Mineral Lab

Hello there, ever thought about minerals? And what affects their density?? In my class, 6b, we had a lab just to find out about what affects the density of a mineral. We were mostly concentrating on this basic question: does the size and structure of a mineral affect its density? Before we started this lab, my hypothesis was that of course the size is going to affect the density because that is how tight the particles are pressed together and how much pressure is added on them. Essentially, the volume of a mineral is also going to change because the volume is how much of the particles fit into the mineral, and that all is based on its shape and size. Something we talked about in class was also the controlled variable, the manipulated variable and the responding variable. The controlled variable is something you can control how much you have of, and in this case it will be the water in the graduated cylinder. The manipulated variable is the variable that changes, and in this case it would be the minerals. Lastly, the responding variable was going to be the density which was going to give us the answer to everything.

Materials:

In this lab we used a scale, a graduated cylinder, water, and 2 different types of minerals from which we used 3 from: Olivine and Sphalserite.

Procedure:

1)Get all my minerals ready and fill in the graduated cylinder to about 100ml

2) Weigh the first mineral on the scale, and then do the same to the others (record this data in your table)

3) Place the first mineral into the water and record down by how much the water rose.

4)Go re-fill the graduated cylinder so the water is at 100ml and do the same with the other minerals

5) As you have recorded all your information, divide the mass by the volume and get your density

6) Observe your results and build a conclusion.

Once we  finished going through our procedure, and we were up to step 6, we made our graph on excel and made a data table.

Data Table:

	Mass-grams	Volume-ml	Density-grams over ml
Olivine 1	40,3	17	2,37
Olivine 2	39,9	15	2,66
Olivine 3	37,5	14	2,67
Sphalserite 1	53,7	15	3,58
Sphalserite 2	15,4	5	3,08
Sphaserite 3	40,75	10	4,075

From this data table, we were able to make a graph which made our data more clear. One graph for the olivine minerals and the other graph for Sphalserite. The x axis, which is the latitude, shows what we were measuring, either mass,volume or density. The y-axis, longitude one, shows the number of____(for example 40 grams,mass.)

Olivine graph:

 Sphalserite graph:

 












An olivine looks like this: 

For both minerals, we tried to go from biggest to smallest, but either ways, it didn't really make any difference because the graph helped us the most. 

Data Analysis:

If I observe the graph,and think about the lab, I observed that the water would always change due to the minerals weight and volume. Of course while weighting the minerals, the scale weight changed, but something we had to be very careful with while weighting the minerals, was that every time we would weight an other mineral, we would have to make sure that we started at 0. Our data was a big part of this lab because if we did anything wrong while writing down the mass and volume, our density would have come out wrongly. 

Conclusion:

After finishing the whole lab, my final answer is that the size and the structure of the mineral could affect the volume, but the density usually stays the same in one rock. If you look at the graph, you can see that by the Olivine, the density is pretty much in the same category even though the volume and mass are different. I think its like this because it doesn't matter how many particles are inside of the mineral, but how much they are pressed together, and each mineral is different, but if they are out of one section, they will have some sort of same characteristic: density. The shape can mostly affect the volume, but the density not always. From what I have researched, and listened to from class, no matter how big or small a mineral is, it should always be in the same density group.One reason may be that they are made of the same material.Lastly, I learned that volume,mass and density have something in common and without one of them, you could not get the other one, simply like a little scientific family.So after all, my hypothesis wasn't really correct for the guiding question because I stated that the density is affected but I think I meant the volume.

Further Inquiry: 

 During the experiment, I think my partner and I might have done some mistakes, because first of all, while we were placing the minerals into the water, our first trials water got a bit out, so we weren't sure by how much the water rose. To be sure that we got the right answers for density,I checked on a few sites, and it said that the density of Olivine should be from 3.27-3.37
( http://www.ehow.com/facts_6934653_density-olivine.html )
...we didn't have that...The closest density to that number, was the one from the smallest sized olivine mineral. The Sphalserite density should have been between 4-4.1
http://nevada-outback-gems.com/mineral_information/sphalerite_mineral_info.htm
. My answers were pretty much about that number, maybe a bit less but only a few numbers off.I think I did better measuring the density,volume and mass of the Sphalserite because the numbers and answers matched more to the true facts from the internet.  Next time we have an experiment like this, I think I should try to do more trials with one mineral and compare them with the others as well because I just concentrated on getting the answer and not really on the lab. But except for that, I think the lab went very well and we finished in time.

