WEEK 1 – General Chemistry I – 1 reply

Please reply to the following discussion. Participate in the discussion by asking a question, providing a statement of clarification, providing a point of view with a rationale, challenging an aspect of the discussion, or indicating a relationship between two or more lines of reasoning in the discussion.  Responses must consist of at least 130 words, do NOT repeat the same thing your classmate is saying.

Z. A. 4/10/24, 11:12 AM 

Density is a term I have some prior knowledge on in regards to air density and the ideal gas law. This applies to my work as a Flight Nurse in regards to oxygen utilization and oxygen consumption of patients during air transport. The term density in Chapter 1 is defined as the ratio of the mass of sample of the substance (solids, liquids, gases) to its volume (mass/volume). An everyday example of density could be the relationship between ice and water. Ice floats because while it has a higher volume, it has a lower density. An everyday way I hear people utilize the word density would be people describing the weather/increased humidity as more, “dense.” To chemist, the term density can be applied to solids, liquids, gases as a unit of measurement. This relates to the course student learning outcome of explaining matter at the microscopic level because density in this context is broken down to its smallest quantification of weight by mass/volume. Some similarities between everyday use of the term are how we describe things in mass or quantification by density. This similarity impacts my learning of chemistry concepts by providing everyday context.

Molecule is a term I have prior knowledge of regarding two atoms being joined through a bond. I would say a common term people use in everyday life or language regarding molecules would be the description of water, which is a covalent bond. This comes to mind in casual conversation regarding hydration with water and even tying into salt consumption. The word molecule people often utilize to describe something small and compounded. The term molecule in Chapter 1 is defined as two or more atoms joined by a chemical bond. This term is technical to chemist as the basis of collections of pairs of atoms formed together. This relates to the course student learning outcome of explaining matter at the microscopic level as molecules are quite literally a main concept of microscopic chemistry relating to bonds.