Palmer,+Maxfield


 * Chemical Elements in Fantasy and Science Fiction**

The article I read was Chemical Elements in Fantasy and Science Fiction. It mainly described three different fictional elements. One was Mithril, created in Lord of the Rings it is an extremely strong metal that is very shiny and doesn’t get worn out. Another was dilitihium, the material that took the men of Star Trek to the final frontier; it has the energy to move faster than the speed of light. The last was vibranium, a marvel comic invention, it absorbs and also distributes vibrations. The most famous thing made of vibranium is Captain America’s shield.

Maxfield, OK. Any relationships to our class? MW


 * Distillation of Crude Oil**

There are different materials in crude oil that can be collected individually by distillation at different temperatures. The first material cannot be heated by open flame because it is highly flammable; instead it is heated by hot water. This is known as fractional distillation. Factories do this distillation process on a mammoth scale. There are a primary of five fractions that are collected, but even those can be broken down further.

Maxfield, OK. MW


 * Redefining the Kilogram**

The kilogram is one of seven base units of the International System of Units. It is the only one left that has a physical standard that must be kept accurate instead of being a standard due to unchanging physical properties. Therefore it is very important that there is one exact 'artifact' that can be the actual standard of the gram. If not, then all measurements are somewhat subjective. Scientists are trying to add Avogadro's constant into equation of measuring the gram.

Maxfield, Good. Succinct. 5 stars MW


 * Where do Elements Come From?**

This article was very interesting to me. For instance the fact stars are so powerful and have so much energy that they actually transform elements into other elements, and itProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 oxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 5Proxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 Proxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 Proxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 is not just the combining of elements into compounds. Huge amounts of energy are needed for this fusion to occur, and it is fascinating that it happens very often in a star. Also it was interesting that if stars fuse into very heavy metals, such as pure iron, it could implode on itself resulting in a supernova. I have heard of a supernova but never knew it was caused by the star fusing elements to heavy for it to support. Then from the supernova the article says that neutrons are flung out and captured by nuclei, I did not know that neutrons could travel independently from an atom, or that nuclei could be anything not containing a neutron, I had the understanding that they were not exclusive from the other and that protons and neutrons were the very essence of a nucleus and not that there was something different all together called a nucleus. I always had the presupposition that stars and supernovas were just for astronomy, but it is very interesting to see that it relates so much to chemistry.

Max, Apparently all we are and ever were has come from stars. Pretty sobering thought. 5 stars! MW


 * Mole Day**

It seems that throughout history many great discoveries and inventions are not appreciated until after the person who found them has died. I discovered that Avogadro was no exception. I thought that he was well recognized while he was alive, but it turns out it's not so. It wasn't until two years after his death that a colleague re-evaluated the number and it was at that point that the scientific community realized the significance of the number.

Max, Avogadro didn't really come up with the number per se. His experiment led to the creation of the number. Anything else you learned? 4 stars. MW


 * Dust Explosion**

The most interesting thing that I learned from the article about the dust explosion, is that dust explosions occur in waves. The first explosion could be tiny, but it stirs up more particles which inturn explode and stir up others. This seems like a virus affect in that it almost grows exponentially. These wave explosions can occur because the sugar particles are ground so finely that there is more surface available relative to its weight. This is wierd to me, because I would assume that larger things would be more explosive, but the fact that it is the opposite intrigues me. The part of this that reminds me of stoichiometry is that when the dust is blown around, it will explode more fiercely and will not end as quickly as if it were layered in a pile. This is like the experiment we did in class where the pile of finely ground particles combusted, but only for a short time, but when it was blown in the air in a "poof" than it had a much larger explosion.

Max, The wave thing is pretty scary! It just goes to show you how reactions can cascade! 5 stars. MW


 * Helium Balloons Sulfur Hexaflouride**

Three things I learned. 1. The gas used to make someones voice deeper is sulfur hexaflouride. 2. The bond of sulfur hexaflouride is so stable that the resulting compound is almost as inert as a noble gas. 3. The fact that someone could be suffocating and wouldn't even know it.

Three things I knew 1. There is a gas that can lower a person's voice. 2.Sulfur is used in gun powder. 3.The gasping reflex or suffocating feeling comes from carbon-dioxide poisoning and not lack of oxygen.(Differing from the third thing I learned up above, because I didn't know someone could be //completely// unaware of the fact that they're suffocating.)

Max, Nice cataloging. 5 helios! MW

Motion Detectiors

1. When an object passes through the space between the source and the sensor, the light beam is blocked, and that is how the motion is detected. That's how my grandma's garage works. 2. Our bodies emit infrared heat and some detectors can feel the heat. 3. A definition of photo sensor is anything that senses light.
 * Three things I knew:

Three things I learned: 1. Some detectors use echos kind of like echolocation that dolphins use. 2. When light of sufficient energy is shined on a given surface. 3. A high intensity, low frequency beam of light would cause no electrons to be ejected from the given surface. **

Max, What do you mean by #2 above? Seems to be an incomplete thought. 4 stars. MW