TEST TIME!!!

Dear Kalpita,

You know this post is going to be special when it has 3 exclamation points and CAPITAL letters. Today is my test to review everything I have learned. Ready...Set..Go!

The study of properties of matter and how matter changes is chemistry.

A substance that cannot be broken down into other substances by physical or chemical means is an element

Each element has it's own symbol which is usally one or two letters.

A substance made of two or more elements that are chemically combined is a compound.

Each compound is represented by a formula, which shows the ratio of elements in the compound

A mixture is when two substances are together in the same place but are not chemically combined into a new substance.

There are two ways a substance can change. A change that alters the form of a substance but does not change it into something else.is a psychical change

A change in matter that produces new substances is a chemical change.

The measurement of the force of gravity on an object is weight.

The measurement of how much matter an object contains is mass

The measurement of how much mass is contained in a given volume is density

Volume is the measurement of how much space an object takes up.

The smallest particle of an element is an atom


The force that holds two atoms together is a chemical bond

A combination of two or more atoms bonded together is a molecule
.

All That Glitters is Not Gold...Or Copper..Or Iron

Dear Kalpita,

Sorry for the weird title. It doesn't really match with what I'm learning about but I couldn't help myself.

Gold and Density

Density was used to pan for gold in the Gold Rush. A man would take a pan and scoop up some gravel and rocks. He would submerge the pan in a steam or riverbed and the sand would filter out. The Gold had a higher density so it would think to the bottom of the pan.

The density of gold is 19.32 grams/cm3

The Density of pyrite(or fools gold) is 5.01 grams/cm3

You can immediately tell that the pyrite had a much lower density.

Copper and Electrolysis

Most (solid) elements are naturally found in the ground-huge surprise!-

Ores are rocks containing minerals and elements.

A chemical reaction must occur to separate an element from a compound.

Electrolysis is when an electric current is used to break down a chemical compound.

A magnesium metal strip is placed into the copper during electrolysis on copper.

Iron and the Blast Furnace

Iron is separated from its compound by a mechanical process (a.k.a putting it in a blast furnace)

So this is basically how Steel and Iron is made

Miners mine iron ore

.I

V

Chunks of iron and a material called coke and put into a blast furnace

.I

V

The carbon monoxide in the coke reacts with iron oxide in the iron

.I

V

The result of the reaction is Iron.

.I

V

Iron is mixed with carbon and other metals to make Steel.

Atoms and Particles of Matter

Dear Kalpita.

It's been awhile since I've last posted. Oh well. We're moving on. but of course I mist Review as usual:

Matter is anything made of atoms and molecules, Matter is classified as an element, a compound, or a mixture

Element: a substance made out of one type on atom
Compound: Two or more elements. Can only be seperated trough a chemical reaction
Mixture: A mix of two substances that can be seperated easily

Chemistry:the science of the properties, composition and changes in matter

Physical Change: Changes the appearance of the substance.
example: Water freeezing


Chemical Change: the substance becomes a different substance:
Example: rust

Weight:The measurment of the force of gravity on an object

Mass:how much matter an object contains

Volume: Hiw much space an object takes up

Density: how much mass per unit of volume

Now For The New Stuff

Apparently I need to intorduce Democritus

Democritus was an ancient Greek Philosopher. He formulated an atomic theory for the cosmos. He was liked by Aristotle and hated by Plato. He and is mentor Leuicippus believed that everything was made of atoms, that atoms were physically indivisible, that they were indestructible, that they were constantly moving and that empty space lay between all atoms.

As you can see some of these ideas were right and many were wrong but he basically had the right idea. This is why Democritus is believed the be the "father of modern science".

Democritus originally named atoms Atomos, which means "uncuttable" but which has also taking on the meaning of "smallest indivisible particle of matter."

An atom is the smallest particle of an element


Next up we have

John Dalton

John Dalton was many things. He was an English man that dipped into many sciences, including meteorology, chemistry and physical science. He was best known for researching atomic theory and color blindness.

