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organic chemistry -- chemical reactions

5/28/2014

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This post is about Chemical Reactions typical in Organic Chemistry.

Objectives:

1.  Describe the characteristics of a substitution reaction.

2.  List the structures that are products of an addition reaction.

3.  Describe esterification and saponification.

4. Describe the characteristics of the formation of a polymer.

This video contains a brief description of the substitution reaction:

A benzene ring has the formula of C6H6 and is carbon bonded to itself in a ring with a single hydrogen bonded to each carbon.  Each carbon can have 4 bonds, there are 3 alternating double bonds in the ring and it is considered a "resonance structure" -- here is a video to better illustrate the compound as well as provide the classic story:
If there are double or triple bonds in a structure, they can be "opened" up and substances can be added -- an addition reaction, as explained in the following video:
Here is a brief overview of esterification and saponification reactions:
The focus here is to be able to recognize these reactions.

These reactions usually take a long time and use organic solvents -- usually they are not encountered in the lab until studying Organic Chemistry at a college level.

There are several videos online demonstrating soapmaking, and I have performed a lab making soap in class.  At this point in the school year, you may not want to spend the time on this lab, so I'm going to talk about one lab that is easy to pull together.

Here is a discussion of polymers (plastics) with a nice history of the origin of the need for polymers. Given our issues with the disposal and/or recycling of plastics, this is very interesting:

A cross-linked polymer can be made easily with white glue and sodium tetraborate solution (easily found as solid Borax in the Laundry section of the grocery store). 

I have a description of this lab in my lab book "Chemistry on a Budget" at amazon.com -- it's only $20! 
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget

Each lab is presented with two possible report formats -- both labs use the same procedure but each has a different conclusion -- one with 10 questions to be answered as a conclusion, the other with a full laboratory report required.  This gives the teacher the option of what type of report is desired, and each version is designed to be just two pages.  This way the teacher can photocopy just one 2-sided page per student (saves paper).  

*I'd love to hear from you!  Your feedback would really help me to focus on your needs!  There should be a "Contact" form below, or click on the "Contact" tab on the top right of this page.  

An end of the year laboratory that might be fun is tie dyeing -- I will describe more about it in Sunday's post.

From now on, I am going to be posting on Sundays only.  If I change the schedule, I'll let you know!

Have a good rest of the week!
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    Marjorie R. Heesemann is a chemistry teacher with 15 years of experience who is now working to develop resources for the Chemistry classroom.

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