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In this unit we study periodic trends. Below you see a graph of the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the last six months. What trend do you oberve over the time period? Does the term “trend” suggest that the same thing happens in the stock market every day during that period?

Six Month Dow Industrial Average

Use a periodic table to determine which FOUR of these elements have chemical and physical properties which are most similar to one another. What characteristics do they share? To what group do they belong?

nitrogen     oxygen     chlorine    sodium     lead    krypton  

iodine   magnesium   bromine    carbon    gold    fluorine   

Electron orbitals are essentially 3-dimensional maps showing the probability of finding an electron within a region in an energy level.

To understand probability mapping, lets think about our Principal, Mr. Waters. Lets pretend that we have attached to him a device which reports to us his position on campus every five minutes for an entire school week. We place pins in a map of campus everytime his position is reported.

At the end of a week, what areas on campus do you think would have the most pins? What areas might have few, or even none? Does the map tell us where Mr. Waters will be five minutes from now?

Warm up for the benchmark on balancing nuclear equations! You will need a periodic table to complete this activity.

As a warmup for today’s benchmark, complete the following table. You are encouraged to use a periodic table.

ATOMIC STRUCTURE

Summarize what you know about the structure of the atom.

• What are the particles present in the atom?
• Where are the particles found in the atom?
• What are the charges and mass of the particles?
• Which region of the atom contains most of the mass?
• Which region makes up most of the volume of the atom?

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user Wikid77

If the wind will not serve, take to the oars. – Latin Proverb

What does this quote mean? What significance does it have for students taking classes that they find difficult?

On August 16th 2009, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt shattered the world record in the 100 meters with a time of 9.58 seconds. He broke the record at the World Championships in Berlin, Germany.

1. Describe how you might go about converting this speed (100 meters in 9.58 s) to its equivalent in miles per hour.
2. Without doing the actual math, how fast do you think this would be in miles per hour?

The countries in green have adopted the metric system as their national standard. The countries in grey (the United States, Liberia and Myanmar) have not adopted the metric system. Why hasn’t the United States adopted the metric system?