Here is what John Dalton believed about atoms


The atoms of different elements can be distinguished by their atomic weight

All atoms of the same element are identical

Atoms of one element can a bond with the atoms of another atoms to form a chemical compound, a compound that has the same number of types of atoms

Atoms can't be created, divided into smaller particles or destroyed in a chemical reaction.



Scientists have found exceptions to many of his "rules" but his theory has helped form the basis of our understanding of atoms.

An atom can be seen through an electron microscope.

A chemical bond is the attraction between molecules or atoms that creates a chemical compound.


A molecule is a combination of two or more atoms that are bonded together.



That's enough for today. Tomorrow we may or may not talk about the composition of atoms

Ok I Apologize....

Dear Kalpita

I did not and could not keep my promise to make up for all the days i missed. I am sorry. I'm not sure who I
'm apologizing to. Probably myself. Oh well. let's get on to my studying. Measuring Mass and stuff.Since I can't remember simple things let me review what I learned last time

Matter is anything made up of atom. Everything is made of Matter.

Elements are the building blocks of matter and are formed of only one type of atom

Compounds are made of two or more elements and can only be seperated through a chemical reaction.

Mixtures:are a mix of two or more substances that can be separated quite easily.

A  subsscript is the ratio of...something

Now that I know very basic science *pats myself on the back* We can keep going

MASS is often confused with weight. Mass is how much matter an object contains

WEIGHT is a measure of the force of gravity on an object.


Back to Mass. In Science, Mass refers to one of the three properties of matter
Inertial Mass- is basically measured the an objects resistance to acceleration  
*You may recall that Inertia is the resistance of an object to a change in movement. This relates to a moving objects resistance to stopping and an objects resistance to moving.

Then there is
Active Gravitational Mass-Well.....I'm not really sure what this is. Apparently it is a fact that there is a difference between Active and Passive Gravitational Mass but there is no reason why there should be a difference. I'm guessing that Gravitational mass is the most common mass that I told you about earlier

Passive Gravitational Mass-Also not sure


The difference between mass and weight is that gravity does not affect your mass. if you are in space your weight is different because Weight is simply a measure of how much force gravity is pressing down on you. Mass is simply how much matter you contain. This is also why you would eigh differently on another planet but your mass wouldn't change. NEVER CONFUSE MASS AND WEIGHT.

THE METRIC SYSTEM  or the INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM (SI) is how scientists measure properties of matter 

The SI unit for mass is the Kilogram

Other units for Mass :

Gram

Milligram

VOLUME is the amount of space an object occupies. Whereas Mass is how much mass something is Made of this is How much space it takes up.

HeightxLengthxWidth= the Volume of a rectangular object

Si Unit for Volume is a Cubic Meter or sometimes just a Meter

DENSITY is sometimes defined as how much mass per unit of volume but other times it is defined as how much weight per unit of Volume

A kilogram of bricks takes up less space than a kilogram of feathers because the bricks are denser and more mass is packed into each unit of volume

You can calculate density by dividing volume from mass. D=M/V

One unit of density is g/cm3 or grams per cubic centimeter

If I am correct the density of a liquid is usually grams per milliliter 

The reason wood floats and gold doesn't is that the wood has less density. This is also the reason a steel boat will float and a bar of steel won't. It depends on how much water it can displace. I will get to that later.

Pop Quiz: Does the density of a substance change, depending on the sample of the substance.

A: FALSE. The Density does not change no matter what amount it is.

Stay tuned for PARTICLES OF MATTER where we will learn about

Early ideas About Atoms

John Dalton

Atoms and Molecules

Ideas About Atoms: Past and Present

The Composition of an Atom

 

Measuring Matter: Gravity, Mass, Volume and Density

Dear Kalpita,

This week I will be learning about measuring mass. This will most likely be tortorous for me because I'm horrible at measurements. Wish me luck. I'll post everything later. Even I need SOME sleep. I promise I'll make up for those days i went missing

Changes In Matter

Dear Kalpita,

Strangely enough i have a harder time remembering the simple stuff than i do with the Bosons and Fermions. Oh well. Moving right along....

