WEEK 3: BONDING

 MY TRANSITIONAL METAL  OF THE WEEK: IRON

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. In mass terms, Iron is the most abundant element forming planet Earth as a whole. Much of the Earth's outer and inner core is composed of iron. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust. Iron's significant presence in the composition of rocky planets like Earth is due to its abundant production resulting from the fusion in high-mass stars, where the production of nickel-56 (which decays to iron) is the last nuclear fusion reaction that is exothermic. This allows radioactive nickel to become the last element to be produced before the collapse of a supernova causes the scattering of this precursor radionuclide of iron into space. Elemental iron can be found in meteoroids and other low oxygen environments. Iron is reactive to oxygen and water, causing rust on its otherwise pure silvery-gray sheen.

Iron plays an important role in biology, forming complexes with molecular oxygen in hemoglobin and myoglobin; these two compounds are common oxygen transport proteins in vertebrates. Iron is also the metal used at the active site of many important redox enzymes dealing with cellular respiration and oxidation and reduction in plants and animals.

Pure iron is soft (softer than aluminum), but significantly hardened and strengthened by impurities from the smelting process, such as carbon. A small proportion of carbon produces steel, which may be up to 1000 times harder than pure iron.

NEPTUNE’S MEDICINE CHEST

I was kind of floored by the article “Neptune’s Medicine Chest,” particularly because I was naïve to the ways of scientific discovery and couldn’t fathom how someone could figure out than an obscure ocean fungus could have cancer-curing qualities. Little did I know the intense scrutiny and collection process whereby Fenical collects many different plants and fungi in the ocean and isolates the chemicals of these living materials and tests them all against every kind of bacteria, cancer, and fungi they have in lab. I also find it amazing that within the ecosystem of Earth, though malignant pathogens occur in nature, if one searches hard enough, s/he can also find in nature the antidote to that pathogen. I was glad to hear that the ocean still has living organisms capable of healing people because I was very saddened by pictures in which plastic particles in a sample of average ocean water out-numbered the amount of plankton. That might not sound like it has any bearing on us, except for if you eat shrimp, because shrimp eat plastic particles thinking it’s plankton. Seaweed might have cancer-helping properties, but I bet you shrimp has cancer-causing properties. I still eat it anyway.

REVIEW OF THE LINK: http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?mid=55

This link re-iterates the small miracle of a harmless compound formed from two dangerous elements that most people don’t have the first clue are dangerous! Sodium produces flames when it gets wet, and chlorine is a poisonous gas used as a weapon in World War 1, but when you add these two elements together, you get sodium chloride otherwise known as common table salt!

This site also gives a simple but information-packed look at the properties of ionic and covalent bonds. Ionic bonds occur when one atom completely transfers one of its electrons to another atom and then these oppositely charged ions electrostatically attract each other to form solids. Ionic bonds are typically formed between metals and non-metals, dissolve easily in water, have high melting temperatures, and conduct electricity well. Covalent bonds, on the other hand, most commonly occur between two non-metals when a non-metal atom attracts an electron from another non-metal atom in the atoms mutual attempt to fill up their valence shells. Covalent bonds form true molecules that are not positively or negatively charged, hence they don’t tend to attract each other and form gases and liquids where these molecules move about freely. This link provides solid info of different types of covalent bonds, Lewis Dot structures, and dipoles.

WEEK 2: PERIODIC TABLE AND ATOMIC STRUCTURES

MY ELEMENT OF THE WEEK

I was interested in researching Calcium because the strength and health of our bones depend on its presence, and a chiropractic x-ray showed me my bones are thinning. This is of particular concern at this time because there is a radioactive isotope called Strontium-90- which was released from the Fukushima nuclear melt-down whose pollution has crossed into Northern California- whose intrusive malignancy will actually replace Calcium in the bones due to the similarity of Calcium and Strontium’s chemical family. Strontium 90 then bombards the nearby tissues and organs with beta rays.

When nations test atomic bombs, strontium-90 gets into the atmosphere and begins to float around the earth. Gradually it falls to the ground. Since cows eat the grass from the fields, the strontium-90 gets into milk and other dairy products. It’s pretty much a lousy time to be a dairy or meat consumer, but that beef sure tastes good doesn’t it?

Calcium has an atomic number 20, an atomic mass of 40.078 amu, and is abbreviated by the letters Ca. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal that is soft for a metal (though harder than lead, can be cut strenuously with a knife). In mass terms, it is the fifth-most-abundant element in the Earth's crust. Calcium is also the fifth-most-abundant dissolved ion in seawater by both molarity and mass, after sodium, chloride, magnesium, and sulfate. Calcium is essential for living organisms, particularly in cell physiology, where movement of the calcium ion Ca2+ into and out of the cytoplasm functions as a signal for many cellular processes. Calcium is the most abundant metal by mass in many animals and is a substantial material used in mineralization of bones and shells. By mass, Calcium is also the fifth-most-abundant element in the human body, where it is a common cellular ionic messenger and a structural component of bone. Out of the human body's solid particles after cremation, about a third of the total "mineral" mass remaining is the approximately one kilogram of calcium that makes up the average skeleton (the remainder being mostly phosphorus and oxygen).

OZONE FINDINGS

Most people think of danger when they think of ozone because of the attention in recent years to the hole in the ozone layer, which lets in harmful UV rays from the sun. The hole in the upper atmospheric ozone layer over Australia sky-rocketed Aussie cases of skin cancer, with the harmful UV rays strongest from 10am-3pm. The Australian Cancer counsel encourages Aussie beach goers to wear shirts, hat, sunglasses, and regularly apply sunscreen.

