Brindza,+Miranda

Chemistry is actually a big part of the art of tattoos. A lot of tattoo parlors will create their own special inks. The pigments of the ink are often elements of chemistry. To make a color such as blue, much of the time the tattoo artist will be mixing copper salts or cobalt oxides. Different colors require different things to be mixed, making the inks mixtures and solutions. If the tattoo parlors buy their ink from distributors, they then will dilute the ink with water or white ink for an “artistic effect”.

Miranda, Good connections to our current topics. 5 stars. MW

Crude Oil As a mixture, crude oil is useless. Distillation is used to separate the components of crude oil. Fractional distillation is when different hydrocarbons are separated from the crude oil. The hot vapor from the oil rises in the flask and condenses on the side of the glass, then drips back into the mixture. Different hydrocarbons condense at different temperatures.

Miranda, Good science but a bit short. 59 words. 4 stars. MW

Redefining the Kilogram The kilogram is the last of the International System base units that is still defined by a physical artifact. All other units are defined by some unvarying physical property of nature. I found it interesting that this one kilogram standard is such a huge deal in the world of science. They keep the kilogram at The National Institute of Standards and Technology in a vault. I never knew that this kilogram standard even exsisted. The article relates to our class because these are the units of measurement that we are using in chemistry. We have discussed the SI system and all of its units which include the kilogram.

Miranda, Looks good. 5 stars. MW

Where do elements come from? I was surprised to read that a lot of the elements in the periodic table actually originated from space. When I think space I think a wide open area with stars and planets. I didn't really think that chemistry elements were out there too. I found it interesting that a lot of these elements made their way to our earth after the explosion. I wonder how long it took these elements to get to planet earth and to travel throughout space. Maybe there are hundreds of other elements out there that we have yet to discover.

Miranda, I would guess it took a long time. Not likely that we'll find other elements heavy ones are unstable. 5 stars. MW

Mole Day I have learned that each year on National Mole Day, there is a different theme. For example, this past year the theme was "The Molar Express" and the earliest known theme was "The Mole the Merrier" in 1991. Each year on Mole Day, an award is given to a teacher called the, "National Mole of the Year Award". You can apply for this honor by including your education, support from fellow teachers and students, reasons why you find teaching rewarding, and your Mole Day celebrations. As for the history of the number, Cannizaro used Avogadro's hypothesis to develop sets of atomic weights based on 1/16 of oxygen's atomic weight. From there, ore accurate weights and measurements were found and 6.02*10^23 was officially put into a textbook in the late 50's.

OK. Now we use Carbon as the standard. 5 stars. MW

Dust Explosion I found it interesting that dust particles in the air can create a devastating explosion. Especially since dust is such a common particle and is found in some sort on practically every surface. In this particular situation, there was an initial explosion that was unrelated to the dust and that explosion caused some flames. This disrupted the dust, making the particles air born. The dust reacted with oxygen causing the second explosion. This relates to stoichiometry because if you combine dust and oxygen and then heat it, it ill cause a fire. For this to happen you have to have a balanced equation.

Miranda, It's odd to think of sugar as flammable but it sure is if mixed correctly with oxygen from air. 5 dusty stars. MW

Helium Balloons One thing I already knew about helium balloons is that gravity makes the balloon fall downward. However, I didn't know anything about buoyant force. It surprised me to find that a human would weigh more in a vacuum, whereas a balloon's weight would be negative. I also already knew about air pressure and the higher elevation you are, the "thinner" the air is. I didn't know that this was also true for the air at the bottom of a room though. The third thing I already knew was that density plays a large role in getting the balloon to stay elevated. I learned though that the buoyant force on an object going upward is equal to whatever the weight of the contents is. Balloons aren't as simple as I thought.

Miranda, Good post! There is a lot of things to think about with balloons. :) 5 stars! MW

Motion Detectors One thing I already knew about motion detectors was that they use a light source to detect the motion. However I learned that motion detectors also send out pulses and others monitor infrared radiation. I also learned that motion detectors detect light in the forms of ultraviolet, visable, and infrared range. I already knew however, that motion sensors can be made for pretty much every type of light. I also knew that particles of light are called photons. I learned though that rattlesnakes also have the ability to see their prey without their prey being able to see them.

Miranda, Looks good! 5 high frequency stars! MW