Acids and Bases (10/30-11/3)




http://www.phscale.net/pictures/acid.png

Summary:


This week, we learned about acids and bases. Some of the properties of acids are that they are sour. Some of those examples would be lemon juice and citric acid in oranges. Some properties of bases are that they are slippery. Some examples of bases are glass cleaner and dish detergent. 

 The pH scale is used to determine how acidic or basic a substance is. There are 14 numbers and colors on the pH scale. The lower the number, the more acidic. The higher the number, the more it becomes a base. Numbers 1 - 7 on the pH scale are acidic these colors would be red, orange, and yellow. Numbers 7 through 14 is a base. The colors for bases are dark green, blue and purple. If the substance has a pH of 7, it is neutral, and the color would be a light green. 

To make a substance neutral, also called neutralization, you would need to add more of the "opposite" substance. Acids and bases are almost like opposite because they are on the opposite side of the pH scale. If you have an acid that you want to be neutral, you would add a base. So that you can really see when it becomes neutral, you would use indicator, which shows the color that you can correspond to the pH scale. For example, if you have lemon juice and you add indicator, you will be able to see that the color is Orange. You could keep adding baking soda (which is a base) until the color of the substance becomes a light green. If you keep adding, it will become a base.

SP3: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

This week, we conducted an investigation and experiment to see how neutralization works. We also did an experiment to identify common-used acids and bases. We collected our data in a graph to show how acidic each substance was according to the pH scale. Questions that we investigated in our experiments were, "How to neutralize an acid and a base?" We also asked a question to figure out, "How do we know once a substance is neutral?" The parts of our experiment that we did not change was the amount of acid that we started with when we were trying to neutralize it. We also did not change the amount of indicator that we put to see where each substance was on the pH scale.

XCC: Systems And System Models

This week, I noticed and identified the system and the parts of a pH scale. The pH scale is a system to identify how acidic something is. This scale helps you visualize and know when something is basic or acidic. Numbers 1-7 on the pH scale mean that the substance is acidic, and numbers 7-14 on the scale tell us that the substance is a base. The number 7 on the pH scale means that it is neutral. There are also colors associated with each number so that you can tell what the acidity or how basic something is. The advantage of thinking of this as a system is that you know if a substance is very acidic, or a base and it will also be easier to tell if something is neutral. 

Multiplier

This week, I was a wanderer. When we were doing our investigations, I contributed to my table group. When I found or discovered something new, I shared it with the class and my group. We shared our ideas and new knowledge so that we could understand and learn more about what was happening in the experiment and what the pH scale means. Being a wanderer helped us learn more as a team and have a good understand the topic much better then if we were not working together.




There are some of the experiments and investigations that we conducted in class:

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