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.

Week 7: Molecular Weight

Alkali Earth metal of the week: Magnesium

Magnesium is an alkali Earth metal with an atomic number of 12 and an atomic weight of 24.3050, which is abbreviated by the letters Mg. Magnesium is the fourth most abundant element on Earth, comprising a whopping 13% of Earth’ mass. Magnesium is easily built in supernova stars and is highly water soluble, which makes it the third most common element dissolved in seawater. Magnesium is the 11^th most common element in the human body, where it manipulates DNA, RNA, and ATP. Mg is crucial the function of living cells. It is also found in chlorophyll and is used medicinally as laxatives, antacid, and many conditions where calming nerves or blood vessel spasms is required.

Avogadro’s hypothesis

Avogadro’s hypothesis was that equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain equal numbers of molecules. He also made a distinction between atoms and molecules and said that atoms of the same element could combine, which contradicted scientist John Dalton’s beliefs. Although these statements are widely accepted by the scientific community now, they were not taken seriously when Avogadro made these findings because his work was in an obscure publication and also contradicted the opinions of John Dalton, who was a well-respected scientist of Avogadro’s era. Shortly after Stanislao Cannizaro explained Avogadro’s principles in “Sketch of a Course of Chemical Philosophy,” Avogadro finally received the acclaim his hypotheses deserved. Avogadro’s hypothesis led future scientists to determine Avogadro’s number, which was based on Avogadro’s basic hypothesis.

What is a mole?

It was show that a Gram Molecular Weight of gas at standard temperature and pressure occupies 22.4 liters of volume. A mole is the number of molecules contained in 22.4 liters of a gas at standard temperature and pressure. The benefit of the “mole” concept is that it allows the scientist to relate the weight of the material to the number of molecules in that weight, which is a ridiculously large amount that could not be counted under a microscope or any easy quantitative measure. Avogadro’s number- which expresses this ridiculously large amount- is 6.0221367 x 10 exp23- and is the number of molecules in 22.4 liters of gas at standard temperature and pressure.

Week 6: Electrochemistry & Alchemy

Halogen of the Week: Iodine

I chose Iodine as my Halogen of the Week because of the recent buzz over the supplement Iodine Potassium which is said to protect the thyroid against radiation.  This is because Iodine is required to synthesize thyroid hormones which contain Iodine. As a by-product of nuclear fission, the radioactive isotope iodine-131 concentrates in the thyroid alongside the healthy form of Iodine. If a person is somewhat deficient in Iodine, these radioactive isotopes will collect even more in the thyroid and can easily cause cancer. Iodine deficiency is a cause of intellectual disability in about 2 billion of the world’s population. Television is second (j/k). Iodine has a chemical symbol of I, an atomic number of 53 and an atomic weight of 126.90447. Its high atomic number makes it relatively rare on Earth. Elemental iodine vapor is purple in color. Iodine compounds are primarily used in nutrition but have also been used industrially and in making contrast materials for x-rays. Iodine can be found in the ocean and is highly water soluble. It is the heaviest element used for biological functions by lifeforms.

Alchemy- science, magic, art, or all three?

Although alchemy produces what appears to be magical results, alchemy is primarily a science that was later adopted by esoteric and metaphysical traditions including Hermeticism to describe turning internal yet metaphoric lead into spiritual and emotional gold. Part of the main practice of alchemical science is turning base metals like lead and mercury into gold and silver, This appears to be magic, but is based on scientific principles having to do with these elements having similar atomic numbers that can be tweaked through chemical processes to become other elements with similar atomic numbers. The origin of how the word “magic” got ascribed to alchemy was through early Ayurvedic alchemists  called “Maghas,” who would heal diseases through the use of herbs and metals. Occultists and metaphysicians who explored internal alchemy formulated various diagrams that both bore a resemblance to art and magic. In what could be deemed as “high” forms of any practice involving the alchemy of science, art, or magic, the ultimate goal is to take the practitioner, patient, or audience into some higher, lighter, more rarefied state than when they started.

