Silicates:
- combination of silicon (si) and oxygen (o)
- 95% of earth's crust, and 97% of earth's mantle is made of silicates
- Is made of solid iron and nickel. Earth's magnetic field (also known as the geomagnetic and magnetosphere) is the magnetic field that extends from the Earth's inner core to where it meets the solar wind, a stream of energetic particles coming from the Sun. The earth uses that to stop solar winds and most of the radiation from the sun.
- Is made of liquid metals, like liquid iron and nickel.
- Is made of molten rocks (silicates). That's where the molten metals meet with other things like silicates
- The outer, solidified mantle
- Earth = apple
- Crust = skin of the apple
How do you get from silicon to rocks?
- You can use periodic trends to predict reactivity
- When atoms bond with other atoms they either lose or gain electrons
- Elements that are further apart in the periodic trend are more prone to react
Andrew added copper solfate to another test tube, the color of the formation at the bottom was blue. The formations that took place in the copper solfate test tube didn't happen nearly as fast as in the first and second test tubes (calcium chloride and cobalt chloride). At first, it didn't work that well but after a couple of minutes the pointy, bubbly things started to form.
I'm not sure what I predicted was going to happen. The lab was called "Making Rocks" and I guess my mind just assumed that the lab was going to have literal rocks in it . . . but it didn't so I guess my prediction didn't really work out. I guess the name is what made me the most interested in the lab because it sounds like an impossible thing to do, to make literal rocks. But I took the name a little too literally haha.
Reflection
When everyone started pouring the calcium chloride, etc. into the test tubes, my partner and I decided that we just wanted to watch. It was on a Tuesday morning and we just didn't like it haha. But I was asked if I wanted to pour it in the test tube and I ended up doing it. I wonder what the pouring thing I used is called, it was a neat little tool.
I'm a little confused on some things. I'm proud of myself because I was able to achieve the goal I set for myself in the last lab, which was to pay less attention to my notes and be more in the moment of the lab. Like listen closely to the teacher when he's explaining a crucial aspect of the lab. In the last lab, the part I didn't listen that well to was the atomic structure explanation. But in this lab, I was able to ignore taking notes and just listen to my teachers's explanation of the periodic trend. I have a better understanding of it then if I was just taking notes during his explanation.
Generally, I'm confused on how we actually made rocks? Near the end, my tecaher said that when you mix metals into the solution the reaction will take place and create a rock. Does that mean the neat little formation that materialized at the bottom of the test tube was the "rock"? Like, at what point during the lab was a rock made?
I personally would be a little less confused if, during the recap at the end of the lab, the reaction that occurred could be further explained. Or the point at which rocks were produced is further explained.