEP) – Arctic Consortium Research (Greenland)
(Unfortunately
registration is already closed for this free research opportunity; think about
it for 2015)
24.
Rensselaer Polytechnic University (RPI) - PREFACE Summer Program (Troy,
NY)
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Steel; The alloy that changed it all.
Iron was one of the most commonly used metals of ancient
times. However, iron was very soft and brittle for many uses. Many people
looked for a stronger metal that could eventually be used for bridges, trains,
factories, and even jewelry!
The answer came in the form of an alloy. Let’s backtrack for
a second: a mixture is a combination of an elements and compounds, two or more
compounds, or two or more elements. An alloy, specifically, is a mixture of a
metal and other elements.
So which alloy would be the answer to a stronger, more
efficient metal?
Steel, of course!
So what is steel exactly? The primary part of steel is iron,
the weak brittle metal that was used for thousands of years.
And how do we turn a very soft, brittle metal into a strong,
sturdy metal? The element that is mixed with iron to give it strength is none
other than carbon! However, the amount of carbon that is found in steel is less
than 2%! Just that small amount of carbon turns brittle iron into sturdy steel.
There is a few problems with the addition of carbon. If you add too little
carbon, it will still behave as pure iron. If you add too much carbon, you
create what’s called pig iron. Pig iron is very soft and brittle just like pure
iron. So you need the correct amount of carbon, not too much and not too
little, to get the perfect mixture and create an incredibly strong alloy. Also
found in steel are manganese, phosphorous, sulfur, silicon and traces of
oxygen, nitrogen, and aluminum.
There was a huge problem with the production of steel: the
cost! It was an extremely expensive process to turn iron into steel and be cost
efficient at the same time. In 1855, Henry Bessemer came up with a way to
create steel at an industrial level and, of course, cheaply. He started with
pig iron, mentioned earlier, and burned off all the impurities. After burning
off the impurities, he was left with steel. This process was extremely useful
and came at a most opportune time.
Henry Bessemer
The production of steel came up huge in 1914, the start of
World War I in Europe. Steel was used to build up American infrastructure, bridges,
trains and ammunition/weapons. Steel allows us to move or hold massive amounts
of weight which was very handy in transportation, storage and building. With
the production of steel came new tools to allow us to shape steel for a
specific purpose.
This use of chemistry allowed the world to move in a whole
new direction. With the addition of a few elements, iron turned into something
completely new! This new alloy still has many uses today and can be found in
our everyday life!
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Chemistry Science Project
Chemistry
Science Project
You are to choose from one of the following topics and
develop your own project using the scientific method-
Hypothesis,
Materials, Procedure, Results, Conclusion
Be sure
to have a large sampling size (5-8) and perform each part 5-8 times (trials),
(control vs variable)
Project: worth 100 points (test grade for 2nd
trimester)
Must
Include: 1) Poster board- most of this
should be covered. Results, charts, graphs, and pictures of you doing the work;
include pictures showing all the trials and samples.
2)
Your experiments (numerous trials)
3)
3-5 page report on background or information related to your topic and a
bibliography.
** Be sure to explain the chemistry involved in your
project.
Projects to choose from:
1)
Sunscreen effectiveness
2) Water
testing (not bottled)
3) Soil
Testing
4)
Corrosion of metals
5) Acid
Rain
6)
Laundry detergent effectiveness
Begin Testing ASAP
You may work in groups of two as long as both students are
taught by the same teacher. * However, the project will be due at the earliest
date between the two students.*
You may be excused from a Science Fair Project if you are on
Team A, B, or C of Science Olympiad and compete in events.
Due Dates:
Mr. Amorizzo:
Period
1- January 7, 2014
Period
3- January 13, 2014
Period
6- January 15, 2014
Period
8- January 24, 2014
Mr. Duban
Period
8- January 14, 2014
Mr. Giordano
Period
2- January 8, 2014
Mrs. Levane
Period
1- January 27, 2014
Period
3- January 22, 2014
Period
6- January 30, 2014
Period
8- January 16, 2014
Mr. Paul
Period
7- January 17, 2014
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The chemistry of papal smoke!
The guys at Periodic Videos are on it! Using the Vatican's recipe, they show us how the cardinals generate very white or very black smoke.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Chem taking a cue from bio
90% mineral material and flexible? Yes. Good materials science article here.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
The Jedi Mind Trick
While it's not quite mind control of epic Jedi proportions, there's a new development in the civil war in Syria. Apparently there are reports that the Syrian government used a chemical weapon called BZ against rebels in the city of Homs. Like many chemical and conventional weapons being used these days, BZ was discovered during the Cold War and attempts to weaponize it were made by both the United States and Soviet Union. You can read the story about the Syrian use of BZ here and check out the chemistry of BZ here. The chemistry information is definitely worth a glance if for no other reason than it's a complex molecule and it looks cool.
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