Week 5: Chemistry of Color and Nutrition

My Inert Gas of the Week

My inert gas of the week is Neon, because how did nature go wrong in making an element that provides day-glow ‘OPEN’ signs for restaurants and made Las Vegas a glimmer in the Luxor pyramidal eye of capitalistic neon pseudo-god who blinks at you, beckoning you to come and waste your money on slot machines? Actually, neon is considered rare on Earth in comparison to its abundant presence around the universe, which makes you wonder if some of those gorgeous rainbow-colored nebulas have neon gas, which is a noble gas. Neon- which is found in trace amounts in the air- is extracted from air for commercial purposes. Neon is a Noble gas with 10 protons and 10 neutrons and is abbreviated “Ne.” I once knew a meth head who invented the name of a fake God named “Neon Ray.” Makes you wonder….

Colors in the Kitchen

When I actually had a kitchen, I remember making these beautiful kale salads our of purple and green kale, purple beets, red cherry tomatoes, orange carrots, light green cucumber, rich green broccoli, white almonds, yellow bell pepper, and brown lentils. I was a raw food health freak and true believer in the rainbow salad which made me feel like I had just eaten the super-charged food of the Gods. I also had what I call a healthy obsession with tomatoes in my food, everything from eggs, to soups, to salads, which was pretty much the main stay of my diet. Who could blame me? Tomatoes have anti-oxidant lycopene which protects against a variety of cancers, half of which I’ve probably had in my family. I wear a lot of crystals too, and supposedly Herkimer diamond protects against radiation and the diseases caused by it, but it also increase my intuiton and contact with higher guidance, and like the guidance of angel in my head the other day (versus schizophrenic delusions that tell you to jump off a building), I got the message, “buy strawberries and spinach.” It certainly didn’t sound like bad advice, so I did. I checked out the health properties of spinach and found out that they it is considered by Chinese medicine to be sweet, cool, and moistening, I also found out that it has more protein than most vegetables, can help with vision weakness (amongst other things which I have) and has anti-oxidant, digestive, diuretic, laxative, lymph-cleansing and tonic properties. I know I need digestive support and tonifying. Spinach is rich in beta-carotene, vitamins B6, C, K, folic acid, calcium, iron, potassium, sulfur, and chlorophyll. Strawberries possess a few things that I realize my body wants: they have a moistening quality on the lungs and can therefore help a dry cough and sore throat, which I have recently been battling. They are rich in vitamins B, C, E, and iron, and have a blood-purifying effect. I have been told in the clinic that I have blood heat, so I imagine a cooling fruit with a blood purifying effect would be just what the Chinese doctor ordered!

The Importance of Color in Minerals

I found it interesting that any element could be responsible for any color, but that copper usually produces green and blue. Copper ore is responsible for making malachite green, and also for making malachite gem elixir toxic. Water that is soaked in malachite can be applied externally but not internally as copper taken in sufficient quantities is toxic. It sure does make a lovely green however. Atomic bonds are what absorb or emit various wavelengths of light that can appear as different colors, so bonds of different elements are responsible for producing different crystals colors. The color is not necessarily elementary to the color of the elements that compose it, but the wavelengths of light that the atomic bonds of the elements absorb or emit. Material reality gets eerie when you think of it to that micro-degree.

Week 3 Molecular Structure and Bonding Quiz

Identify three elements with a single electron in their outer orbital.

1. The Hydrogen atom- the first element on the Periodic Table- only has one electron, which means it also only has one electron is its outer orbital, which is a 1s orbital.

2. The Helium atom has two electrons, which means that it has one electron in the 1s orbital and one electron in the outer 2s orbital.

3. The Lithium atom has three electrons, which means that it has one electron in the 1s orbital, one electron in the 2s orbital, and one electron in the outer 2p orbital.

Why do you think some chemical bonds are stronger than others?