A Physhical Change in Matter is when something changes it's shape without becoming a new object.
Examples of these are:

• Change of state (such as from solid to liquid or from gas to liquid)
  
  • Specific examples of state change include water freezing, alcohol evaporating and dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) subliming
• Absorption of water
• Crumpling
• Pulling copper into a thin wire - a change of shape, but not a change of composition
• Cutting a material
• Tearing
• Breaking
• Deflating
• Mixing different solids (such as solid sulfur and iron filings)
• Inflating
• Cloud forming in the sky

Chemical Changes are when the composition of an object changes.

Examples of this are:

• Burning a log of wood
• Mixing an acid with a base, producing water and a salt.
• Photosynthesis - a process in which carbon dioxide and water are changed into sugars by plants.
• Cracking heavy hydrocarbons to create lighter hydrocarbons (part of the process of refining oil).
• Cooking examples: popcorn, cake, pancakes, and eggs
• Oxidation examples: rust or tarnishing
• Combustion
• Mixing chemicals
• Rotting of fruit
• Cooking rice
• Explosions
• Tarnishing silver
• Lighting a match
• Chewing/digesting food
• Rusting
• Burning gas in a stove
• Oxidizing food for energy
• Roasting a marshmallow
• Adding food coloring to icing
• Frying
• Burning a magnesium strip

The Three PRINCIPLE states of matter are:
Liquid
Solid
Gas
If you read my blog you also know about Bose-Einstein Condensat (superfluids ,superconductors and Rubidium/) and Plasma(lightning)

Fun Fact: Water is the same substance no matter what state it is in. That's why the Science Channel often refers to water on Earth as Liquid Water instead of just plain Water.

Another name for a Chemical change is a Positive Change

I have been asked to decide whether some things are a chemical or a physical change
Iron Rusting outside- ooh ooh! I know this one! Chemical
Wood is chopped in half- Physical
Gasoline burning in an engine- Chemical
Ice melting into liquid water- Like I said before. Physical


I have just completed that assignment . Whoo!

Go Back to The Beginning: Matter, Mixtures and Elements

Dear Kalpita,

I've been gone a long time and it turns out there is quite a lot for me to do. I shall be going on about thee Basics of Matter. I've been so busy talking about quantum physics that I haven't bothered to learn about the stuff I will actually NEED to know. I promise I won't bombard you with bright colors....maybe.

-**-

As I so eloquently pointed out before, Matter is anything made of atoms and molecules. 

Matter can be any color, any shape, any texture or any temperature ect.

Properties of matter

• Color
• Odor
• Luster - How shiny a substance is.
• Malleability - The ability of a substance to be beaten into thin sheets.
• Ductility - The ability of a substance to be drawn into thin wires.
• Conductivity - The ability of a substance to allow the flow of energy or electricity.
• Hardness - How easily a substance can be scratched.
• Melting/Freezing Point - The temperature at which the solid and liquid phases of a substance are in equilibrium at atmospheric pressure.
• Boiling Point - The temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid is equal to the pressure on the liquid (generally atmospheric pressure).
• Density - The mass of a substance divided by its volume

All of the above are called Intensive Properties. These properties do not rely on the size of the matter.

The next few properties I will tell you about are Extensive Properties. They are basically the exact opposite of Intensive Properties,

• Mass - A measurement of the amount of matter in a object (grams).
• Weight - A measurement of the gravitational force of attraction of the earth acting on an object.
• Volume - A measurement of the amount of space a substance occupies.
• Length

Chemistry:

Chemistry is the science of matter and any changes it undergoes chemistry is mostly about the composition, behavior and how it acts during a chemical reaction.

