Week Six

Halogen of the Week

My halogen of the week is Chlorine.  Chlorine's symbol is Cl and its atomic number is 17.  Carl Wilhelm Scheele is credited for discovering chlorine in 1774, but according to Wikipedia, failed to establish it as an element.  Instead, he thought it was an oxide.  It wasn't classified as an element until Sir Humphry Davy did an experiment in 1810.

Alchemy: Science, Magic or Art?

I believe that alchemy is a little bit of all three.  I feel that there is definitely an element of art involved since there has to be some sort of creativity in even coming up with the ideas that they did.  I always thought of alchemy simply as the act of trying to turn crappy metal into gold, but after reading a little more about it, it seems like there was so much more to it.  Wikipedia even says that alchemists even made contributions such as producing gunpowder, inks, dyes, etc.  It also goes on to say that some early alchemists viewed alchemy as a spiritual discipline.  

Week 5

Inert Gas of the Week

My inert gas of the week is Argon.  Argon's chemical symbol is Ar and its number is 18.  According to Wikipedia, Argon is present in the Earth's atmosphere at 0.94%.  Argon was isolated in 1894 by Lord Rayleigh and Sir William Ramsay in Scotland.

Colors of foods in my kitchen

I am pretty embarrassed by the colors of foods in my kitchen.  I went out of town last weekend and haven't spent any time at home so I haven't gone to the grocery store in some time.  Most of the colors come from fruits and vegetables.  Green in lettuce and peas, an orange, some orange squash and yams.  Some of my cereals have dried berries that are pretty brightly colored.  Other then that, everything is brown and beige.  I'm sure that will change after I go to the store tomorrow.

This week's links

I found this week's links very interesting.  I really liked the link "Color of Elements in a Flame."  It was really cool to see pictures of the flames and I guess it connects to our discussion on fireworks last week.  I also found the article "Luminescence and Fluorescence" interesting.  I never realized that there are so many forms of luminescence.  It makes sense that there would be, I just never really thought about it.  It reminded me of when I went to a marine biology camp on Catalina Island as a kid.  We had a night class that discussed bioluminescent fish which I found very fascinating.  

 

Week Four

Catalyst of the week

My catalyst is Nickel.  The chemical symbol for Nickel is Ni and it has an atomic number of 28.  According to Wikipedia, Nickel is used as a catalyst for hydrogenation.  Apparently, nickel was first classified as an element in 1751 after it was mistaken for copper ore.  It is mostly used in alloys and is found in many common things including stainless steel.

Atom Economy

Apparently I don't have a very scientific mind because this article was very difficult to follow.  What I get from Atom Economy is that there are calculations that can be done to see how many atoms are wasted in a chemical reaction.  Ideally, there would be no wasted atoms once the end product is achieved.

Just how close are we to Green Economy?

I feel that we are getting closer to being a green economy but it is still going to be a very long road.  As a whole, I think that we have so much money invested in our current way of living that it is going to be very difficult to get industries (and consumers) to change their ways.  Unfortunately, it is a lot easier to start green then it is to clean up the mess and we are at the point now where we need the cleanup crew.

Week 3

Transition Metal of the Week

My transition metal of the week is Rhodium. The chemical symbol is Rh and its atomic number is 45.  It has an atomic mass of 103.  According to Wikipedia, it is a very expensive metal and is a member of the platinum group.  It's most common use is in catalytic converters in automobiles, but it has many other uses.  

Covalent Bond Types are like Eating in a Restaurant.  Does this image help?

This image helps a lot for me.  I am a very visual person and like having something common to compare this scientific stuff.  It kind of reminds me of the zoo cards which work very well for me.  I need some sort of story to remember what an herb does.

Chemical Bonding Images Website

I really liked this website because I felt like I was really able to see what is going on when there is a chemical bond.  The drawings I have seen of H2O (for example) are usually letters with some lines connecting them.  This really helps me put a visual into my head.