Thursday 28 February 2008

PBC labs

PBC stands for physics, biology and chemistry. Let me describe what we have done in the PBC labs.

For physics, we did some practical exercises. We used some things like vernier callipers and micrometer screw gauge. Doing the practical is easy, but writing the lab report is not.

For Biology, we learnt how to use the microscope. We looked at some RBC(red blood cells) -- not ours -- E. coli -- you don't have to know what it is -- onion epidermal cells, cheek cells (ours!) -- etc. Again, the lab report is the difficult part.

For Chemistry, I've only been there once, which is today! Our teacher demonstrated some ways to separate mixtures, e.g. cupric sulfate, salt water. She mixed two transparent liquid (not water) and it miraculously turned yellow! It comprised a liquid and solid. She taught us how to separate both of them. An easy way was to just pour out all the water, but it's a little crude. A better way was to use centrifugal force to make the solid part go to the bottom of the liquid. She also burned the cupric sulfate (liquid) to turn it into solid white, and burned one tiny dot of iodine to become purple gas, which was toxic.

I like Chemistry practical the most! I feel like making a mess of all the chemicals and making an explosion. That would be fun. :)

No comments: