Saturday, December 11, 2010

Did I Really Just Swallow that ?!? (Part 2)


As I scanned ingredients lists on various household items I ran into some chemical compunds that prior to last week would have been mystifying. Below I listed 10 that I saw, the item they were in is listed beside the compound name in italics:

11) Aluminum Hydroxide(Gaviscon antacid)-  Al(OH)3


12) Magnesium Carbonate (Gaviscon antacid)- MgCO3


13) copper Oxide (365 everyday value [Whole Foods Brand] Adult Multivitamin)-

Copper (I) [cuprous] Oxide- Cu2O
Copper (II) [Cupric] Oxide- CuO


14) Chromous [Chromium (II)] Chloride (365 everyday value [Whole Foods Brand] Adult Multivitamin)-  CrCl2


15) Calcium Phosphate (Caltrate Calcium Supplement)- Ca3 (PO4)2


16) Phosphoric Acid (Coca Cola)- H3PO4


17) Magnesium Hydroxide (Freelax)-  Mg (OH)2


18) Sodium Chloride (Benadryl Allergy mediation [or can be found as table salt])- NaCl


19) Magnesium Sulfate (Walgreens Brand Epsom Salt)- MgSO4


20) Hydrogen Peroxide (Leslie’s Pool Supplies Baquacil Pool Shock and Oxidizer)- H2O2

To see the first 10 compounds that my partner and I found, see his blog

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

midterm review #12

Q: Explain all the exceptions to electron configurations that we have learned including the odd filling order with d and f orbitals and the exceptions among the transition metals. Why do they occur?

A: Chromium and its respective group is an exception that exists in the d block. With these elements, an electron moves from the s sublevel to the d sublevel in order to create a half filled d sublevel. This occurs because a half filled d sublevel adds significant stability due to the fact that each of the orbitals will only have one electron (b/c hund’s rule states that they will all gain one electron before they double up). The presence of only one electron in each orbital minimizes repulsions and increases stability.

Copper and its corresponding group is also an exception. The same thing that happens with chromium occurs within this group in the sense that one electron leaves the s sublevel and is added to the d sublevel. The key differences between the two exceptions is that in the copper group elements add to the d sublevel to gain a completely full sublevel as opposed to a half filled sublevel. The reason the electron moves is similar to the reason that electrons transfer in the Chromium group-to add stability. 

A third exception that occurs is between the s and d orbitals of higher energy levels. For example, the 4s orbital fills before the 3d orbital. This occurs because the vast difference in energy between an s orbital and a d orbital is greater than the difference between energy levels. Therefore, a 3d orbital has more energy than a 4s orbital. This occurs throughout the energy levels as you move past the second level. A good way to see how they fill is to write out the orbitals by energy level and then imagine that they fill diagonally.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Chapter 4 Blog Assignment: the Discovery of Protons

To examine the Discovery of one of the three subatomic particles I decided to first take a look at what exactly a Proton is and why it is important in the Glog below.

What is a proton?

Now that the basic characteristics of the Proton have been established I went on to outline the progression of developments that led to the discovery of the Proton.

Discovery of the Proton Glog

My third and final Glog looks at one experiment in particular and examines the way it was set up and the drastic effect it had on the discovery of the Proton.

Rutherford's Experiments


**Please make sure to scroll all the way down on the text bubbles, a gray slider bar will appear that will allow you to scroll if you mouse over the right side of the text bubbles. Most of them have more written than just what is first shown and you need to scroll to see it all. Thanks

Works Cited:


-Blaimere, Professor John. “The Discovery of Protons.” Bio.edu. N.p., 4 Mar. 2007. Web. 3 Oct. 2010. <http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/‌bc/‌ahp/‌LAD/‌C3/‌C3_Protons.html>.

-Butt, Salaman. “Discovery of Protons.” Helium Sciences. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2010. <http://www.helium.com/‌items/‌1928945-discovery-of-protons>.

-“Nucleus of an Atom” Youtube.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2010. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8RuO2ekNGw&feature=related>

-Jones, Andrew Zimmerman. “Proton.” About.com :Physics. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2010. <http://physics.about.com/‌od/‌glossary/‌g/‌proton.htm>.

