CHEM 120 Week # 1 DQ 1 – Scientific Method and Calculations

CHEM 120 Week # 1 DQ 1 – Scientific Method and Calculations Let’s explore the scientific method. Here is the situation: We are planting a garden. We have a variety of bulbs and potted plants. We do not have any directions on how or when to plant each of these items. We do not have any gardening books, magazines, or access to the Internet (Oh, the horror!). We need to observe a number of characteristics for these plants. 1) What are some of the characteristics that we want to observe? What might be your initial hypothesis? How would you set up an experiment to test your hypothesis? We first may want to observe each bulb and potted plant. We should observe the color, shape and size of each plant and bulb. Because we cannot determine how to plant them without any books, magazines or internet access we will need to take an educated guess as to how to grow each plant. We all know that plants need water, soil and sunlight to properly grow, and certain plants need certain conditions to survive properly. My initial hypothesis would be: If we plant each potted plant and bulb in different types of soil and give it water and sunlight, it will grow to its full potential. I would set up my experiment by labeling my variables which would be the different soil types, for example: A-Sand, B-Clay, C-Silt, etc.. To test my hypothesis, I would take each potted plant and bulb and place them in the different types of soil and water each plant each day and make sure the plants get sunlight. Once each plant begins to grow, we can determine which soil worked best and also draw a possible conclusion as to which type of plant was grown and what soil types worked best to grow them. There are a number of elements (minerals) that are important to human nutrition. These include sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, iodine, molybdenum, and selenium. Using the periodic table of elements, pick one of these elements and determine the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons found in this atom. 2) Check out the interactive periodic table in the Week 1 Lecture for more information on how to calculate the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons. It is recommended to print a copy of the table from the interactive periodic table. Element Name: Iodine Symbol: I