Chemistry Week 6

Alchemy: science, magic, art or all three?
I think that it is all three: it is science in the sense that it is a method of observing and contemplating the anatomy and functioning of our universe, magic in the sense that it challenges 'laws' that are thought of as "natural" (Crowleys definition of magic is "the art and acience of causing change to occur in accordnace with the will) and art in the sense that it is the conscious use of creative skill and imgination...i think that art and science are so dependent on eachother....so many technological advances would not have occured without the creative play of one's imagination....allowing themselves to imgaine outside of what was currently considered possible...art is constanlt benefiting from new sciences...new tools and mediums for artists to express themselves.

Halogen:
iodine
I
Number: 53
Weight: 127
Iodine is used in medicine, photography and dyes. It is in limited quantities in both the solar system and the earths crust. It is the heaciest element used by living organisms. Iodine is used by the human body in production of hormones such as thyroxine by the throid gland which helps stablize body weight and regulate cholesterol. Iodine deficiency can lead to goiter or enlargement of the thyroid.

Chemistry Week 5:

WEB SITE:

I checked out the about.com link on light....interesting. Light is broken down into 2 main categories: incandescence and luminescence. Luminescence is then broken down into several sub-categories. I was surprised to see how many different kinds of luminescence humans have defined. For example, electroluminescence refers to luminescence caused by an electrical current, triboluminescence occurs when phosphorescence or electroluminescence is generated by mechanical action some minerals, when scratched together create this and I think maybe this is what's happening under my sheets when I slide into bed in the dark, cathodoluminescence is electroluminescence caused by electron beams (how images are formed on t.v.). In all there are 10 of these subcategories listed on this page. I still can't quite get my head around what light actually IS. It's a wave, it's a particle. How can this particle with mass and all strike the glorious beams, cascading mysteriously through the forest trees? I love the way the sunlight refracts through a prism in the window, dashing rainbow spots all over the room. Of all the phenomena to observe light is truly one of the most fantastic! 

THE COLORS OF MY KITCHEN:

I find a lot of yellow (my neighbor keeps bringing me yellow tomatoes from his patch)...green (in vegetable form), browns (mushrooms and chocolate mochi, yum!), red (seaweed, beans and tomatoes), blue (blueberries and blueberry yogurt), oranges (carrots, sweet potatoes) creams or whites (potatoes, rice, white beans, coconut milk, tapioca granules and coconut bliss frozen ice treat double yum!)

INERT GAS:

HELIUM: 

HE, 

Number: 2

Mass: 4

Helium is so interesting. According to wikipedia it is one of only two true inert gases (the other being neon). And it is the second most abundant element in our observable universe, 12 times more present than all other elements heavier than helium combined. It is not found in great abundance on Earth because it was the evaporation of helium present out of the gaseous dust clouds that condensed to become Earth in the first place.  Its melting and boiling points are the lowest among all elements. Helium makes your voice sound like The Chipmunks (very important scientific fact).

Week 4: Green-growth-in Asia-Pacific

I appreciate the notion that "economic growth is an outcome, not a goal". It seems true to me that the pattern in American culture IS to focus on economic growth as a goal rather than an outcome. A good example of this can be seen in our personal lives. As children and young adults we are encouraged to get a "good" job that can provide material wealth, rather than focusing on work that is meaningful to us and benefits the community at large.

I don't know where this presentation was given but I really appreciate seeing his list of "What needs to be sustained" in a discussion of economics. In it he includes: 

•The community of life – from Earth Charter

•Human life - survival

•Societies/communities/cultures

•The quality of human life

•The realisable potential of each human life

•Nature/ other species/ biodiversity

•Life support infrastructure

•Resource supply infrastructure

•The social/economic value of non-renewable resources

•The ability of society to function, despite resource depletion 

I think these are all concepts that should be considered by economists, chemists and developers alike!

Lastly, I appreciate his acknowledgement of the crisis we stand before but also of the opportunity. He encourages the use of compassion, wisdom and creativity to move through it and I agree!

