Density of soap

Monday saw a brief introduction to the course. Add drop was more active than last fall and argued against a more serious introduction. Wednesday I covered space, time, matter, variables, and units. Then I ran density calculation demonstrations.

Thursday's density lab followed the pattern of prior terms.

On the board I opened with statement that mathematical relationships in physical science, also known as mathematical models, are equations that relate variables to each other. Sometimes data leads to a particular mathematical model, other times theoretical considerations produce a model and then experiments are done to confirm the model. 

I then outlined the three goals of this laboratory: to determine the density of a particular brand of soap, to determine if mass varies linearly with volume for soap, and to see whether the density can correctly predict whether the soap will float or sink. 

Hedweag, Lomalinda carving soap and recording data

I used a Spa Naturals bar of coconut oil soap to demonstrate the recommended procedure.

Sheral, Mandalee study the board, Mahea measuring her soap

Entering data

Friday I went over the laboratory report structure. The labs that came in Thursday evening were generally problematic. This was the only thing covered on Friday.