Science Methods - Week 14

 Today in class we started by making a model of particles to understand how a plunger works to suck onto a surface like a table, and why it doesn't work on a surface like paper or cardboard. 

 

After discussing the solutions made by different groups, we then transitioned to creating different particle models. Our group made a particle model for why ice melts faster on a pan than on wood. We learned that the wood has more gaps between particles that allow heat to escape, while metal traps heat where it can hit the block of ice. We used our knowledge to make a particle model as a flip book, which we animated and voiced over.

 

This week I learned about how particles interact through different materials and how the structure of different materials allows molecules to interact differently. For example materials like wood have gaps in their structure allow molecules to get through as compared to metal blocks molecules from getting through. This is how conduction of heat works, through particles bumping into each other and passing on energy. I found it confusing, at first, of how particles were able to make it through certain materials. Until I was shown what the structure of wood looked like under the microscope I thought that particles got through materials because of their physical shape and that it caused an uneven surface. It was difficult for me to understand that the microscopic structure of certain materials allows particles to enter more or less than other materials. I can relate this learning to what I already knew about particles. I already knew everything was made of particles and interactions were made through the particles of different objects interacting with each other differently. I didn’t know that certain structures allowed particles to slip through them, which helps complete my picture of how objects look and interact on the tiny scale.