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Substance with High Melting Point

7/30/2015

I hope you’re enjoying the end of July, 2015!

For inexpensive chemistry lab ideas to expand your repertoire, buy my lab book Chemistry on a Budget for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com.

Chemistry on a Budget contains several labs that are great for the beginning of the school year! Topics used include Significant Figures, Density (2 labs) and Physical Separation techniques are very handy for the beginning of the school year.

There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report. This way the teacher has the option! Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout.

It will take a week or so to get to you, so Order Now and use the rest of the summer to determine how you will use the labs!

http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget

http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html

I realize that during the school year it’s very difficult to keep up with research topics. During the next few weeks, I will talk about some current research going on in the science community.

According to https://news.brown.edu/articles/2015/07/melting ,

“Using powerful computer simulations, researchers from Brown University have identified a material with a higher melting point than any known substance.”

Melting Point is a Physical Property typically discussed in the early weeks of a Chemistry course -- this article is a handy extension.

Students could brainstorm on the potential utility of this substance, the use of computer modeling, and the cost/benefit of investigating the substance.

Here are two articles about this substance with a high melting point that are brief enough to be summarized or used in a “10-fact” assignment (described in my 7/23/15 post):

http://www.gizmag.com/material-new-record-melting-point/38637/

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2015/07/28/Researchers-discover-highest-ever-melting-point/4371438108391/

And here is another article with a slightly different approach about this high melting point substance:

http://az-neweer.com/researchers-predict-material-with-record-setting-melting-point/

This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom. Remember, you can check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.

Have a great end of July, and remember to order my book!

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Astatine discovery

7/23/2015

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During this time away from the routine, I hope you’re able to explore and to catch up on various! What do they say, the Summer starts slow but ends fast…

For inexpensive chemistry lab ideas to expand your repertoire, buy my lab book Chemistry on a Budget for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com.

Chemistry on a Budget contains several labs that are great for the beginning of the school year! Topics used include Significant Figures, Density (2 labs) and Physical Separation techniques are very handy for the beginning of the school year.

There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report. This way the teacher has the option! Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout.

It will take a week or so to get to you, so Order Now and use the rest of the summer to determine how you will use the labs!

http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget

http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html

I realize that during the school year it’s very difficult to keep up with research topics. During the next few weeks, I will talk about some current research going on in the science community.

Students memorize the symbols of the elements and usually focus on using the first 18, Hydrogen (H) through Argon (Ar).

I require my students to memorize 50 element names and symbols – correctly spelled and correct format for symbols (first letter capitalized and second letter lower-case). Like any language, it helps to have a cursory knowledge before learning it more in-depth.

More information has been discovered for the element Astatine (At) – atomic number 85, a halogen -- as discussed in this article:

http://www.internetchemistry.com/news/2013/may13/astatine-properties.html

Here is another news report about this element:

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Scientists_uncover_the_fundamental_property_of_astatine_the_rarest_atom_on_Earth_999.html

This is a more technical article about the recent discovery regarding Astatine (At):

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v4/n5/full/ncomms2819.html

*This is a simple article about Astatine (At) that could easily be assigned to students to read:

http://www.sci-news.com/physics/article01098-astatine-cern.html

Some of the terms used refer to topics discussed in Atomic Structure and Nuclear Chemistry, such as alpha particles, half-life and atomic spectrum. It might be useful for a review assignment.

A quick assignment (or extra-credit opportunity) is to have your students list 10 facts from the article. I require it to be a handwritten assignment to prevent a “copy and paste” approach. Also, you could require a quick summary or opinion with the 10 facts.

Astatine (At) is the least reactive Halogen, and this article could be used as a springboard for reviewing The Periodic Table, metals vs. nonmetals, Groups I, II, VII and VIII.

It is always useful to show the ongoing research being pursued and that the body of scientific knowledge is constantly expanding.

This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom. Remember, you can check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.

Keep enjoying July and remember to order my book!

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Abandoned mines

7/16/2015

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Wow, we’re deep in the Summer of 2015 Break – I hope your time has been productive but still restful!

For inexpensive chemistry lab ideas to expand your repertoire, buy my lab book Chemistry on a Budget for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com.

Chemistry on a Budget contains several labs that are great for the beginning of the school year! Topics used include Significant Figures, Density (2 labs) and Physical Separation Techniques.

There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report. This way the teacher has the option! Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout.

It will take a week or so to get to you, so Order Now and use the rest of the summer to determine how you will use the labs!

http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget

http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html

I realize that during the school year it’s very difficult to keep up with research topics. During the next few weeks, I will talk about some current research going on in the science community.

Mines that have not been properly closed, just abandoned, have been an environmental concern that has been around for many years.

Here is one source providing a basic history of the issue:

http://www.miningfacts.org/Environment/What-are-abandoned-mines/

Here is an older source (2000), but it provides a table of sites needing clean-up in just one US state, Montana:

http://www.perc.org/articles/good-samaritan-abandoned-or-inactive-mine-waste-remediation-act

Here is a 2015 example, showing how this issue is still a concern in the United States:

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.5b01408

Abandoned mine concerns has been an issue around the world -- here are other examples from Great Britain, Korea and Italy :

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/288582/LIT_6797_7d390c.pdf

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17687627

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s002540050152

This might be an interesting research topic for students. Also, it shows another application of knowledge of Chemistry other than medicine.

This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom. Remember, you can check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.

Keep enjoying your summer, and remember to Order my Book!

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atoms at absolute zero

7/9/2015

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I hope you are having a restful Summer of 2015 vacation!

The lab book Chemistry on a Budget contains several labs that are great for the beginning of the school year! Topics used include Significant Figures, Density (2 labs) and Physical Separation techniques are very handy.

There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report. This way the teacher has the option! Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout.

It will take a week or so to get to you, so Order Now and use the rest of the summer to determine how you will use the labs!

These inexpensive chemistry lab ideas are in my lab book Chemistry on a Budget for $22 at amazon.com or $23 at lulu.com.

http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget

http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html

I realize that during the school year it’s very difficult to keep up with research topics. During the next few weeks, I will talk about some current research going on in the science community.

A recent article posts the headline: “Atoms frozen to absolute zero using microwaves” It is a handy way to discuss the concept of Absolute Zero:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150702131514.htm

From a quote in this article:

"The use of long-wavelength radiation instead of laser technology to cool ions can tremendously simplify the construction of practical quantum technology devices enabling us to build real devices much faster," said Professor Hensinger.

Here is another brief article:

http://www.kurzweilai.net/freezing-single-atoms-to-near-absolute-zero-with-microwaves-brings-practical-quantum-technology-closer

And according this another article:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150702131514.htm

“Freezing atoms puts them into the lowest possible energy and is a step towards harnessing the strange effects of quantum physics, which allow objects to exist in different states at the same time. ‘Besides finding an easy way to create atoms with zero-point energy, we have also managed to put the atom into a highly counter intuitive state: where it is both moving and not moving at the same time,’ said Professor Hensinger.”

The concept of Absolute Zero can seem unreachable to students – it’s nice to see some current research using it!

This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom. Remember, you can check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.

Enjoy your summer, and remember to order my book!

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hydrogen production

7/2/2015

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I hope you have gotten some rest and relaxation during the start of your Summer vacation!

For inexpensive chemistry lab ideas to expand your repertoire, buy my lab book Chemistry on a Budget for $20.56 at amazon.com or $23 at lulu.com. It will take a few weeks to get to you, so order now!

http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget

http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html

This book contains 13 labs using consumable materials purchased from local stores including Analysis of a Mixture, Paper Chromatography, and Coinium (using pennies to demonstrate half-life). There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report. This way the teacher has the option! Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout.

I realize that during the school year it’s very difficult to keep up with research topics. During the next few weeks, I will talk about some current research going on in the science community.

Recently published in June, 2015 was the following:

First ‘unassisted’ water splitting using only hematite and silicon as solar absorbers
Finding an efficient solar water splitting method to mine electron-rich hydrogen for clean power has been thwarted by the poor performance of hematite. But by ‘re-growing’ the mineral’s surface, a smoother version of hematite doubled electrical yield, opening a new door to energy-harvesting artificial photosynthesis, according to a report published online today in the journal Nature Communications.

http://planetenergynews.com/2015/06/22/hematite-re-growth-smoothes-rough-edges-for-clean-energy-harvest/

This is exciting because ocean water (H2O) provides a great source of hydrogen gas (H2), and this appears to be a low-cost method of separation.

There would be a challenge of storage and transport of the highly flammable gas (think Hindenburg). Here is a video clip of the famous disaster:

Here is another article about the "water splitting" method:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150616072324.htm

According to another online article:

'This offers new hope that efficient and inexpensive solar fuel production by readily available natural resources is within reach,' said Wang. 'Getting there will contribute to a sustainable future powered by renewable energy.'

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-06/bc-hs061215.php :

This article of earlier research shows development of this idea:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131011093958.htm

What’s currently being researched is always interesting. I’d love to hear from you about further developments – write when you can!

This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom. Remember, you can check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.

Have a great Fourth of July weekend!

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Substance with High Melting Point

Astatine discovery

Abandoned mines

atoms at absolute zero

hydrogen production

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