Weird science
From left, juniors Austin Blaschka, Zac Kim and Caleb Wessels discuss the procedures to analyze the silver content of a silver alloy in their AP chemistry lab at Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy on Tuesday.
Photo by Mike McCormack
Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy junior Aleigha Robertson prepares a silver alloy sample for analysis in her AP chemistry lab on Tuesday.
Junior Evan Sharp prepares to analyze a silver alloy in his AP chemistry lab Tuesday at Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy.
The future scientists in Mike McCormack's class got a little lesson in toying with silver alloy this week.
"We gave them sterling silver, which is an alloy of silver and copper," Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy AP chemistry teacher McCormack said Friday. "They're determining the percentage of silver in that silver alloy, taking a compound and splitting it up into its chemical parts."
This was the first lab of the year for McCormack's juniors. This specific lab takes about four or five days, he said.
"For part of the lab, they get to use an acid," McCormack explained. "They use the silver alloy in the acid and it dissolves the metal piece. They find that pretty interesting."
Junior Aleigha Robertson said being able to actually apply what she learned during lab "is one of the best parts of chemistry."
"I’m thankful the coronavirus hasn't gotten in the way," she said. "Wearing masks is a small price to pay for higher learning."
McCormack, who has been teaching for nearly 30 years, 18 at Charter, said the biggest joy of teaching "is seeing kids all of a sudden, that light goes on, 'Now I see.'"
He said later in the year, the students will experience how calculus and chemistry go together.
"When I can show them calculus applications, they get really interested because now they can see the application of what they’re doing in chemistry," McCormack said. "That’s really cool to me."
