Mohammed Salam Unit 2: LA D
How am I doing?
Introduction:
In this report, I will discuss about the key skills that I gained from titration, standard solution, cooling
curve and chromatography. I will also discuss about where the improvements were needed in each
practical. When I have completed on performing all the practicals in the course it was then reviewed
by me and seen what my strength and the weakness were in each practical. Throughout this year, I
have learned and developed many skills in the experiments.
Making the standard solution:
In the experiment, there was not enough equipment for everyone so sharing the equipment became
a high priority for me. This was achieved by keeping constant communication with the people
located at the balance. This made it so I knew when the balance was available, so I could carry on
setting up my equipment when waiting, reducing the time waste. One scientific skill that I developed
was that I have improved on the accuracy of pipettes, but before starting unit 2 I lacked the accuracy
of the pipettes because when I was using the pipettes sometimes, I would accidently press it too
hard and too much of the solution came out and it altered the recommended volume. As when I
done more practices on making the standard solution it became more easier and the use of pipettes
became better as I have improved on the accuracy on the use of pipettes, I eventually gained a new
skill which was stability.
In the experiment most of the things went well until I compared my results with the whole class
based on the average concentration on everyone’s result was a lot higher than my result, I came to
realise that I forgot to tare the balance before I was adding copper sulphate onto the weighing boat,
this skill was achieved by solving the problem with performing a second attempt and remembered to
tare the balance before putting copper sulphate onto the weighing boat. The other skill that did not
go well was when I was weighing the copper sulphate, I did not accurately measure it up to two
decimal places as when I done the calculations it went wrong because it did not show the 2 decimal
places as this was part of the maths skill so to improve this I had to focus on one thing at a time this
is done by having more time to practice on the decimal places, repeated it and reinforcing with the
current concept until the decimal places made sense to me. So, when I did this, I was able to recall
on the decimal places on the practical when I did the practical again I and was able to calculate the
concentration of copper sulphate with two decimal places. In my old school I have used the balance
to weigh the substance on it I also knew how it works and I was able to measure the mass to two
decimal places this skill helped me in the practical as this was involved in the practical where I had to
weigh out the mass of copper sulphate. But the only thing was the difference is that in college I had
to measure the mass to three decimal places which I have never done in my previous school.
Titration 1 and 2:
In the experiment titration of sodium carbonate solution with hydrochloric acid, it was hard because
when I was using the burette tap, I was trying to open the tap slowly, but the hydrochloric acid kept
flowing out quickly and it was hard to control it this also meant that when this happened there were
too much concentration of hydrochloric acid in the sodium carbonate solution and it gave an
1
, Mohammed Salam Unit 2: LA D
inaccurate result. After my second attempt, I was still struggling to control the burette tap until my
teacher approached to me and showed me the technique of controlling the speed of the tap and at
the end it helped me to get them to the accurate result required for the practical. When I first done
this practical before I had so much difficulty on using the bulb pipette because i tried to transfer the
25cm3 of the solution, all of the solution fell onto the table because the pipette filler where it is used
for to squeeze and to extract the solution was loose so when I tried again this time I pushed the
pipette filler in the pipette but not too hard as I had fear of breaking the pipette due to being fragile
as it is made up of glass. This could result in severe injury like getting cuts from the glass of the
pipette if it was pushed too hard. After the second attempt I was able to keep the pipette filler
properly on the pipette, but I had other problems like when using the pipette filler, I could not draw
up the solution into the pipette as I was pressing the pipette filler. As this happened, I asked the
teacher to help me to use the bulb pipette so when the teacher did, he showed me a better
technique when handling the bulb pipette it made it easier for me to carry on with the next task in
the practical. In my previous school, I have never carried out a titration practical before where in
college I did the titration practical but one thing that made it easier for me is that I knew what was
acid and alkali bases were and what happens when they both are mixed together, neutralisation
occurs when both of the bases merge together as this was the skill that I had gained from my
previous school it helped me through the titration practical where alkali and acidic bases where used
to find the pH. One thing that also made the practical easier for me is that in my previous school I
knew the principles of pH and how they work although I knew the theory, but I was not able to use
the pH meter before it was only that the teachers only shown the pH meter as a demonstration on
how it works. By the time I was doing the practical in college, I already knew the use of the pH meter
because I already learned what pH meter was and how to use it and I finally had the opportunity to
use the pH meter and used it to measure the pH as this also helped me to carry on the practical.
In the titration experiment, my time management skills was poor because when I was doing the
practical, I saw other students were ahead of me meaning that I was behind as this happened, I
began to panic thinking that I will not be able to finish properly next time when I’m doing it again.
Other students in my class seemed to be fine and knew what to do while I was struggling what to do.
This also links with my memory skills and confidence as I lacked on both skills this is because I panic
and stress a lot whenever I have a fear of failure and the stress that I also had made it more difficult
for me to learn the procedures of titrations. To overcome with this situation, the best solution was
to think positive for example when I found out that this practical was too hard, I was thinking
positive by saying to myself that I can tackle this from another angle. Positive thinking was effective
for me as it helped me to reduce stress and helped me to improve my memory skills as when this
happened, I was able to learn the practical method of titration, when this also happened in the next
practical it helped me to improve my confidence level and was able to progress effectively
throughout the practical. Positive thinking also helped me to achieve stress management and coping
skills.
Colorimetry:
Before starting unit 2 I have never used a used a colorimeter before in my previous school, so this
piece of equipment was new to me as in college I have used the colorimeter to measure the
concentration of the copper sulphate, the colorimeter is a device that allows to measure the
absorbance of specific wavelengths. Calculating the concentrations using the absorbance reading
2
How am I doing?
