Burke,+Justin

The article on frankincense and myrrh was very interesting because prior to reading it I thought it was just burned for religious purposes. I found out that it could also be used in the medical field as well. Frankincense extract can help relieve pain to those who have arthritis in their knees. Also, myrrh, when fed to a mouse, influenced the pain perception of that mouse and helped it withhold from pain, unlike a mouse without myrrh in its system.

Justin, Comment on the composition. Relate this to class. 4 stars. MW

1/22/10 Crude Oil Video I learned that there are many different hydrocarbons in crude oil and that all of them can be separated. I never realized that there was a process that could so this. It’s amazing that someone came up with this idea of distillation when separating the molecules and actually created something that could execute the distillation so accurately. Also, I learned that the longer the molecules the higher the boiling point when separating the hydrocarbons.

Justin, Good job. 5 stars. MW

Redefining the Kilogram I found as the article was discussing having a prototype kilogram, I was thinking that it would be smart to take the kilogram to a mathematic equation. It turns out that what they have done is just that. I didn’t understand some of the terminology that was used like the mole and Avogadro’s constant. This made it harder for me to understand how it exactly worked but did not effect how I understood it applies to our class. In chemistry measuring is a very important part of labs and experiments, so what actually is a kilogram matters to our measurements and ultimately almost everything we do in class. The prototype was said to be losing weight which could throw off a lot of measurements if our technology couldn’t pin point that error.

Justin, Good reflection and understanding. 5 stars. MW

Where Do Elements Come From? This article was really intriguing to me because I never knew where the elements came from and how new elements developed. I understand how isotopoes form and how through the saturation of the nucleus can "rapidly" transform an element into the next one. Something that I do not understand is how the first element hydrogen was formed. At the end, the article claimed that the Big Bang explosion created hydrogen; but what came before hydrogen and what materials made up hydrogen?

Justin, You pose some of the ultimate questions that science may never be able to answer. 5 stars. MW

Mole Day I find it interesting how one number can be so important to chemistry. I had never heard of Avogadro's number until now and it is really important. I also enjoyed his other hypothesis about how at a fixed temperature and pressure a certain amount of gas has the same amount of molecules even if it was at a different temperature or pressure. But I am wondering how Avogadro came up with the number, and what kind of experiments and calculations he did. The site didn't say anything about that part of the history to my knowledge. Also, its unfair how he didn't receive any recognition for his work until after he died.

Justin, So true of many people. They are not appreciated until they are gone. I have read very little on the experiment that determined avogadro's number. 5 stars. MW

Dust Explosion I am shocked to hear that dust particles are so explosive! It is amazing that such little particles are actually more explosive than a larger particle would be. It is because there is a greater surface area for the amount of wieght it is. Also, the tiny particles burn a lot faster and since there are a lot of them you get a huge cloud of explosion. Stoichiometry is dealing with how much dust there is and the oxygen needed for it to react with to combust.

Justin, OK. A little late. 4 stars. MW

Sulfur Hexaflouride The article about this compound struck me in such a way that I was very surprised. I never quite thought about the inhilation of the gas and the dangers it might cause. The fact that there is no oxygen in it should ring a huge alarm to anyone but most would not even think about that. Also, the article mentioned how a ballon filled with Sulfur Hexaflouride would actually grow in size instead of shrink because the Sulfur Hexaflouride molecules are moving slow and air from the outside barges inside the balloon, which causes the volume to increase. This ties in with what we are learning about with kinetic energy and volume.

Justin, OK but a little light on the "3 things". 4 stars. MW

Motion Detectors Three things that I did know... 1. Light was made of waves 2. Many elevators use a technique of motion sensoring that allows the doors to not close on passengers 3. Bats send out sound waves and the reflection of the waves helps them locate obstacles.

Three things that I didn't know... 1. Some motion detectors use lights and when the light is broken then the detector goes off. 2. That motion detectors send out waves like radio waves and the reflections (like bats) give alert to objects. 3. That when light of sufficient energy is shined on a given surface, it can cause electrons to be ejected.

Justin, Looks good! 5 cataloguing stars! MW