Description:
This project was about a variety of aspects of chemistry and how they related to the cosmos and space. We started by making a timeline of the formation of the universe and how that played out. This flowed into us striving to understand the origin of the elements in stars and nuclear reactions. For the next segment of this project we were divided into groups and given the option to choose one specific content standard to address and make a model of one of these concepts. My group chose to make a model about described the mechanisms in which light travels to the Earth from the Sun. To do this, we made a board game that included the principles of our model. In our game you would start out as a hydrogen atom and go through the process that an element would go through until light is created and it leaves the sun. We used this game aspect of our model to predict the scientific phenomena of light being created in the sun and then traveling
Reflection:
This project was a nice opportunity to reacquaint myself with STEM projects. There were some areas in this project where my group and I succeeded and some that needed improvement. To begin with, my group lacked a clear direction for the first 2 days of the project. During this time I was unsure of where to start and was pretty passive. In the future I would like to try and be more assertive and guide my group in the right direction instead of being passive. Next, another success in this project was excellent time management once we decided on a design for our model. We finished the project with enough time to make some revisions to our model and add more content. However, our project had some areas for improvement. If we had the opportunity to do this project again, we would have tried to include more information about our process on the cards and the project itself so the model would be more detailed in its description. The high point that did come out of this. Our group found ourselves effectively dealing with a complex problem. The problem was that there was many different ways to do this project, and we all had different ideas. We all managed to compromise on certain aspects of our own ideas and come to the joint realization that a board game seemed to be our best option. In conclusion, I appreciated the opportunity to warm back up to group projects in STEM.
Concepts:
Nuclear Transmutation:
Nuclear transmutation is when a element changes into another spontaneously through radioactive decay or fission/fusion. For example, uranium might decay into lead. In this example uranium goes through transmutation and changes into lead. Our project incorporated nuclear transmutation. To advance in our board game you had to fuse into a heavier element, which is nuclear transmutation.
Nucleosynthesis:
Nucleosynthesis was a phase in the very early life of the universe. Several minutes after the Big Bang occurred some hydrogen atoms had formed and they began to fuse together. For fusion to occur there needs to be a large amount of heat. Early in the expansion of the universe, space was extremely hot and the conditions were ideal for fusion to occur. At this time the universe acted as one giant star as hydrogen fused into atoms like helium 3. Nucleosynthesis also occurs in the core of stars as it is essentially the process stars do. Our project incorporated nucleosynthesis also. It incorporated nucleus through its description of the formation of elements in stars.
Radioactive Decay:
Certain atoms are unstable due to fundamental forces on the nucleus of the atom. A force called the strong force holds the nucleus of the atom together. The atom has a neutral charge because there is an equal amount of protons and electrons. However, the electrons are orbiting on the outside and the protons are in the nucleus. Positive and negative charges are attracted to each other so there is a large attraction between the protons and electrons. In larger atoms there is a large amount of neutrons so the nucleus is much more unstable. Because of this the protons are more attracted to the electrons and the atoms radioactively decay. Atoms decay radioactively in a variety of ways.
Alpha Decay:
Alpha decay is one way in which atoms decay. When an atom is radioactively unstable it will decay into a smaller atom. One way it does this is through alpha decay. Surprisingly, alpha decay is when it emits an alpha particle. An alpha particle has 2 protons and 2 neutrons. It is essentially the nucleus of a helium atom. Alpha decay is relatively low energy and is not fatal to humans.
Half Life:
Half life is a quasi-mathematical concept that is used to help measure radioactive decay of unstable elements. Decay is exponential, which means that it happens quickly at first and then eventually slows down to a crawl. The half life is how long it takes for half of a given amount of a substance to decay.
Radiation:
Radiation is the emission of electromagnetic energy in the form of photons/waves. It is emitted by elements that are decaying.
Beta Decay:
Beta decay is another way atoms decay. In beta decay atoms lose one electron. Beta decay is relatively high energy and could be harmful to humans.
Gamma Rays:
Gamma rays are another form of radioactive decay. In this form of decay atoms lose energy in a electromagnetic reaction. This energy is in the form of a gamma ray, a very high energy photon. Gamma rays are extremely deadly to all life forms.
How light gets to the Earth from the Sun:
This concept was crucial to our project. For light to get to the Earth it has to be emitted first. For light to be emitted a fusion reaction has to occur. The fusion reaction occurs because the sun is a constant fusion reaction. This fusion creates light and then that light leaves the sun and travels through space. In our project we represented the creation of the light in the sun.
The Life cycle of a star:
One element of the project that was crucial was stars since many elements were created by them in nuclear reactions. Stars are large ongoing nuclear fusion reactions that have a large amount of mass. They generally go through specific stages. First, a star has to be created. Due to the laws of gravity matter clumps together and heat is created due to the law of compression of gasses. Fusion needs heat to occur and this provides heat. Then, a fusion reaction starts and a star's normal life cycle begins. Next, as stars grow older they could enter a variety of phases. If they have a lot of fuel they might become a blue giant and burn extremely hot. As stars run out of fuel they start burning heavier elements and swell in size and become red giants. Eventually stars run out of fuel and reach the point where they either collapse or explode in a supernova. When stars explode into a supernova elements are flung out into the universe which gives fuel to other stars.
Fission:
Fission is a type of atomic reaction that can be artificially created. In fission, an atom splits into two other atoms. This reaction creates a large amount of energy due to mass being turned into energy. For example in atomic bombs uranium is split through fission into smaller atoms and a large amount of energy is released. Our project did not look at nuclear fusion because that process does not occur in stars.
Fusion:
Fusion is another type of atomic reaction that occurs naturally in stars. Fusion is when two atoms fuse together to create a larger atom. In stars, hydrogen fuses with other hydrogen atoms to make helium. Then, helium can fuse together to make even heavier atoms. This generates a lot of energy and light which is why stars are bright and hot. Our project studied how the electromagnetic radiation from stars travels to Earth through space.
Subatomic Particles:
Subatomic particles are as the name implies, particles that are smaller than atoms. Atoms are the smallest unit of something that still has the chemical properties of it, and they are made up of a combination of subatomic particles.
Atoms:
As previously mentioned atoms are the smallest unit that retains the chemical properties of an element. Atoms are made up of three subatomic particles, neutrons, protons, and electrons. Atoms have a neutral charge due to an equal amount of protons and electrons.
Protons:
Protons are a basic subatomic particle with a positive charge. They are incredibly, incredibly small. Protons have a a mass of 1 atomic mass unit(amu for short). Protons are found in the nucleus of the atom with neutrons. Protons determine what element an atom is. They also have a positive charge of 1
Atomic Number:
The atomic number of an atom is the number of protons the atom has. The atomic number determines what element the atom is, and thusly what basic chemical properties it has.
Electrons:
Electrons are another subatomic particle that makes up the atom. Electrons are extremely small, and have very little mass compared to the other subatomic particles that compose the atom. Electrons orbit the nucleus in predefined orbits known as shells. Electrons are the reason that atoms have a large volume relative to the size of the particles. Relative to the nucleus, electrons are very far away. Due to this, atoms are mostly empty space. They have a negative charge of 1.
Ions:
At times an atom does not have a equal amount of protons and neutrons. When this occurs the atom is an ion. An ion that is negatively charged is called an anion and one that is positively charged is called a cation.