Introduction:
In this report, I will discuss about the key skills that I gained from titration, standard solution, cooling
curve and chromatography. I will also discuss about where the improvements were needed in each
practical. When I have completed on performing all the practicals in the course it was then reviewed
by me and seen what my strength and the weakness were in each practical. Throughout this year, I
have learned and developed many skills in the experiments.
Making the standard solution:
In the experiment, there was not enough equipment for everyone so sharing the equipment became
a high priority for me. This was achieved by keeping constant communication with the people
located at the balance. This made it so I knew when the balance was available, so I could carry on
setting up my equipment when waiting, reducing the time waste. One scientific skill that I developed
was that I have improved on the accuracy of pipettes, but before starting unit 2 I lacked the accuracy
of the pipettes because when I was using the pipettes sometimes, I would accidently press it too
hard and too much of the solution came out and it altered the recommended volume. As when I
done more practices on making the standard solution it became more easier and the use of pipettes
became better as I have improved on the accuracy on the use of pipettes, I eventually gained a new
skill which was stability.
In the experiment most of the things went well until I compared my results with the whole class
based on the average concentration on everyone’s result was a lot higher than my result, I came to
realise that I forgot to tare the balance before I was adding copper sulphate onto the weighing boat,
this skill was achieved by solving the problem with performing a second attempt and remembered to
tare the balance before putting copper sulphate onto the weighing boat. The other skill that did not
go well was when I was weighing the copper sulphate, I did not accurately measure it up to two
decimal places as when I done the calculations it went wrong because it did not show the 2 decimal
places as this was part of the maths skill so to improve this I had to focus on one thing at a time this
is done by having more time to practice on the decimal places, repeated it and reinforcing with the
current concept until the decimal places made sense to me. So, when I did this, I was able to recall
on the decimal places on the practical when I did the practical again I and was able to calculate the
concentration of copper sulphate with two decimal places. In my old school I have used the balance
to weigh the substance on it I also knew how it works and I was able to measure the mass to two
decimal places this skill helped me in the practical as this was involved in the practical where I had to
weigh out the mass of copper sulphate. But the only thing was the difference is that in college I had
to measure the mass to three decimal places which I have never done in my previous school.
Titration 1 and 2:
In the experiment titration of sodium carbonate solution with hydrochloric acid, it was hard because
when I was using the burette tap, I was trying to open the tap slowly, but the hydrochloric acid kept
flowing out quickly and it was hard to control it this also meant that when this happened there were
too much concentration of hydrochloric acid in the sodium carbonate solution and it gave an
1
, Mohammed Salam Unit 2: LA D
inaccurate result. After my second attempt, I was still struggling to control the burette tap until my
teacher approached to me and showed me the technique of controlling the speed of the tap and at
the end it helped me to get them to the accurate result required for the practical. When I first done
this practical before I had so much difficulty on using the bulb pipette because i tried to transfer the
25cm3 of the solution, all of the solution fell onto the table because the pipette filler where it is used
for to squeeze and to extract the solution was loose so when I tried again this time I pushed the
pipette filler in the pipette but not too hard as I had fear of breaking the pipette due to being fragile
as it is made up of glass. This could result in severe injury like getting cuts from the glass of the
pipette if it was pushed too hard. After the second attempt I was able to keep the pipette filler
properly on the pipette, but I had other problems like when using the pipette filler, I could not draw
up the solution into the pipette as I was pressing the pipette filler. As this happened, I asked the
teacher to help me to use the bulb pipette so when the teacher did, he showed me a better
technique when handling the bulb pipette it made it easier for me to carry on with the next task in
the practical. In my previous school, I have never carried out a titration practical before where in
college I did the titration practical but one thing that made it easier for me is that I knew what was
acid and alkali bases were and what happens when they both are mixed together, neutralisation
occurs when both of the bases merge together as this was the skill that I had gained from my
previous school it helped me through the titration practical where alkali and acidic bases where used
to find the pH. One thing that also made the practical easier for me is that in my previous school I
knew the principles of pH and how they work although I knew the theory, but I was not able to use
the pH meter before it was only that the teachers only shown the pH meter as a demonstration on
how it works. By the time I was doing the practical in college, I already knew the use of the pH meter
because I already learned what pH meter was and how to use it and I finally had the opportunity to
use the pH meter and used it to measure the pH as this also helped me to carry on the practical.
In the titration experiment, my time management skills was poor because when I was doing the
practical, I saw other students were ahead of me meaning that I was behind as this happened, I
began to panic thinking that I will not be able to finish properly next time when I’m doing it again.
Other students in my class seemed to be fine and knew what to do while I was struggling what to do.
This also links with my memory skills and confidence as I lacked on both skills this is because I panic
and stress a lot whenever I have a fear of failure and the stress that I also had made it more difficult
for me to learn the procedures of titrations. To overcome with this situation, the best solution was
to think positive for example when I found out that this practical was too hard, I was thinking
positive by saying to myself that I can tackle this from another angle. Positive thinking was effective
for me as it helped me to reduce stress and helped me to improve my memory skills as when this
happened, I was able to learn the practical method of titration, when this also happened in the next
practical it helped me to improve my confidence level and was able to progress effectively
throughout the practical. Positive thinking also helped me to achieve stress management and coping
skills.
Colorimetry:
Before starting unit 2 I have never used a used a colorimeter before in my previous school, so this
piece of equipment was new to me as in college I have used the colorimeter to measure the
concentration of the copper sulphate, the colorimeter is a device that allows to measure the
absorbance of specific wavelengths. Calculating the concentrations using the absorbance reading
2