Elements:

An element is a pure substance, consisting of one type of atom, each element is distinguished by an atomic number

The Atomic Number is the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom.

Elements are called the building blocks of matter because all matter is made from some combination of elements.

The element symbol tells you the elements name in Latin

A compound is a substance made from two or more elements mixed together

A Subscript:]

A subscript tells you about the ratio of elements in a compound

for instance I give you water, also known as H2O

H stands for Hydrogen

O stands for Oxygen

This means that water consists of two Hydrogen atoms and one oxygen 

However if I add one more oxygen i get H2O2. This makes an entirely different compound called hydrogen peroxide 

Hydrogen Peroxide is a liquid but it is NOT the same as water. It is often used as a bleaching agent and disinfectant

Most matter consists of a mixture of isotopes. 

Surprisingly A Mixture isn't the same thing as a Compound.

A mixture is a mix of two things that can be separated psychically.

A compound CAN be seperated but only by use of a chemical reaction.

So As a final review

Matter

is classified as a

Element.................................................... Compound...................................Mixture.........................

made up of..------------------------------------made up of..-------------------------------made up of...---------------

Atoms.................................. Two or more elements...... Two or more substances

Ok I admit that I lied. i ended up painting rainbows all over this log post anyway

Bosons and Fermions

Dear Kalpita,

A couple of days ago I mentioned how Bose-Einstein Condensat is made out of Bosons. Now is my time to explain

Everything is either made out of Bosons or Fermions. Two same types of Fermions CANNOT overlap. Bosons can.

Fermions interact by exchanging Bosons.

Apparently all mass consists of Fermions which can only interact by using Bosons. So a person supposedly would be made of fermions.

Oh yeah Bosons cannot spin.

That's all I learned on that. Itwas way too difficult for me. I'm going back to elementary Science.

We're Getting Physical. Physical SCIENCE that is.

Dear Kalipita,

     Please forgive my terrible pun. I'm taking a break from Biology to do a bit of research on Physical Science. We'll start out with the basics.

Matter

Matter is anything made of atoms and molecules. Everything around you is made of matter. YOU are made of matter. many people think that air is not made of matter but it is. So i should probably point out out that there are FIVE forms of matter. the obvious ones are:

Gas

Liquid

Solids

and it is quite possible that you have heard of Plasma

Plasma is superheated gas that has lost all of its' electrons. You may think that it would lose it's electric charge but it comes even more electrically charged. An example of plasma is Lightning. The sun and solar winds are also plasma.

For our Grand Finale we (apparently I am now a "we" I'm not sure when that happened) will present the Fifth State of Matter. Drumroll please.;

Bose-Einstein-Condensat. (also known as BEC)

BEC occurs at the opposite end of absolute zero.I'm not exactly sure what that means so i will study some more and get back to you on that

-☼☼-

It is still very hard to understand exactly what Bose-Einstein Condensat Is. I know that  the element Rubidium is a BEC.

Rubidium is a soft silver metal that is quite radioactive. It vaporizes quickly and rusts even quicker. it has one stable isotope that has a half life of 49 billion years.. That is more than 3 times the estimated age of the universe. It is known to react very violently if it comes in contact with water and it ignites hydrogen very easily. Rubidium is famous for spontaneously combustion when it comes in contact with air. (Sometimes. not always)

My best guess on what BEC is: I am guessing that it is something between a solid and a gas. Apparently it is also very unstable since it seems to react violently with most of its fellow forms of matter.

I've done more research. BEC can only occur at extremely low temperatures or all of it's molecules tend to fly apart. BEC is made out of Bosons. (i will get to that next time)

   Two examples of materials containing Bose-Einstein condensates are superconductors and superfluids. Superconductors conduct electricity with virtually zero electrical resistance: Once a current is started, it flows indefinitely. The liquid in a superfluid also flows forever. In effect, there is no friction. The nucleons in a neutron star⁹ are believed to form a superfluid. Scientists have been able to make superfluids in the laboratory by cooling materials to very low temperatures.

