Physics delved into the definition of heat energy and discussed patterns of heat transfer between objects. Tomorrow's lab will target one result when heat energy is gained or lost by an object - a phase change. Honors Physics conducted that lab today and a few groups, especially in G Block, got squiffy results. It wasn't until I tidied up after you left that I got an inkling of the reason for the squiff. It didn't register when I saw people setting up that a number of groups in the previous class had left their test tubes in the graduated cylinders that you used to measure your water. Since the tubes had been immersed in a salt slurry, it is probable that some of the salt was transferred to the cylinders and, then, into the water that you used for your experiment. That would definitely have caused a problem with the heating/cooling pattern of your water, especially since the sample had such little mass. We'll discuss the lab tomorrow in class and then continue on with our discussion of heat.
Physical Science completed their heat energy unit today. We went over the state curriculum frameworks to demonstrate that we had indeed hit all of the required material and went over the homework for phases of matter and phase changes. The test on Thursday will include material from the Heat and Temperature chapter and this last bit of material from the Matter chapter. We did relatively little math in this unit (temperature conversions, calculating heat gained/lost using specific heat), but we did cover a good bit of information. Make sure you are firm on all definitions, processes and variables/units. Graphing skills were emphasized over the last few days and you should be able to interpret a phase diagram - what is the melting point/boiling point, how much energy was removed in the freezing of the substance, etc. Come with your completed worksheet and questions for review tomorrow.
Speaking of graphing skills..
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