Chemistry
About Chemistry at Palmer
Chemistry at Palmer is considered one of the most important science units, since it covers a lot of the material students tend to need in the future. Palmer provides notes packages to entertain the students more than just simple note-taking, which encourages interactivity and less boredom during lessons.
Chemistry in School - Is It Difficult?
Chemistry may seem easy to some people on the surface, but the more you know about it, the more questions surface upwards into your brain. Chemistry is a subject that just keeps diving deeper, until you're fully engrossed into the lesson. Chemistry has multiple layers of knowledge, just like an onion. Though chemistry is considered to be quite challenging in the higher grade levels, nothing can be done without the base knowledge first. This is why chemistry is taught early on in middle to high school, mainly to prepare students for the upcoming classes.
What is Chemistry About?
Chemistry is the study of matter (it's what makes up all of us). In simple terms, it's the physical study of its properties (atoms, molecules, elements, compounds, ions and more). Chemistry is a physical subject that falls between biology and physics, because it is sometimes referred to as the "central science" since it covers the foundation of multiple different types of science (e.g. biology, physics, geology, pharmacology, and forensics).
Chemistry 9's first base topics cover atoms (subatomic particles, energy shells) then moves onto elements (ions, compounds, periods, groups). Atoms are tiny particles with a nucleus, which contains protons (positive charge) and neutrons (no charge). Around the nucleus are electrons (negative charge) which run around on energy shells. These three particles are called subatomic particles (inside the atom) Two or more atoms formed together are known as molecules. Since protons have positive charges and electrons have negative charges, the atom has no charge (the subatomic particles balance out each other). The atoms are also known as elements (can be found on the periodic table)
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If an atom manages to gain or lose an electron, then it becomes an ion. Elements lose electrons by interacting with other atoms and either transferring or stealing an electron from the outermost shell (called the valence shell). Atoms do this in order to become a stable atom, which means they have full outermost shells.
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For example, if an element loses an electron, then the atom now has more protons than electrons which equals an unbalanced charge (e.g. 2 protons 2 electrons before, now it's 2 protons 1 electron). This atom now has a positive charge and becomes a cation. On the other hand, if an atom gains an electron then nothing happens to the protons, but now the atom has a negative charge and is now known as an anion. These charges can be found on the elements on the periodic table. Some elements only have one charge, which are known as monovalent. Other elements have multiple possible charges, which are known as multivalent.
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Ionic compounds are compounds formed by a metal and non-metal. Covalent compounds are formed by metals only. Polyatomic ions are also compounds in another way, but aren't found on the periodic table, but instead on another list. Polyatomic ions only have one cation, and that is ammonium (NH4). All the other polyatomic ions are anions (negatively charged).
Chemistry in the Real World
Chemistry is important to grasp for future professions - almost every profession in the world today requires basic chemical knowledge in order to succeed in the job. All chemistry teachers at Palmer are experienced teaching staff that are able to interact with the students. Students at Palmer aren't as tired and tend to put chemistry class first before the others from the teacher's enthusiasm.
electrons
electrons
nucleus (protons and neutrons)
positive charge (protons and neutrons are same amount, but + plus 0 = +
negative charge
negative charge
Sometimes chemistry can even be found in our daily life. For example, some jobs require the person to know first aid. Medicine is a very important profession in the world, which cannot exist if it wasn't for chemistry classes. Compounds, mixtures, and even more are all based on chemistry knowledge.
Layers to Chemistry 9
atoms
ions
charges
naming atoms and ions
chemical and physical properties
chemical and physical changes
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transferring and sharing
electrons