 

Scientific Method, BeriBeri and Penicillin

Dear Kalpita,

                   Aren't I fancy? I indented and everything. Anyway today I will be learning about scientific method. You might recall how yesterday I was asked about how Goldbergers experiments were not a good example of using Scientific method. The problem is that I don't really remember what scientific method is. Luckily i have the entire internet at my fingertips. I am guessing that this shall be an easy challenge.

-☼☼-

The Steps of Scientific Method

1.Ask a Question        

2.Research                 

3.Hypothesis              

4.Test your hypothesis

5. Analyze Data          

6.Draw Conclusion      

7.Share your results      

-☼☼-

Now we are going to combine scientific method with BeriBeri. 

When: 1887

What: BeriBeri was a nerve disease that caused weakness, loss of appetite and heart failure

Where: The Dutch East Indies

Why: A lack of Thiamine (a vitamin)  caused the disease

Who: Dr Eijkman helped find out that thiamine was what caused beriberi

At first scientists thought that beriberi was caused by bacteria A test was performed on chickens. There were two groups of chickens. Each group was kept separate of the other group so there could be no contact between the two groups. one group was injected with the disease and the other was not. however, both groups contracted the disease. Dr. Eijkman noticed that during the experiment both groups of chickens were fed polished rice whick lacks thiamin.

 This is a good example of scientific method.

The Question: What causes Beriberi?

Research: I'm not sure what research they did

Hypothesis: Beriberi is caused by bacteria

Test: The previously mentioned experiment

Analyze Data: they discovered that both groups got the disease yet they had not been near eachother. However they both ate polished rice during the experiment

Conclusion: Beriberi is caused by a lack of Thiamin.

-☼☼-

Since we are still on the topic of scientific method and diseases we will talk about scientific method and Penicillin

When: 1928
Who: Sir Alexander Fleming

Fleming was studying different molds in Petri dishes. There was one mold with a clear area around it where there was no bacteria.This mold was called Pennicillium. He thought that it produced a chemical that killed the bacteria. So he grew a larger sample and put it in a colony of bacteria. All the bacteria died.

Question: Why is there no bacteria surrounding the mold?

Research: ?


Hypothesis: The mold is killing the bacteria


Test: Stated above

Analyze Data: All the bacteria died

Conclusion: The hypothesis was right. The mold is killing the bacteria

Sharing the Results: This data was used to start making Penicillin

Pellagra

Dear Kalpita,

I have made an impressive leap from- the subject of soap to the topic of Pellagra. What is pellagra? Well I'm not quite sure yet but I have been given several questions to answer about them. Based off of these questions I think it is safe to assume that pellagra is a disease (especially since it flat out says it is a disease). I think I have heard about it before but I can't quite place it....

red, white and bold = new additions to this post

What is Pellagra?
Pellagra is a vitamin deficiency disease. It is most commonly caused by a lack of Vitamin B.

 What are the symptoms of Pellagra?

The most common symptoms are diarrhea, dermatitis ( a rash) and dementia If that isn't quite pleasant enough

other symptoms are:

Sensitivity to sunlight

Aggression

Tongue swells and changes color

Insomnia

Confusion

Paralysis of extremities

What were the early theories about the cause of Pellagra?
They thought it was an infectious disease

What types of people were most likely to get Pellagra?

Women and people who ate lots of corn

What did Joshehp Goldberger think was the cause of this disease?

Diet

Where did he first experiment on Pellagra?

In an orphanage.He tested on the children (?)

What was his treatment?

A steady diet or some brewer's yeast

Why was his experiment NOT a good example of using the scientific method?

There was no control. (and the inhumane treatment of people but that does not directly violate scientific method) (?)

Most doctors thought that Pellagra was caused by ________________
germs or toxins in the corn they ate

Where did Goldberger next test his theory?
In a mental asylum (?)