Whether an ionic bond or a covalent bond is stronger is often dependent on the elements that form the molecular bond. Some elements bond more strongly than others. However, an ionic bond can at times be stronger than a covalent bond because in ionic bonds, electrons are traded, forming two ions- one with a positive charge and the other a negative charged- that are strongly attracted to each other. Covalent bonds merely share an electron and are tricked into thinking they have a full valence shell.

A polar bond is stronger than a non-polar bond because because electrons are shared unequally. The more electrognegative atom has a high electron affinity, pulling the shared electron and adjacent atom closer to it, creating a stronger bond.

In what ways do you think “Neptune’s Medicine’s Chest” might be useful in the future?

If it was discovered that there is a fungus or seaweed in the ocean, that say, cures cancer or fibromyalgia, and synchronistically- at the same time this fungus were to make a persuasive movement of macrobiotic enthusiasts flee to the Mediterranean shores to an ocean side healing center- one could potentially throw up the proverbial finger to the pharmaceutical companies once and for all and do yoga on the beach in shea butter organic sunscreen mixed with special compounds from the ocean that were terrific for your skin and happily munch on fish and seaweed salad drinking alcholol free margaritas, dancing in drum circles, farting cancer-free farts forever til the day they die, but not of cancer from nuclear fall-out.

Week 4: Green Chemistry

Catalyst of the Week

Chlorine free radicals are known catalysts that break down ozone in the atmosphere. These radicals are formed when UV radiation contacts chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). A positive catalyst increases the rate of a chemical reaction by lowering the activation energy of the reaction.  A negative catalyst decreases the rate of a chemical reaction by making it less likely to occur. Chlorine free radicals- although having a negative effect on the environment, are considered a positive catalyst because they speed up the rate at which ozone breaks down.

Green Chemistry as a Social Movement

I am super pleased about the concept of major American companies becoming more green-friendly- even if their motivation is to avoid lawsuits, stay within new regulations, and meet consumer demands. It’s like a bad baby- even if his motivation to be well behaved is to avoid punishment- mom is still glad he’s behaving. The human race has been accused by some of being like a virus, and I think a large part of the accusation comes from the fact that we feed off our host the Earth, while being an unhealthy presence on her surface, much like a virus that feeds off a host by making her sick. Now I could go into the genetic mutations to human D.N.A. responsible for a kind of emotional entropy that pollutes the inner geography of the human experience, but to keep this topic to chemistry, I think the accusation of humanity being like a virus comes largely from the toxic chemicals we have produced that are responsible for destroying much of this beautiful planet.

When you think of how big the Earth is, it seems like quite the opposite of a grand accomplishment to have successfully destroyed much of the atmosphere and land masses on this planet (most notably the rainforests), most of which happened as a result of the Industrial Revolution, which was not that long ago. To think how we have polluted the planet just since the 1900s is mind-boggling. If only we had known about Green Chemistry and foreseen the effects of our toxic pollutants on the Earth before we destroyed our atmosphere, we would have no need for a Green Chemistry movement because we would have been in accordance with the Earth the whole time. My personal glee as a result of this movement derives from a gratitude that there are affordable shampoos, conditioners, and lipsticks now available that don’t possess xeno-estrogens which mimic estrogrens in the body and have caused a lot of female reproductive problems we have seen in recent and current generations.

Atom Economy

Barry Trost developed the concept of the atom economy, which is an exploration of the efficiency of a reaction by calculating the mass of reactants before and after the experiment. It was a term coined to bring awareness to the amount of side-products of a reaction that often end up as toxic, unwanted, and never used. Because of this, Atom Economy spawns a necessary look at the principles of Green Chemistry in how to lessen the negative effect/amount of these side-products using principles that minimize waste products. For example, a new method of making Ibuprofen was found that significantly improved the atom economy of its production. In the initial way of making Ibuprofen, only about 40% of the mass of its initial components was saved in the final product, and the other 60% was waste. That 60% waste amounted to about 35 million pounds. A new way of making Ibuprofen was found that increased the atom economy to 77%, meaning only 23% of the final mass was waste.

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.