Reflection on Minerals and Rocks

  Hello there, ever herd of minerals and rocks? Don't you just think about water when I mention mineral?!? Well, I do, a mineral reminds me of some sorts of touchable element that makes up other things. But water may or may not be considered a mineral. Learning about minerals and rocks can be very hard, because you have to remember special facts that make a mineral a real mineral, and you have to able to explain the creation of rock and the process it goes through to become one. So only by reading this little paragraph, I hope you realize that if you have a rock test coming up, you should get going with studying. 
 Anyways, during the last week, my class and I were studying about rocks,minerals,the water cycle and all facts that follow this. We had about 8 questions we had to answer once we finished researching, and a small test following. We had to know about the rock cycle, and about different types of rocks and minerals. I researched a bit about igneous,metamorphic and sedimentary rock and found out that metamorphic rock is made from sedimentary rock and different igneous rocks. The rock cycle was also one of the topics we had to know, and this is what a rock cycle looks like:

It is pretty hard to read everything, but every single rock can change by a process into a different rock. So practically the rock cycle is a cycle that explains how rocks are transformed,recreated and destroyed. Some of the processes a rock has to go through are: heat,erosion pressure and cooling.
Minerals were also a part of what we had to study, and we had to find out how you can identify a mineral. From my perspective you can identify a minerals by their shape sometimes, but mostly by their crystal arrangement which also includes cleavage,fracture and luster. Some of our questions included are rocks minerals and comparing the two around.This was not exactly the easiest task to finish, it included a lot of researching and concentrating. What I liked learning the most during the last week, was the properties of a mineral and how you can identify if it is one or not. But after all, the last week was pretty fun even thought it was pretty hard,and we had a substitute teacher. But anyways, if I had to repeat this unit, I would.

Volcanoes

6b had a new, very exciting assignment assigned to them during the last month or two. The project was to choose a volcano from anywhere in the world, and research every possible detail about it. I, Alex, was in a group with Irina and Sofia. My group was working on the Philippines. We concentrated on 3 main volcanoes: Mayon,Taal and Pinatubo. In class, the teacher told us that we should pick a topic to research about for the volcano. The first thing my group ever did thought, was just research basic facts for example the height,location and some eruptions. I presented on the 08 of March 2011. For our presentation,we did get some extra days thought because our whole group was sick for some time. This is my reflection over my presentation, my opinion and answers to questions.
How do you think you did?
During my presentation, I think I did pretty well because I was able to explain everything and didn't have to read off the board. I had a power point and what I think I did good, was that I only had bullet points, so I knew what to say.
Was your presentation missing anything??
I think my presentation wasn't missing too much because I had pictures,  information, but I didn't really include my bibliography. I did use some sites, and I should have also included where I got my pictures from. Maybe next time I could include some videos from my volcano erupting.
What grade do you think you should get?Why?
In my opinion I think I should get a 4 or 5. Not a six because I don't think I had too much information. I did include pictures, and I was able to explain why I choose them and what they represent so that is a positive thing. I don't think I put my 100% effort into this project,because I kind of left it to the last moment. But I don't think I did bad.
What did you learn about during "Volcanoes"?
I learned how volcanoes explode, why they explode, how they affect people and I learned about other volcanoes. Before I didn't know why people live next to volcanoes. But mostly, I think I learned that all volcanoes are different, and are made because of different reasons.
How do volcanoes affect people who leave near them?
When a volcano explodes, it releases some gasses that can affect the lungs or breathing of a person. In some cases, if the ashes are really bad, they can turn a person into stone. Volcanoes also affect people by the fertile soil next to them, and also people have more opportunities if they live closer. Its more dangerous if you live close to an active volcano because you never know when they will explode. So after all, living close to a volcano has its benefits and its bad things.
How do volanoes affect the world?
Just like volcanoes affect people, they of course affect the world. They might pollute the environment, and destroy physical features. They also make some people become panicked and they can be very dangerous. A volcanoes eruption can be made by an earthquake, so it has some type of connection to earthquakes and other disasters. SO as you can see, volcanoes affect the environment around them, and can change people lives.