-McPhee, Isaac M. “Rutherford and the Atomic Nucleus.” Suite 101. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2010. <http://www.suite101.com/‌content/‌rutherford-and-the-atomic-nucleus-a45825>.

-“1919 Discovery of Protons.” Oracle-ThinkQuest. Oracle, n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2010. <http://www.helium.com/‌items/‌1928945-discovery-of-protons>.

-Rank, Josh. “The Proton and It’s Discovery.” Science: J Rank. N.p., 8 July 2009. Web. 5 Oct. 2010. <http://science.jrank.org/‌pages/‌5553/‌Proton.html>.

-Sawyer, Dr. Lee. “Who discovered the proton? And how was it discoverd?” Physlink.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2010. <http://www.physlink.com/‌education/‌askexperts/‌ae46.cfm>.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Blog Posting-Chapter 2 (Chemical and Physical Properties)

For my blog posting I decided to research the chemical and physical properties of an original style Alka Seltzer Tablet. Alka Seltzer is a medicinal antacid in tablet form composed of aspirin, sodium bicarbonate, and citric acid that is manufactured by Bayer Health Care.


one alka seltzer tablet




Physical Properties:


1. White in color


2. Non lustrous
-There is no shine or sparkle evident when visually examining the tablet


3. Brittle
-The tablet does not give or bend before fracturing when subjected to stress
-easy to split or break with relatively little force


4. Mass(of one tablet)=3.808 grams
-I calculated the mass of a tablet of Alka seltzer by adding together the masses of all the active and inactive ingredients listed on the manufacturers website. The ingredients were 325mg Aspirin, 1916 mg sodium bicarbonate, 1000mg citric acid, and 567 mg sodium. The sum of all the ingredients= 1916 mg+325 mg+1000 mg+567 mg=3,808 mg= 3.808 grams


5. The tablet is a solid at room temperature


Chemical Properties:


1. effervescent 
-dissolves quickly in water, normally this would be called solubility and would be a physical property by in the case of alka seltzer it is a chemical property due to the fact that after the chemical reaction with water a different substance is produced.
-the reactants in this chemical reaction are water and the chemicals making up alka seltzer (aspirin, citric acid, and sodium bicarbonate). after the reaction takes place and the alka seltzer is dissolved in water it becomes Sodium Acetylsalicylate, Sodium Citrate, Carbon Dioxide, and Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate (the products). Because the products and reactants are different substances the reaction taking place is a chemical reaction and the ability of the alka seltzer to undergo that reaction is a chemical property of the alka seltzer.







2. Neutralizes acidity
-If alka seltzer is added to an acidic substance such as vinegar there will be a violent reaction that will slowly die down and the vinegar's acidic level will be neutralized
-the reaction between alka seltzer and vinegar is similar to the reation that occurs in your stomach when alka seltzer is ingested and the neutralization of acid is how alka seltzer relives acidic indigestion.
-to prove that acidity is nuetralized I first dropped alka seltzer into vinegar and let the reaction take place. Then I added Baking soda to the vinegar. The fact that the Baking soda failed to react proves that the acetic acid present in the vinegar has been neutralized. if the acetic acid was still present there would be a violent reaction similar to the one seen in the control (which was just baking soda and vinegar without any alka seltzer).



3. non flammable (tested)
-when exposed to an open flame, the alka seltzer tablet show no tendency to burn or ignite, proving that the alka sektzer does not have flammable tendencies



4. Tablet bubbles and Fizzes when heated
-when exposed to an open flame the tablet takes on a brownish color and then begins to bubble and fizz, similar to how it bubbles when it is put in water. Even exposure to extreme heat, however, has minimal effect on the effervescent qualities of the tablet. The tablet still has almost the same reaction with water.







5.Extremely sour and bitter taste when not dissolved in water (tested)


Works Cited:

Official Alka Seltzer Website
-http://alkaseltzer.com/as/

Alka Seltzer Original style product page
-http://alkaseltzer.com/as/as_original.html