Fun and Games

Physical Science investigated the change between the liquid and solid state for water today. The highlight, I think, was that groups got to send people outside periodcally to obtain snow for their ice bath. The results were very good and exactly what I expected to see. That flat section of your heating and cooling curves occurring at virtually the same temperature (which was suspiciously near 0°C) was the take-home message. Flat line - no temperature change, even though heat energy was still flowing into or out of the water in your test tube. That is what happens when substances change from one state of matter to another. Energy gained or lost does not contribute to a change in the indivdual particles' kinetic energy - it is instead used to take the material through the process of changing state. And, the plateau was the same whether you were melting or freezing the substance - the melting and freezing points occur at the same temperature. We'll get into this in some detail over the next few days.

Physics and Honors Physics were treated to a discussion of the ideal gas law and its offspring - the laws of Boyle, Charles and Gay-Lussac. Demonstrations and video clips made the day a multimedia circus. Always a party in physics class...Remember to come with any questions tomorrow for review for Friday's exam.