How was his 2nd experiment better than the first?
It had a control (?)

What was discovered after Goldbegers death that can prevent Pellagra?

Treating corn with lime

These questions will be answered once I study some more

Soap Bubbles and Qualative Observations ( Bonus: Inferences!)

Dear Kalpita,

You may remember how I was wondering about soap bubbles. Of course I was so wrapped up in hydrophylic and hydrophobic soap molecules/atoms/whatever , that I completely overlooked the obvious answer. Air gets trapped underwater. Air is lighter than water so the air bubble rises and gathers soap. The soap helps it stabilize and not pop the moment it comes out of the water. It breaks the waters surface and we have a bubble of air with a skin of water and soap.

Fun Fact: If you want to put anything in a bubble it must be wet.

I feel so idiotic now. Oh well. It is 11::32 and my mind is refreshed. I shall have to do a post about the difference between atoms and molecules. I KNOW the difference but not really.  My new lesson is in observations.

Everyone knows what an observation is. But there are two types of observations, or so i am informed. They are:

Quantitative: These are observations using charts, numbers and/or graphs
Example: A tree is 15 foot tall
The average amount of water drops that fit on a penny is 16

Qualitative: This is an observation using one or more of the 5 senses.
Example:  The leaves on a tree are turning brown
A fruit is turning rotten

If you want to go into some details to help you remember which is which, remember this
Quantitative is another form of the word Quantity which is an amount
Qualitative is another form of Quality  which means: a property or attribute

Since you can not study an observation without having an inference be just around the corner, I shall talk about inferences and get it over with.


Inferences- The process of drawing a conclusion, using logic and statistics.

So I shall make some inferences on the following subjects

1. 3/4 of the leaves on a tree are dry, brown and shriveled. 
My Inference: I infer that 3/4 of the tree is in a heavily shaded area. perhaps another tree is blocking out all possible sunlight on that side of the tree. This might explain the leaves being brown and shriveled. Another factor is,obviously, rain. The sentence says that the leaves are dry so the other tree probably blocks out a lot of the tree's valuable water sources. Or perhaps it is just a drought but this would not fully explain why only 3/4 of the tree's leaves are dead.

2. A cat played with a mouse for 15 minutes but didn't eat it.
My inference:  The cat is probably a housecat, otherwise it would take any meal it saw. The cat is probably well-fed anyway and was practicing hunting. or perhaps it was just bored and wanted to play. After the cat had batted the mouse around for 15 minutes the mouse was probably in pretty bad condition, making it look much less appealing to eat.

The Results

Dear Kalpita,

The results came in. You would think that dripping water on a penny wouldn't be that hard. At first I simply held a penny underneath a dripping faucet but the force of such large droplets falling on the penny simply made it splash over the edge on the first drop.

Fair enough, just get a little eyedropper The problem is I don't have an eyedropper. So I used a small straw instead. i simply dipped it in the water and held it above the penny. I was trying to be as careful as possible but somehow my brother must have super-hearing because he woke up. I managed to lock myself and my soap in the bathroom before he saw me. I did the experiment three times with both soapy and non soapy water and compared the averages of the two. However I encountered another problem that might affect the results. I couldn't find hand soap so I used dish soap instead

Average Amount of Water That Fit on a Penny: 16

Average Amount of Soapy Water Drops: 24

I learned something else about Surface Tension: it is NOT the same as Viscosity(the thickness of a liquid).

Another fun fact: The reason some bugs, like a water-strider, seem to be able to walk on water is because of Surface Tension. If the water has high Surface tension it bonds together better and makes a "skin" that the water strider, being extremely light, can stand on

I will hunt for the hand soap and see if that makes any difference.

-☼☼☼-

I'm back with my Hand Soap results

Average Amount Hand Soap Droplets: 15.3

So we can come away from this knowing that Hand Soap mixed with water has a lower Surface Tension than water but Dawn Dish Soap mixed with water has a higher Surface Tension even though both had similar viscosity.

