Chemistry Coding Blog Post

The school system has finally given us back the extremely fun class that is Scimatics. This is the first project we have done in quarter 4, and it was a fun one. We were tasked with coding a game or simulator in scratch that simulates particle motion and the behaviour of matter. This was one of the most fun projects I have ever done, and I am exited to tell you about it.

Driving Question

The driving question for this project was “How can the behaviour of matter be explained by the kinetic molecular theory and the atomic theory.” We were introduced to this question and made a project start mind map about what we already knew and more things we needed to know. Mine looked like this.

Here are some of the more fine details that you may have missed.

Atoms are made up of neutrons, protons and electrons. Neutrons have neutral charge, electrons have negative charge and protons have positive charge. The nucleus is made up of protons and neutrons. The nucleus is surrounded by electron fields. More dense electron fields have a higher chance of having electrons in them.

Molecules are the individual pieces of atoms that make up matter. Molecules are always moving, unless at absolute zero. The more heat that is added to the molecules give them more energy. This energy makes them move faster and spread farther apart from each other. This is the kinetic molecular theory. The states of matter are made when molecules spread farther apart and speed up. When a element is a solid, the molecules are highly attracted to each other, and are moving pretty slow. As you add heat to this element, the molecules start moving faster and spreading farther apart. This is when they become a liquid. Different elements have different molecules and different molecular structures. That is why elements that are solid at room temperature need to be heated to extreme temperatures to become a liquid, and why liquids need to be frozen to become solid.

We had a lot to learn about the material in this project. One of the most fun things we did in this project was a gemstone experiment. This experiment was where we used water, a scale and math to find the density of various similar looking gemstones. This taught us about density, and how density matters in real life.

Next was milestone 2, which was very important to the project, as well as taught us a lot about the subject. We were required to have at least two different atomic models, and at least two different elements or chemical compounds that are represented with the atomic models. I chose to do three different chemical compounds, each one represented with a Bohr model and a Dalton model. Here they are.

CO2

H2O2

N2O

Nitrogen

Hydrogen

Oxygen

Carbon

Coding our games took a long time and a lot of work. There is too much code that  I wrote to show you all, but here is a look into how it was done.

Here is the final product that we worked on for a long time.

Particle Simulator/Game

Scientific communication: communicate ideas, findings, and solutions to problems using scientific language, representations, and digital technologies.

I think I used this skill very well, because I coded collisions and attractions into my game, as well as had 6 different atomic models. My attraction wasn’t the greatest, and I think I could made it better, but I am still very proud of the work I did.

Reasoning and analyzing: Use logic and patterns (including coding) to solve puzzles and play games.

I think that I did this pretty well, but I definitely could have done this better. My game was interactive, and pretty extensive, but it was pretty glitchy, and some of the features were not that realistic.

Questioning and predicting: Demonstrate a sustained curiosity about a scientific topic or problem of personal interest.

I was on task most of the time. I think a big factor of this is that I quite enjoyed this project and had a lot of fun with the coding.

Now for the answer to the driving question. The behaviour of matter is mostly understood, but I’m sure in the future we will find ways to extend our current knowledge. These theories are a great way to teach people how the things in their world work.

Thanks for listening to my rant, and I will see you in the next reflection.