October 2016 archive

30
Oct
2016

Science is Magic – Lycopodium Powder

categories: Science 10

 

LAB REPORT

Hypothesis:

The lycopodium powder will not light up when placed on a burning flame, but makes a ‘fireball’ effect when blown at over a candle.

Research:

After a few classes of looking up different “Science is Magic” videos, we came across a cool experiment called “the fireball” (https://youtu.be/cg3jtCp895U). We were very curious to see how it would work, so after reading more about the lycopodium powder used for the effect and asking Ms. Mireau if the school had access to it, we decided on trying it out for ourselves.

Using these sites;

https://www.angelo.edu/faculty/kboudrea/demos/lycopodium/lycopodium.htm

http://www.lycopodium.co.uk/css/images/lycopodium_Powder_msd.pdf

https://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9924529

we found demonstrations, hazards, and how to dispose of this new powder, then proceeded to make our plan before testing it.

What we used:

  • Lycopodium powder
  • Scoopula
  • Funnel
  • Rubber tube
  • Candle
  • Matches/lighter
  • Bowl
  • Safety goggles

Procedure:

We started by seeing whether or not the powder would light on fire when simply placing a match into a bowl of it. We noticed how a part of the powder turned a dark grey colour, but after the match fell into the lycopodium, it almost instantly burned out. Then, we lit a candle, attached the funnel to our long rubber tube and placed a few scoops of the powder inside. One partner held the funnel next to the candle flame (slightly upwards) and the other blew into the opposite end.

Outcome:

We were shocked to see that our experiment had worked! When the lycopodium was blown onto the flame, it made an astonishing fireball that lasted for a few seconds before disappearing along with the powder. We did a few trials, along with presenting it to the class. At some points the powder missed the flame and flew onto the ground (without making any effects), but the times that it didn’t miss, it made an amazing science is magic trick!

Reaction that occurred/scientific explanation:

When we placed the flame into a bowl of powder, it didn’t light up, but when we blew at it over a candle, it did. Why? Well, this is because the particles of the powder need a lot of oxygen to combust. When placed in a bowl, there isn’t enough surface area nor oxygen to create any effect, so the match just goes out, but when blowing at the powder over a flame, it has enough to make a combustion reaction (C14H11FN4O)

Why the experiment is “magic”:

Before actually taking time to research this reaction, it did seem like magic that some powder could make such a huge ball of fire. If I hadn’t known better or hadn’t gone through Chemistry 9 and 10, I’d definitely think that this was some sort of trick, rather than science with a logical explanation.

Conclusion:

We really enjoyed this project and I thought it was an amazing way to end our chemistry unit. I’ve never done anything like this before, but it is definitely one of my favourite assignments so far!

25
Oct
2016

Sin, Cos, Tan

categories: Math 10

Sine, Cosine and Tangent (also known as sin, cos, and tan when on a calculator)  are ratios of right triangles that are used throughout the unit of Trigonometry.

In an angle, there is a hypotenuse (longest), an opposite side (across from hypotenuse), and a adjacent (the one left over);

Image result for hypotenuse adjacent opposite

To find the Sin, you would divide the opposite side by the hypotenuse.

To find the Cos, you would divide the adjacent by the hypotenuse.

To find  the Tan, you would divide the opposite side by the adjacent.

18
Oct
2016

Garibaldi Lake

categories: Math 10

Image result for garibaldi lake

Today in Math 10 Honours we looked into the volumes and surface areas of different 3-dimensional shapes and objects, including cones and pyramids. Then, Ms. McArthur gave us the task of figuring out the volume of a Garibaldi lake, which is a lake located not far from Squamish. I decided that the shape of the bottom of the lake is a cone, as it makes the most sense being surrounded by mountains. We were given the average surface area and depth of lake – here are my results;

Average surface area = 9.94km

Depth of lake = 119m

–

1 km = 1000m

9.94km = 9940m^2

9940m^2 x 119m = 1 182 860m^3

1 182 860 / 3 = 394 287 m^3

(divided by 3 because that is a part of the formula of the volume of a cone)

My final answer is equal to 394 287m^3 (or 394 287 000L)

–

If the barrier, which is over 250 metres long were to collapse, I assume that over 75% of the water would escape, which is around 295 708 500 Litres of water (394 287 000 x 0.75) because in my opinion, only the water closer to the surface would flow out (since the part that is on the bottom is caved and not guarded by the dam).

 

Photo source:

https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/02/3e/45/f5/garibaldi-lake-from-panorama.jpg

 

 

06
Oct
2016

What I learned about measurement…

categories: Math 10

Today in math class, we went outside to look for 2 items that could be identified as units of measure. My partner Soha and I found a stick and a container of water that could help with the measurement of length and density. Later, we watched a video on the history of measurement/read about it in our manuals, in which I learned that units of measure were discovered in the ancient times; much longer than I had thought. They used things like human body parts of important people (such as kings) and the distance that a certain animal ran without getting tired to measure centimeters, metres, kilometers, yards, etc. I find their ideas for measurement very interesting, unique, and incredible that we now have all these different units.