The Reason: I did some research and the reason that hand soap mixed with water has a lower Surface tension is because it disrupts the bonds between the hydrogen atoms (or molecules I'm not sure which) in water. If you really want to be fancy here is a full explanation:

Soap is like a magnet. Each soap drop has a positive and a negative side. One side of it is hydrophylic, which basically means that it likes water. The other side is hydrophobic meaning it has an aversion to water. So just imagine the soap as the magnet I mentioned earlier. The Hydrophylic side will try its best to face towards the water, which works out nice because the hydrophobic side wants to face the air. The Surface tension is lower because of the unbalanced force at the surface of the water.

Okay I'm getting a bit tired. Now the thing that confuses me is soap bubbles. How do Soap bubbles form. I know they are formed by Surface tension and that they must have soap to stabilize them. Regular bubbles dissolve. Is it possible that soap bubbles are caused when the hydrophobic end of soap faces water? After all, in the case of a magnet if one end is made to face the wrong side of another magnet it pushes the other magnet away. I'm thinking that the soap would be pushed out of the water, forming a bubble. i am probably wrong. i will post my notes on soap bubbles later.

Surface Tension, Soap and Variables

I'm starting out my first night of "fun" learning with a good bit 'o science. Science is my favorite topic so this should make this a bit easier for me and possibly a bit harder on all my imaginary readers. Instead of always calling them my Imaginary Readers I shall give them one single name to define them all. From this day forth my imaginary readers shall be known as Kalpita. I name you all Kalpita because it is an Indian name meaning "imaginary" which i found quite fitting. I'll stop rambling long enough to start talking a bit about what I';m going to learn about today.


Surface Tension
The all-knowing Wikipedia proudly tells me that Surface tension is a property of the surface of a liquid caused by cohesion of like molecules, which is responsible for many of the behaviors of liquids.

In Teenage terms surface tension is basically waters ability to hold itself together and stick to itself. It's like when you put two drops of water next to each other they tend to bond together into a larger drop of water instead of simply bumping up against one another like solids do.

Surface Tension can be measured by counting how many drops of water can be fit on a penny.

Surface Tension only applies to liquids. This should NOT be confused with Surface Energy which we will get to later. Maybe.

To make things funner (for me. not you.) I have a mission

Mission: Find out how soap affects the surface tension of water. At all costs.

Procedure: Count how many drops of soapy water can fit on a penny. Compare this with how many drops of normal water you can fit on a penny

Control: Counting how many drops of regular water can fit on a penny.

Independent Variable(The variable that changes.): Soapy water

Dependent Variable(the variable affected by the IV): How many drops of water can fit on a penny

It's midnight right now and my parents are sleeping. I must manage to go into the bathroom and perform my experiments without waking anyone. This should be pretty easy. I will report to you with my results later. Wish me luck.

Intro

WARNING: This shall be boring

Welcome to the blog of a typical geek. Perhaps "typical" isn't the word. I'm not cool enough to be a regular geek so i guess I'm a wanna-be geek. Anyway, i will start from the beginning:

I was sitting around stressing about school coming out and how I want to major in Marine Biology. Of course for that I need to study and since school hasn't started yet I am teaching myself with the help of a teachers study guide. If my extreme nerdiness wasn't bad enough I decided that what better place to keep notes than on a blog so that other people can learn about...stuff. Will anyone read this? Probably not but if they read it they would probably snicker (am I the only one who thinks of horses when I hear the word "snicker"?) and click to another page wondering to themselves "What kind of person has nothing better to do than put school notes on a blog?". A nerdy high school girl. That's who! A nerdy high school girl with horrible sentence structure.

This, my imaginary audience, is a teenagers quest to put science, math nd grammar in terms that she can understand. Otherwise they are my notes

Reader, i pity you. Have a cookie.