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Week 4: Discussion questions

While it seems our economy is moving toward "green-ness" I think we are still a long way off. The reliance on oil alone is immense.... most people can't even begin to imagine a life without it. And most people, I would guess, aren't even aware of how precarious our infrastructure is in it's dependence on oil.  Even those "green" citizens who make great attempts to reduce their 'carbon footprint' would be hungry and cold if this infrastructure should fail. On the other hand... humans can prove amazing in times of trouble and maybe folks would step up and work it out.... I think a "green" economy will require a massive psychological overhaul in the minds of the masses. A real shift in consciousness, of what we assume our role on this earth to be, what we are "due" if anything at all by nature, Learning to make real sacrifices for the good of the community. I am skeptical that we can have a true 'green economy' and  without drastic alterations to our amount of consumption of everything, including food, and basic lifestyle such as feeling like we ought to be able to drive away on weekend getaways or across town to buy that wonderful imported olive oil..but its organic so its ok right? Again, while I think the shift is happening.. it is my experience that peoples minds don't change so quickly...unless its brought on by some dramatic event....maybe thats what it will take...i don't know......

Chem Week 4: Atom Economy

This was a challenging article for me to follow but here's what I got:

Atom economy refers to the careful tracking of which atoms are used and which are wasted in chemical processes (man made ones in particular). The reagents of the 'formula', utilized, unutilized and weight of both make up a graph in order to measure the efficiency of a reaction.

Elimination and substitution reactions are the least favorable reactions because they have the poorest atom economy. The most favorable are addition and rearrangement reactions. 

I was reminded of how crazy, brilliant and frightening humans can be when I read about rearrangement reactions....rearranging atoms? what?!

A company has been working on improving atom economy of ibuprofren production and it looks like the graph states it is at %77 which I think means only %23 is wasted.

Chem Week 3: Phosphorus

Phosphorus:

P

Number: 15

Mass: 30 (-ish)

Although phosphorus makes up aspects of the human body, like DNA and our cell membranes, it never appears as a free element in nature. This is due to its extreme reactivity. Phosphorus "in the lab" is kept under water so as not to combust in contact with the oxygen in the air, it can burn right through skin and is used as a weapon (against bugs and fungus in the garden as well is humans in chemical warfare). 

In 1669 a German alchemist was trying to distill "life essence" from his urine and observed a white glowing substance as a result. This phosphorus had been produced by inorganic phosphate present in urine. Red phosphorus does not glow.

Phosphorus has been used in studies as a catalyst in synthesizing diamond from graphite.

Chem Week 3:www.visionlearning.com

This a a good web site for basic, simple explanations. I stayed with the Chemical bonding page but found it very helpful in explaining the nature of these bonds. It explained how when sodium and chlorine bond, the sodium molecule 'gets smaller in size, while the chlorine grows larger when it gains an additional valence electron.' (I wonder if it would be more accurate to state that it occupies more or less space rather than "gets smaller" or "larger"?) Any way, it also has a really easy to understand explanation of the electron sharing that occurs in polar covalent bonding, along with a great animation demonstrating this. My understanding is that in polar covalent bonding one atom has a "greater affinity" for the electrons, a stronger pull; a pull that is strong enough to keep the electron around it more often than the other atom, but not strong enough to totally rip it away. Thus...they share!

Chem Week 3: Gold; a transition metal

Gold is a transition metal!

Symbol: Au

Atomic number: 79

Atomic mass: 197 

After reading these interesting facts about gold, I can really see why it is valued as the most precious of metals:

Gold is:

• the most malleable and ductile of ALL metal
• one gram may be pounded into ONE square METER (one ounce=3,000 square feet) now thats dense!
• unaffected by air, moisture & corrosive reagents
• some gold salts have anti-inflammatory properties & are used to treat arthritis
• injectable gold is used to reduce pain & swelling in rheumatoid arthritis AND tuberculosis
• Gold is used in dental crowns & bridges b/c it's malleability means it will conform best to the persons dental bite

