Radioactive Decay

Many nuclei are radioactive. This means that they spontaneously decompose to form a new nucleus and produce one or more particles. These nuclear reactions are shown by using a nuclear equation. It shows the radioactive decomposition of an element. Here is an example of some nuclear equations:


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There are three different types of radioactive decay. The first is alpha decay, which produces alpha particles, that are helium nuclei. The other two types of radioactive decay are beta and gamma decay. Beta decay releases beta particles, which are electrons. Gamma decay releases high energy forms of light called photons. Here is a link to a website that explains all three types of decay, and how to calculate them:

Radioactive Decay

Overall, radioactive decay is a relatively easy concept to understand, and using this blog post to reflect on throughout the rest of the unit will help me retain all of the information on this topic that I learned in class.

Beanium Lab Reflection

This week, on Wednesday, our chemistry class did a lab about an imaginary element named "beanium". The purpose of using this imaginary element was so we could see it with the naked eye, since it is macroscopic. To carry out the lab, we counted the number of atoms of each isotope present, and then used an electric scale to find the total mass of each isotope. We also found the average mass and the percent abundance of each isotope. Then, using previous knowledge and the formula that we learned a couple days before, we calculated the average atomic mass of beanium. The formula we used is explained on this website:

Average Atomic Mass Equation Explanation

This lab helped me understand how to find all of the values of isotopes I listed above, because we were able to actually physically see and touch the "atoms". Overall, this was a fun and enlightening lab, that will help me in the future, when I have to calculate the same thing with real-life isotopes.

Here is a picture of the beanium atoms, while we were sorting/counting them:

Source of picture: taken by myself

Mass of Subatomic Particles

Here are some important things that I learned today in class to remember about the mass of subatomic particles:

                        Relative Mass:      Relative Charge:
Electrons:            1                                   1-
Protons:           1863                                 1+
Neutrons:         1839                               none

Isotopes:
-Proton= an elements identity and mass
-Electron= an elements reactivity
-Neutron= an elements mass and isotope determination

There are two ways that the mass number and atomic number of an element may be presented:


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Half-Life Calculation

After taking and reflecting on the Atomic Structure and Radioactivity pre-test, I decided my first focus for this unit would be calculating half-life, since I already have a general understanding of it. This will help me learn it quickly and be able to move on to the more challenging topics in this unit. After doing some research, I found this helpful diagram that shows an example of half-life decay, by illustrating the decay of 544 grams of a substance that has a half-life of 1 day:

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Doing research about half-life lead me to discover that there are three different types of half-life decay: zero, first, and second order reactions. The equation that you use to calculate half-life differs depending on the type of reaction. A very useful website to help me remember how to calculate each type is:

How to Solve Half-Lives 

Pre-test Reflection

In chemistry class today, we took a pre-test over atomic structure and radioactivity. I knew very little, but I was surprised that I actually did know how to calculate the answer to a couple of the half-life questions. I remember this information from past science classes such as Earth Science. Some of the things I have never learned about before include all the different types of radiation and decay. I recognized the terms, but did not know what they meant. Throughout the next three weeks, during this unit, I hope to learn these terms and how to apply them to solve problems, so that way I can be much more successful on the actual unit test, compared to this pre-test. After the test, I did some research about some of the questions that I saw on the test, and I found some websites that might be helpful to look back on during the unit. You can find them here:

- Types of Radiation

- Types of Decay


Also, here is a very helpful picture to illustrate the penetrating powers of the different types of radiation:


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Frontier Chemistry Project

Doing the Frontier Chemistry Project was very educational and practical. I now know how to treat myself if I was in the wilderness and got hurt. I know how to identify medicinal plants and how to prepare and apply them. Also, lately, while just driving down the road, I have been able to name several of the plants that I have seen. So overall, this project was very useful and also helped me apply chemistry to the real world.

Polyatomic Ions

During the nomenclature unit, I successfully memorized all 22 polyatomic ion names and their matching formulas. I was able to accomplish this by making flashcards and reviewing them many times, alternating which side of the card I looked at. Knowing these ions off the top of my head is very useful when it comes to naming acids. Also, we will be using the polyatomic ions throughout the whole entire rest of the year, so having all of them memorized will be very helpful.


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