Week 8 - Forthcoming attractions

Have marked most of your books (you never thought you'd hear me say that did you) and we are doing exceptionally well as a class. I feel that you guys have done enough to deserve a bit of a change from writing so I'm going to test what your experimental skills are like and give you a practical.

Week 2 of Ramadan and, though I am finding atomic structure fascinating I think that you deserve a break and a chance to show me how good you really are. There will be a test on atomic structure at the end of the week but I think we can cover all the material and get in a practical on the electrical properties of ionic compounds. We are the extended set after all.

What you need to do this weekend is research over at least one page what happens to the electrical properties of ionic compounds when they are molten or in solution and explain why in your own words. Find out some common examples of Ionic compounds. Remember, they are metals combined with non-metals. This will provide the background for our practical and give you an idea of what we should be searching for.

Then on Sundays double lesson I will give you the equipment, the bare minimum of hints and tips and will expect you to be able to set up an experiment to test if what you have read is actually true. Think you're good enough?

I'll be the judge of that...