NJIT Chemistry 125/125A

Over summer break, we were give summer assignments in order to prepare us for the upcoming year as it will be our most difficult year yet. One of the summer assignments that I enjoyed was the at home lab making activity. Prior to this activity we had other activities that introduced us to crystals and prepared us for the actual creation aspect. The objective of the creation aspect was to make our own crystal's at home using household items and bring them in on the first day of school in order to showcase both the crystal's and our understanding of crystals. They was essential because going into chemistry we were going to be looking more at the interior of things and how they affect the exterior which is something I noticed was a key part of chemistry. While this assignment had writing aspects, it was fun because it allowed us to do something other than writing and in a way get involved in chemistry  hands - on. And through this assignment I learned that even the smalllest of things can have the most complicated interior's and structures which applies to everything, even people. 

While some assignments over summer breaks were easier than some, other's proved challenging as their goal was to introduce us to the basics of chemistry. Being one of our final assignments, the objective of this assignment was for us to connect the things we've learned at the end together. Since we had learned about crystals, gemstones and minerals we were expected to bring them all together as they were key parts of chemistry due to their structure and nature. This aspect is what caused some confusion for me as I tried to put everything together but I wasn't getting the results I wanted. However, while this proved difficult it taught me how to improve my ability to research for information in all categories. If I were to re - do this assignment I would try and be more concise in what I'm looking for and try to be more open to information I find but still be discerning.  

As we completed our topic on the inner aspect of the atom and the nuclear reactions that stem from it we were tasked with a final project to show our understanding. This was done by providing us with questions that applied what we had learned to scenario's in real life where they occurred and through our knowledge we had to choose a question and explain it through a model with a partner. This project whilst needed more research and work gave us the freedom to be creative and apply our knowledge through by means that we saw fit as along as it abides by the criteria provided to us. I enjoyed this aspect and because of it my partner and I were able to successfully convey our understanding into a model about the sun life process. Through this project and what I've learned prior to this I know that impact little things like atom can have on massive things like the sun. 

As the school year progressed we continued our learning towards light and understanding their properties like the fact that their made up of waves which essentially determine the light we see. An interesting but crucial part about this topic was that it involved using math more than others science class to a degree that I haven't experienced. Through this were able to figure out different properties light frequency, wavelength and even the energy held by certain color of light. Although this topic had a fairly easy concept to grasp, applying the math aspect proved slightly difficult which was shown on a quiz I did poorly on that was based on this topic and focused on using math to figure missing parts of the problem. While getting a poor score wasn't the goal, it showed me the aspect in Chemistry that I have to direct more of my energy and attention towards in order to be successful.  

Prior to this assignment we began learning about the emission spectra and how they represent various frequencies of electromagnetic radiation emitted as a result of an atom or molecule transitioning from a high energy state to a lower energy state. The radiation differs based on the element and is used to differentiate elements by scientists. In order to further our understanding of this topic and essentially become scientists, we were given the assignment of creating a DIY spectroscope which is device used to view the emission spectra of certain materials; we were tasked to use our individual spectroscopes to figure out what element certain lights used. While I was nervous at first, this assignment was one I really enjoyed because it allowed us to express our creativity while learning. This project allowed me to better understand this entire topic and by having a real life model I was able to test and physically see the concept of what I was learning which helped better understand the topic. 

As the marking period approached its end, we were presented with the final test that concluded our first unit and was a culmination of the last two parts that we had learned. This included Quantum Numbers and Electron Configuration which were topics that I was familiar with. Going into this assessment I was confident in the Electron Configuration aspect but not the Quantum Numbers as they proved to be a concept I couldn't fully understand. This proved to be fatal as this assignment proved to be my worst for this marking period as my lack of understanding when it came to Quantum Numbers showed. This event showed me I need to be more careful and truly take my time and do more research if I truly don't understand because this is what cost me some points on the test.