Reaction Types

Part of our assessment requires us to classify reactions. Are the precipitation reactions, displacement reaction, thermal decomposition or combination reactions? We have only learned about the first two, but this is enough to start...

Writing Balanced Equations

We were shown how to write balanced equations. We had to come up with a 3-4 step SEQUENCE to help us remember how to do it. Then we were given some examples to complete and balance:

Displacement Experiment

For homework, we have to write word equations for the ones that did react.

We found that copper was a very unreactive metal (it didn't react with any of these solutions), while magnesium was a very reactive metal, reacting with all solutions except magnesium sulfate. No metal reacted with a solution that it shared a name with. For example, Magnesium did not react with Magnesium Sulfate; and Iron did not react with Iron (III) Chloride.

Displacement Reactions

This video explains the next step in understanding Displacement Reactions. It was recorded with another class.

Writing Formulae

Today we started to learn how to write ionic formulae. This is a tough skill and will take a while to get good at. Before we can even start, we need to know our ions off by heart, though...

We practiced this skill, and discovered a little trick for doing it quickly - "drop and swap" the numbers when the charges do not automatically cancel out:

Here is this being taught to another class:

Ions

Today, we had to make Flashcards to help us learn the names of these ions. Once we know the names, we can start learning the hard stuff for this topic - Writing Formulae.