Chemistry Week 8

Silicon as a Semiconductor

Silicon and Germanium are the most common semi-conductors. Silicon’s atomic number is 14; its symbol is Si, and its atomic weight is 28. 0855 Silicon (along with) has 4 electrons in its outer orbital, which each form covalent bonds with other atoms. These four covalent bonds give Silicon both crystal and a lattice structure. The crystalline structure that its forms is a silvery, metallic-looking substance, although it is not actually a metal. A pure silicon crystal is nearly an insulator by virtue of the fact that its electrons are all “tied up” in covalent bonds and can’t move around freely. In order for a substance to be a good conductor, it has to have free electrons to move around, since electricity is dependent on the free flow of atoms. However, Silicon can become a better conductor by “doping” it up, adding impurities that allow it to become a better conductor in addition to an already viable insulator, hence the term “semi-conductor.” Silicon is used in almost all electronic devices.

Chembalancer- More Fun than you’d Guess

I have to admit I was skeptical of the fun potential of a fun based chemistry website, but for someone with a genuine curiosity about the way the world works, funbasedlearning.com actually was fun. Balancing chemical equations in the Classic Chembalancer game was easy enough, but the fun part was the info about the molecules once you got the answer right. It made chemical equations seems much less esoteric, abstract, and removed from my daily life to be rewarded with interesting information after correctly balancing chemical equation, so that I knew what these compounds were actually responsible for in the real world. Some things that I learned were that HCl is the hydrochloric acid that helps us digest food; magnesium gives fireworks their pyrotechnic flare; mercury is in thermometers but poisonous with skin contact. The element quiz was interesting, somehow not as addictive, but certainly good fodder for preparing for a Chemistry category on Jeopardy. I might be an uber nerd for admitting as much, (or I may just put a smile on my Chemistry teacher’s face), but I may even dink around on this site instead of using all my internet freetime on youtube music videos and online tattoo photographs.

Balancing Equations Tutorial

In the Balancing Equations tutorial, the student is prompted to answer how many atoms comprise the reactant and then the product. It took me one try to discern the difference between the reactant (which is the beginning part of the equation) and the product, which is the second part of the equation, and it also took that first try for me to remember basic algebra rules that anything inside the parentheses is multiplied by the number outside the parentheses. The computer pointed out that the hydrogen and oxygen in the equation were not balanced (through no mistake of my own), and so it took it upon itself to add a 4 in front of the H2O molecule to balance the product with the reactant.