Chem Week 3: Neptune's Medicine Chest

I was pleased to read in this article that they'd found DNA sequences in marine life not yet found in any other living thing on Earth (I love it when humans are 'put in their place' as far as knowledge of life and it's many forms). And while I appreciate Fenical's drive to aid humankind, I think this approach is not much different from the one modern man has been taking; an approach that has landed us in the situation we are in now, with bacteria developing resistance to our current medications. I've read that Albert Einstein said or wrote, "The problems we face cannot be solved by the minds that created them." It's not just the individuals minds but the way of thinking. Mostly, the modern approach to illness is very warlike; destroy that which harms us. This culture tends to operate as if anything that harms our health or way of life is evil and should be eradicated...that we humans alone have the right to dominate, thrive and reproduce without limit. So we attempt to "wipe out" diseases, eradicate them because they cause destruction, suffering to us, and WE are what matters on this Earth. This cultures displays no evidence that ALL life forms should both thrive and yes, decline, including humans. 

Fenical's team is merely seeking yet another powerful weapon in the war against all that threatens our supreme right to dominate this Earth. 

Also, his work seems similar to that of our current pharmaceutical behaviors: isolating the most cathartic and powerful compounds, and applying in higher doses than would ever be possible in nature. Also, these compounds are isolated from other compounds that may be deemed "non-therapeutic" by laboratory standards but within the context of the whole naturally formed substance work sarcastically. 

There is also no evidence in this quest for newer and better drugs of prevention of dis-ease through right living. By 'right living' I mean shifting our focusing of living from production and success to preservation and cooperation, altering our eating exercise and sleep habits, living more in harmony with nature. Until we do that I think we can continue to "discover" medicines, even in the farthest reaches of space and never achieve true health because we are expecting to live in the world with it's natural laws but not be subject to them. HA! What a laugh. Modern humans don't tend to go around acting as though the laws of gravity or aerodynamics don't apply to us so why do we go around acting if the laws of being part of the greater nutrient cycle, including illness and death, and population decline apply to us? 

 

Chem Week 2: response to web site

I enjoyed checking out www.chemguide.co.uk. It has an interesting explanation of the difference between orbits and orbitals. It presents it like this: it is a common misconception that electrons rotate in orbit around the circumference of an atom's nucleus, the way a planet orbits the sun. Astronomers are able to precisely define the orbit of say, Earth around the Sun. In order to do this, they use the precise information like the location of the Earth, the direction it is heading and it's speed. However, that information can not be obtained of an electron. So it is actually impossible at this time for physicists to plot an electrons orbit. That is why they use orbitals which may be defined as a region of space in which any particular electron may be found. More specifically: 

"An orbital is just a bit of space where there is a 95% chance of finding that particular electron. If an electron is in a particular orbital, you know about its energy - but there is no way of knowing how it is moving around within that orbital."

It seems to me that there is way more that scientists DON'T know then they DO know.  TO avoid confusion about orbits I think it would be better for students to be told, electrons tend to occupy  levels surrounding the nucleus but because we don't know the exact location, direction and speed of electrons we can't predict its movement around the nucleus. But thems hard words for smartypants....."we don't know".

Chem Week 2: Vanadium

Vanadium was 'discovered' in 1801 by Andres Manuel del Rio who originally named it erythronium. His contemporaries convinced him however that it was identical to chromium. It was 'rediscovered' 30 years later by Nils Gabriel Sefstrom who named it vanadium after the Norse goddess of beauty and fertility (Vanadis aka. Freya).

Its symbol is V and its atomic number is 23. It is a soft, silvery grey ductile transition metal. It is protected from oxidation by a  formation of an oxide layer. 

What's a transition metal? From wikipeida:

The term transition metal (sometimes also called a transition element) has two possible meanings:

• In the past it referred to any element in the d-block of the periodic table, which includes groups 3 to 12 on the periodic table. All elements in the d-block are metals.

• The modern, IUPAC definition^[1] states that a transition metal is "an element whose atom has an incomplete d sub-shell, or which can give rise to cations with an incomplete d sub-shell."

Vanadium occurs naturally in 65 minerals and fossil fuel deposits and is used to produce specialty steel alloys. These may be used in manufacturing high speed steel tools. This element may also be found in living organisms where it may be used as an active center for enzymes.

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