Thursday, March 7, 2013

Teeny Bopper-Science class edition

That is glow in the dark paint all over her from an activity.  Nice.

OK, this girl is without a doubt, a kick.  Her nickname as a very little child when the Spice Girls were popular was "Fiesty Spicy".  That name still holds.
Here are some of the answers from her latest science lab at school.  (I wonder if her teacher will appreciate her "spice"?  hehe)

   Did the process in this lab involve a chemical change?  Explain.


           The process in this lab was so fascinating I nearly felt a chemical change in my brain from the sheer excitement of witnessing such things, but my intuition told me that the changes occurring within the confines of the finely crafted glass were, in fact, physical changes. Why? I asked myself. Because the water is changing state, not morphing into a new compound, my inner self whispered. And I accepted it. 

        Did the system absorb or release energy?  Explain.

           The system released energy, because when water gets heated up, it can’t contain its energy! Also, the water molecules carry the energy around when they evaporate. Because sharing is caring, after all.

        Explain the difference between heat and temperature.

           To a normal student, the answer would be simple: “they are the same thing”. Fortunately, I am not a normal student, and by golly, I say they are not the same thing! Heat is the flow of energy due to a temperature difference! And noble temperature is the measure of the random motions (average kinetic energy, to those curious) of the components of a substance.

        Why were there plateaus when the temperature did not increase?  Did you stop adding heat at these times?

             When we reached a plateau, the temperature remained the same because once water has reached its boiling point, the energy being released is so rapid there is no way to possibly absorb more. We, however, are persistent humans, and we kept adding heat in the vain hope that perhaps we could get the temperature to raise more.


        How would increasing the rate of heating by using two burners affect the shape of the curve?

           I have good news, and I have bad news: the good news is that if we increased the heat by using two burners, the heating curve would show that it took a smaller amount of time to heat to boiling. The bad news, however, is that the temperature would still plateau once it reached boiling. :^(

        See what I mean?  She just happened to leave her work on the computer and I was able to amuse myself by reading it.  Now it is saved for all posterity.  :)  






1 comment:

Jen said...

I love me some good personality :)