While upper atmospheric ozone keeps harmful UV rays from reaching the Earth’s surface, lower atmospheric ozone is an air pollutant that harms the respiratory systems of animals and burns sensitive plants. Ozone layer concentrations have substantially risen as a result of pollution from the Industrial Revolution, which is a particular concern because

upper tropospheric ozone acts as a greenhouse gas, absorbing some of the infrared energy emitted by the earth and heating up the planet.

Ozone also has many beneficial applications, with less attention given to ozone generators and ozone therapy for medical use. Ozone generators attack odors at their source, removing odors and sanitizing the entire treatment area. Ozone therapy has been used by many medical professionals and people privy to its many healing applications. Though this is not the thing I take joy in revealing, for personal testimonial sake, I personally had 100% success treating cervical HPV from the use of an ozone machine. Nine out of ten diseases, including the common cold and the flu, are caused by water or airborne bacteria and viruses. Ozone kills microorganisms. The sterilization action of ozone is by "direct kill attack" and oxidation of the biological material. The rate of bacteria killed by Ozone is 3500 times faster than with chlorine. Virus destruction with ozone is instantaneous, safe and foolproof, as ozone is nature's own purifier.

Ozone Therapy has proven beneficial effects such as:

* increasing oxygen delivery to cells, tissues, and organs

* increasing blood circulation throughout the body

* detoxification

* boosting the immune system

*sterilizing and healing external wounds (many of which would otherwise not ever heal)

* gangrene

* Cancer

* Lyme Disease

* AIDS

* Diabetes

* Stroke

* Depression

* Chronic Fatigue

* Lupus

* Fibromyalgia

http://www.oxygenhealingtherapies.com/What_is_Ozone.html

WEBSITE REVIEW: www.chem.purdue.edu/gchelp/atoms/elements.html

Because chemistry can be such a dry subject that’s hard to visualize without pictures when talking about positions, shapes or orbitals, electrons etc., it was nice that this website included animations which looked like electronic billiard balls akin to a video game animation of molecules and atoms that float by the viewing lense of the cyber Petri dish. The website made it very easy to distinguish between what comprises an element, a molecule compound and a mixture with color-coded graphic representations that instantly showed you in a concrete what you were dealing with so that you don’t have to just “imagine” what the components of a mixture, compound, etc. are. Now if they can just figure out a way to turn Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle into a computer program to figure out either where those particles are on the screen or where they’re going next (but not both of course), the revolution in science cyber geekdom will have reached ultimate pinnacle post Nintendo heights of epic cyborg proportion.

Chemistry Week 1

What do you feel we can change to help gain effective control of the pharmaceutical industry?

I think that a full-on counter-movement is needed to combat the control of the pharmaceutical industries. Unfortunately, a counter-movement would probably not be funded to the same massive extent as are the pharmaceutical companies, so there would be less financial incentive for the people involved. However, I think homepaths, naturopaths, acupuncturists, herbalists, and other alternative health practitioners could support a counter-movement in educating the public about the malpractices of the pharmaceutical industry along with warnings about certain drugs. These alternative medicine practitioners could hire someone with a petition, the article we read, and harmful side-effects or misuses of certain pharmaceutical drugs to set up stands outside of co-ops with a discount coupon for the first visit to the doctor who hired them. There could even be generous coupons for herbal supplements inside the store if people sign the petition. To attract people on the questionable meds, the stand could say in bold letters, “Take Zyprexa? Take (fill in the blank) or other pharmaceutical meds? This could save your life!” This would give the people who take these meds a curiosity about what is going in their bodies, and the pamphlets could direct people to a website that gives them an informative list of pharmaceutical malpractices and the drugs in question. They would be directed to a petition that would eventually be sent to congress and fought for by a lobbyist that would curb the amount of financial support pharma companies are allowed to spend on marketing. Perhaps the bill could include that doctors would be required to give their patient in-depth information about the prescribed drug, including all potential side-effects and what it has been approved for by the FDA. I think there should be incentive involved to send the informative website along with the petition to other people. So for instance, for every 20 people someone sends the website and petition to, they get $10 off their next acupuncture or homeopathic appointment with participating doctors. This could stimulate more regular clients for the alternative doctors, so it may actually work given most peoples’ financial motivations.

What do you understand by the expression “carbon neutral?”

Carbon neutral means bringing one’s carbon dioxide footprint to zero by reducing energy use activities that emit carbon dioxide (like driving a car), and then making up for the unavoidable amounts of carbon dioxide emitted by planting trees of donating money to CarbonFund.org, which can also reinvest funds toward renewable energy projects. Carbon neutrality is a positive way to curb the effects of global warming, promote conservation, and lead the way towards a more sustainable society.

What features of the Periodic Table did you discover?

The periodic table is a well-organized table of alkali metal, alkali earth metals, transition metals, lanthanide series, actinide series, poor metals, nonmetals, and noble gases. Noble gases are odorless, colorless, and chemically stable. Each element has a number on the top of its box that denotes its number of protons, which also equates to its number of electrons. To find the number of neutrons in an element, one need only take the atomic mass of the element (which is located in the bottom of the box) and subtract the amount of protons (which is found in the upper left-hand part of the box). The names of the element are located below a one to three letter abbreviation of the element. The color version of the periodic table has an aesthetically pleasing quality to it. I found it interesting that without exception, the man-made elements were all radioactive. All the actinides- many of which are artificially made- are all radioactive. They also had pretty quixotic names, like Plutonium, Americium, Einsteinium, etc.