Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Chemistry is Everywhere

Here is my list of ionic compounds I found in everyday items. Enjoy...

1. magnesium oxide
          MgO
          Clif Bar

2. potassium iodide
          KI
          Clif Bar

3. chromium chloride
          chromium (II) chloride: CrCl2
          chromium (III) chloride: CrCl3
          Clif Bar

4. sodium hypochlorite
          NaClO
          Clorox Clean-Up with bleach

5. manganese sulfate
          manganese (II) sulfate: MnSO4
          manganese (III) sulfate: Mn2(SO4)3
          Glucosamine Medicine, Triple Strength

6. sodium chloride
          NaCl
          Opti-free Replenish Contact Solution

7. sodium hydroxide
          NaOH
          Clean & Clear: Morning Burst Facial Cleanser

8. potassium carbonate
          K2CO3
          Maruchan Instant Lunch Ramen Noodles (Chicken Flavor)

9. sodium carbonate
          Na2CO3
          Maruchan Instant Lunch Ramen Noodles (Chicken Flavor)

10. sodium phosphate
          Na3PO4
          Maruchan Instant Lunch Ramen Noodles (Chicken Flavor)

11. calcium carbonate
          CaCO3
          Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Mix

12. calcium sulfate
          CaSO4
          Friendly Farms-Light Sour Cream

13. calcium chloride
          CaCl2
          Vlasic Kosher Dill Pickles

14. potassium chloride
          KCl
          Campbell's Tomato Soup

15. zinc oxide
          ZnO
          Mary Kay-Timewise Moisturizer

16. sodium fluoride
          NaF
          Crest Toothpaste

17. ammonium chloride
          NH4Cl
          Caress-Body Wash

18. magnesium phosphate
          Mg3(PO4)2
          Flintstones Complete Multimineral Supplement Vitamins

19. phosphoric acid
          H3PO4
          Diet Coke

20. sodium bicarbonate
          NaHCO3
          Arm & Hammer-Baking Soda

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Exam Review: 21 c-d

c) Convert 22Mg to
          

d) If a stack of ten 3.5 inch diskettes is measured to 34 millimeters high, and each disk has a mass of approximately 2.34 grams, how many kilograms would a stack of disks 12.34m high be?
         10 diskettes=34mm=0.34cm=23.4g
                      1 diskette=2.34g
         new height=12.34m=1234cm
            (Answer: how many diskettes will fit x 2.34g)
          (disk height)

        # of disks in new height=1234cm/0.034cm=36,000 (w/ sig figs)
        # of disks x 2.34g=weight of new height=84,240g=84.24kg

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Discovery of the Proton


            In deciphering the composition of the atomic nucleus came many experiments. In order to do so, alpha-scattering experiments were popular among scientists. In the early 20th century, Ernest Marsden was curious as to what would happen if alpha rays came in contact with light nuclei. However, Marsden moved to New Zealand for work purposes in 1914, around the beginning of World War I. He was forced to leave his experiments unfinished. Ernest Rutherford decided to take over the experiment from him. However, throughout the war, Rutherford, as well as many other scientists, were preoccupied with figuring out how to detect submarines. From 1914 to 1918, Rutherford left his experiment with the alpha particles to join the war effort. As soon as he was able to, he picked up where he left off before World War I. Rutherford shot alpha particles into nitrogen gas and noticed peculiar reactions.
            For his experiment, Rutherford had a brass box and placed a little glass tube inside at one end of the box. A zinc-sulphide scintillation screen was then placed by the glass tube. Then, radon gave off helium nuclei through the glass tube while the brass box was filled with nitrogen. There were then scintillations, or flashes of light, on the screen. Although there was no hydrogen at the beginning of the experiment, the flashes were definitely derived from hydrogen. Rutherford concluded that the nitrogen had disintegrated. Also, in conclusion, Rutherford was convinced from the evidence of his well-thought-out experiment that the hydrogen nucleus was an elementary particle due to the fact that the nitrogen nucleus was made of hydrogen nuclei. Ernest Rutherford named the particle the proton, deriving the word from the Greek word “protos”, which means “first”.
            Because Rutherford discovered the proton through a series of steps in his experiment, scientists today are able to determine which chemical element an atom is. The number of protons in the nucleus is equal to the atom’s atomic number, which would not be relevant today without Rutherford’s historical discovery.


Good video (but he means nitrogen instead of neon): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqZpdrEAhTg

Rutherford’s experiment set-up:

Works Cited:

Monday, September 13, 2010

The Physical and Chemical Properties of an Eraser

I chose an eraser as my object to test on because it seemed like an object with not that many chemical properties, but I was determined to find at least one that would change it’s chemical make-up. The process that ended up doing so was the burning of the eraser. The eraser formed into black, or carbon, changing the chemical make-up of the Magic Rub Eraser. Out of the four other chemical properties I tested, none of the rest worked. I feel like a chose a challenging object that would not necessarily react to everything.
Phy1: The eraser’s size is 5.7 cm by 2.4 cm by 0.9 cm. Measuring the eraser using a ruler with a centimeter scale on it can prove this.

Phy2: Color- From observation, the eraser is an eggshell white color.

Phy3: Smell- From observation, the eraser is made of synthetic rubber but it smells like new plastic.

Phy4: Malleability- The eraser is not really malleable. It can bend one way at a 90 angle at most.
Phy5: Hardness- The eraser is soft but a solid, so the molecules are close together.

Chem1: Bleach- Nothing happened when the eraser and Clorox bleach came in contact with each other. There was not chemical reaction.
Chem2: Vinegar- When placed in vinegar, the eraser did not react chemically with the liquid. The vinegar just made the eraser the smallest bit more malleable.

Chem3: Fire- When I set the eraser on fire, it gave off a really strong scent of burning rubber. It smelled like there was a car race and the tires were all skidding. The eraser also changed to a dark brown color and shrunk. The eraser reacted chemically with the fire.
Chem4: Boil- When I boiled the eraser for a few minutes, it came out more malleable. It also gave off heat and a smell that smelled like burnt rubber, or car tires that had just skidded. There was no chemical reaction though.
 
Chem5: Rubbing alcohol- When I put the eraser in rubbing alcohol it became more malleable, but there was no chemical reaction.