NAME
PERIOD
DATE
10.2 METALS AND NONMETALS
Essential Question
How do I use the properties of a substance to identify what type of substance it is?
Materials and Equipment
 Device with SPARKvue
 Wireless voltage sensor
 Assorted strips of metal (Al, Cu, Sn)
 Piece of quartz (silicon dioxide)
 Lead cables with alligator clips
 Modular circuits kit
Background
Elements have unique physical and chemical properties that make them useful in our everyday lives.
Aluminum, for example, is lightweight yet strong: modern air travel would be impossible without
this important metal that is used to make jet engines and aircraft bodies. Chlorine combined
chemically with many other elements and compounds and is a powerful disinfectant. The availability
of safe drinking water all over the world depends on this reactive nonmetal. Perhaps no other
element, however, stands out as a symbol of our “space-age” technology more than silicon. The ability
to obtain very high purity silicon had increased the speed and the power of modern electronics and
has transformed society.
Safety
Follow these important safety precautions in addition to your regular classroom procedures:

Wear safety goggles at all times

Be careful when building circuits - any completed circuit can deliver an electrical shock
Procedure
1. Put on your safety goggles.
2. Build a basic circuit using the modular circuits kit
a. Include the battery module
b. Include a switch so the circuit can be disabled between trials
c. Ensure there is at least one straight segment that you can remove to replace with your test
materials.
3. Open SPARKvue, choose "Sensor Data", and ensure that your wireless voltage sensor is on
4. Connect the wireless voltage sensor to SPARKvue and choose a "Digits" preset display.
5. Connect the leads of the wireless voltage sensor to the bridge clips on either side of the straight
segment you will be replacing with your test materials.
6. Start data collection and measure the voltage drop across a wire. Record the reading in Table 1.
Stop data collection.
PASCO
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ОШИБКА! ИСПОЛЬЗУЙТЕ ВКЛАДКУ "ГЛАВНАЯ" ДЛЯ ПРИМЕНЕНИЯ HEADING 1 К ТЕКСТУ, КОТОРЫЙ ДОЛЖЕН
ЗДЕСЬ ОТОБРАЖАТЬСЯ.
7. Open the switch to break the circuit. Remove the straight wire segment, but leave the bridge
clips connected to the incomplete circuit. Clip patch wires to the bridge clips.
8. Clip the free ends of the patch wires to the strip of copper metal. Close the switch to complete the
circuit.
9. Start data collection and measure the voltage drop across the copper wire. Record the reading in
Table 1. Stop data collection.
10. Repeat steps 7-9 for the remaining materials.
11. Remove the battery from the circuit before moving on to data analysis.
Data Analysis
Table 1: Voltage drop across various materials
Material
Voltage drop
(V)
Control (Module wire)
No drop
Copper strip
No drop
Aluminum strip
No drop
Tin strip
No drop
Quartz shard
No voltage
12. Which of your test substances show the least drop in voltage across the substance? _Copper__
13. Identify each substance as containing metallic or covalent bonds, based on the data you collected.
Justify each categorization.
________The metal substances show metallic bonding, which is evident from their electrical conductivity. The quartz shows covalent
bonding, which is evident from its lack of conductivity.___________________________________________________________________
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