Chemistry Form Four: Chapter 9 - Contact Process

A brief summary of the Contact Process:

• Solid sulfur, S(s), is burned in air to form sulfur dioxide gas.
• The gases are mixed with more air then cleaned by electrostatic precipitation to remove any particulate matter.
• The mixture of sulfur dioxide and air is heated to 450 degree Celcius and subjected to a pressure of 101.3 - 202.6 kPa (1 -2 atmospheres) in the presence of a vanadium catalyst (vanadium (V) oxide) to produce sulfur trioxide, with a yield of 98%.
• Any unreacted gases from the above reaction are recycled back into the above reaction.
• Sulfur trioxide is dissolved in 98% (18M) sulfuric acid to produce disulfuric acid or pyrosulfuric acid, also known as fuming sulfuric acid or oleum.
• Water is then added to the oleum to produce 98% of sulphuric acid.

Attention:  If the sulphur trioxide is added directly to water an acid mist forms which is difficult to contain because the reaction to form sulphuric acid solution is very exothermic!

Click below video for further explanation of Contact Process.

PMR replaced with school-based asessment by 2016

Sunday October 10, 2010, The Star
No more PMR exam

PETALING JAYA: The national education system is set to undergo a major change in 2016 when the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) public examination for Form Three students is replaced with school-based assessment. The change will also see the syllabus for the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examination for Year Six pupils improved, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said yesterday.
Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said his announcement comes after two roundtable sessions.

Other developments:
> The Malaysian Examination Syndicate will be roped in to run the school-based PMR assessment;
> Parents have voiced fears that such an assessment will be taken less seriously by students;
> Teachers want extra help to run the school-based PMR assessment

New Schooling Date for 2011

Thursday October 7, 2010, The Star

School term to start on Jan 3 next year

PETALING JAYA: Students will go back to school on Jan 3 in all states except for those in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, where classes start a day earlier (see chart). The Education Ministry website on the school calendar for 2011 stated that there will be 210 school days next year. Students will have 78 days of holiday next year, which is the same as this year.

Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom said schools can apply for four days of cuti peristiwa (occasional holiday), which need not be replaced. School heads explained that schools can also apply for cuti ganti (replacement holiday), which is subject to approval by the respective state Education Depart­ments. The year-end break will start on Nov 19 next year for all schools, except for those in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu which start a day earlier

PMR on already....!

Wish all Form 3 students able to score A in all subjects. Enjoy your examination and study hard & smart.

Do not sleep
Do not nervous
Do not get sick
Do not make mistake while exam.

God Bless You.

New Date for SPM and STPM.....23 Nov 2010

Take note, there is a change in SPM and STPM timetable. SPM will start on 23 Nov, not 22 Nov.

Tuesday September 28, 2010
SPM, STPM date confusion

PETALING JAYA: There appears to be confusion as to when schools were informed about the changes to the start of the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) examinations.

Both were scheduled to start on Nov 22, but due to the Sultan of Johor’s birthday celebration which falls on that day, they will now start a day later on Nov 23. Malaysian Examinations Syndicate director Datuk Dr Salbiah Ismail said the final SPM timetable was sent to all state education departments in August for the information to be disseminated to district education offices and schools.

“The SPM examination will start on Nov 23 and end on Dec 20,” she said in response to complaints from parents that there was misleading information about the SPM examination timetable.

In March, it was reported that Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar decreed that the public holiday for his birthday celebration be changed from April 8 to Nov 22.

A Selangor education department official said it issued a circular to the district education offices informing them of the changes to the dates of the examinations yesterday.

“Schools under Selangor will be receiving the notices today,” he said.Several school heads in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor claim they had not been informed of the changes.

“Our school has not received any ‘black and white’ about the change of dates,” said a principal. Another said he would need to check with the district education office on the matter.
Malaysian Examinations Council (MEC) public relations officer Khawari Idris said it issued a circular dated June 30 informing all state education departments on the change in the start of the STPM.“The STPM examination was originally scheduled from Nov 22 to Dec 14 but due to the change of the holiday for the Sultan of Johor’s birthday, we rescheduled the STPM examination from Nov 23 to Dec 16,” he said.

Khawari was responding to a letter to the editor published in StarEducation from an Upper Six student who had complained that the information on the MEC website for the STPM timetable was misleading as it had stated the last day for the examination was Dec 14.

The student said she had checked the MEC website before booking their international flights for Dec 15 and subsequently had to pay a penalty for postponing her flight after she was informed that the last paper scheduled for the STPM was Dec 16.The MEC apologised for the delay in updating the STPM timetable on its website, Khawari said.

Revamp in Vocational Education System

Vocational education system to be revamped: DPM
27/09/2010  Monday, New Straits Times

MUAR: The national vocational education system will be revamped to enable students to take up vocational education earlier after the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR), Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.

He said the move would be in line with the objective of the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) to ensure 20 per cent of students took up vocational studies, from 10 per cent currently.

"This is being looked into by the ministry because it will mean a longer period for the students to be in the field. Hence, they will become more skillful," he said after opening an education excellence programme in Pagoh today.

Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, said the revamp was expected to give a huge leap in the country's vocational education because it contained element of improvement such as in terms of the scope and education syllabus, infrastructure facilities, industrial needs, teaching staff and the involvement of the private sector. He was commenting on a suggestion by readers of the Prime Minister's 1Malaysia blog, which among others, called on the government to expand the potential of Malaysians to become skilled workers.

Muhyiddin said that currently, vocational studies were only taken up by students after their Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) and that the number was still small compared with those in other countries. This was despite the country in need of at least 3.3 million workers in 10 years to meet the country's industrial needs according to the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), he said.

Muhyiddin said that the people should be able to get a clearer picture of the direction of the country's vocational education by next year.

"We do not want parents to regard vocational field as a second option. This has to be rectified," he added.
He said that in many developed countries, the number of vocational students was high, adding that in Indonesia, 40 per cent of its students were in vocational fields while in Thailand, the percentage was 60. - Bernama

Namewee......I am Who I am

我還是我

Aku Tetap Aku

I am Who I am

After I listening to his latest song, I found out that there was a deep reflection in his life. We grow up and learn to become a better person by reflecting our mistake in our life. Nobody is perfect include teacher. Let us learn how to  forgive and respect each other.

我有我自己的夢 自己會走

Aku akan berusaha mencapai impian ku sendiri

I have my own dream I will keep going

就算再寂寞
walaupun sunyi

Even it’s a lonely path

請原諒我的衝動 我會好好過

Maafkan impuls aku, aku akan hidup dengan baik-baik

Please forgive me for being impulsive, I will be fine

(相信我還是我)

(percayalah, aku tetap aku)

Believe me I am still who I am



Chemistry Form Four: Chapter 8 - Application of Precipitation of Salt

Precipitation reaction occur all around us. For example, sometimes the pipes in our homes get clogged because precipitates of magnesium and calcium oxides have deposited themselves within the pipes. This can happen with "hard" water.

Another example is a kidney stone. A kidney stone is nothing more than a precipitate - often of calcium ions (from cheese) and oxalates. It is often suggested that a good way to avoid kidney stones is to drink a lot of water. This helps because the solubility of the precipitate increases with the amount of water - thus avoiding the formation of the kidney stone to begin with.

Various size of kidney stone