Teaching High School Chemistry
  • Introduction
  • Book
  • Blog
  • Topic List
  • Teaching Resources
  • Biography
  • Contact

current fukushima underwater footage

7/28/2017

0 Comments

 
The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials.
 
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. 
 
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you.
 
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
 
It will take a few weeks for the book to get to you, so ORDER NOW!  You’ll want to have some time before the school year starts to see how you can use the book Chemistry on a Budget in your class.
 
*Some of you have already purchased Chemistry on a Budget – be sure to check out Page 141 !
 
 “Tokyo Electric has said that a remotely controlled robot investigating the inside of reactor 3 at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant has finally spotted objects that could be fuel debris — a potential milestone in the effort to clean up one of the worst atomic disasters in history.

This is the first time Tepco has found something likely to be melted fuel. When the utility sent a different robot into reactor 2 in January, it found black lumps sticking to the grating in the primary containment vessel but said they were difficult to identify.

The objects spotted this time look like icicles hanging around a control rod drive attached to the bottom of the pressure vessel, which holds the core…

Enclosed by the huge primary containment vessel, the pressure vessel originally contained the fuel rod assemblies. But the rods melted into a puddle and burned through its bottom once the plant lost power after being swamped by the monstrous tsunami of March 11, 2011.

The robot also captured images of lumps of material that appear to have melted and resolidified near the wall of the pedestal, a concrete structure that supports the pressure vessel.”
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/07/21/national/fukushima-robot-finds-potential-fuel-debris-hanging-like-icicles-reactor-3/#.WXeBY-mQzcs
 
“The Great East Japan Earthquake of magnitude 9.0 at 2.46 pm on Friday 11 March 2011 did considerable damage in the region, and the large tsunami it created caused very much more. The earthquake was centred 130 km offshore the city of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture on the eastern cost of Honshu Island (the main part of Japan), and was a rare and complex double quake giving a severe duration of about 3 minutes. An area of the seafloor extending 650 km north-south moved typically 10-20 metres horizontally. Japan moved a few metres east and the local coastline subsided half a metre. The tsunami inundated about 560 sq km and resulted in a human death toll of about 19,000 and much damage to coastal ports and towns, with over a million buildings destroyed or partly collapsed.”
http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/fukushima-accident.aspx
This article has a list of facts about the accident that may be useful to review.
 
“After an earthquake struck near Japan on March 11, 2011, a tsunami spurred by the quake hit the nuclear plant, damaging generators and causing three nuclear meltdowns and the subsequent release of radioactive material. No radiation-related deaths have been reported, but nearly 100,000 homes had to be evacuated in the aftermath of the disaster.

Six years later, the homes remain deserted. But underwater robots could be the key to decontaminating the area and making it habitable again. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which owns the Fukushima nuclear plant, has been using robots mounted with cameras to explore the site, often losing them to radiation damage or challenging terrain. (See 360 footage of what’s left from Chernobyl, the worst nuclear power disaster in history.)”
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/fukushima-nuclear-reactor-robot-clean-up-video-spd/
This page contains footage of the underwater exploration.
 
“Having entered the stricken Pressure Containment Vessel (PCV) through a pipe designed to prevent the escape of radioactive gas, the robot descended into the cooling water which accumulated following the accident.

The device was equipped with thrusters to navigate through the water, and featured front and rear cameras.

The small ‘radiation-hardened, screw-driven’ submersible robot was designed to fit through the narrow, 14-centimeter (5.5-inch) diameter entrance of the pipe, according to the Tokyo-based International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning (IRID), which developed the device alongside technology company Toshiba.”
http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/24/asia/fukushima-robot-nuclear-fuel-detected/index.html
This page also contains footage of the underwater exploration.
 
“[T]he robot spotted suspected debris of melted fuel for the first time since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused multiple meltdowns and destroyed the plant…
Locating and analysing the fuel debris and damage in each of the plant’s three wrecked reactors is crucial for decommissioning the plant. The search for melted fuel in the two other reactors has so far been unsuccessful because of damage and extremely high radiation levels.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/23/fukushima-images-show-massive-deposits-thought-to-be-melted-nuclear-fuel
This page also contains footage of the underwater exploration.
 
“…[F]uel rod assemblies contained in the pressure vessel melted into a puddle and burned through the bottom after the tsunami six years ago.
Lumps of material that appeared to have melted and re-solidified near the wall of the pedestal, a concrete structure supporting the pressure vessel, were also captured on camera.”
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40696303
 
“The Japanese government said in December that it expects total costs including compensation, decommissioning and decontamination to reach 21.5 trillion yen ($192.5 billion) in a process likely to take at least four decades as high radiation levels slow operations. “
https://phys.org/news/2017-07-robot-fuel-fukushima-reactor.html
 
Past blog posts about Nuclear Chemistry and Nuclear Power include:
2/11/2015              Introduction to Nuclear Chemistry
02/18/2015            Nuclear Chemistry – Part II (Fission,
                                 Fusion & Half-Life)
08/06/2015            Post-Fukushima Restarts
10/30/2015            Current Event – Radioactive Waste
                                 from WWII
10/22/2015            The Future of Nuclear Fusion​
02/20/2016            Nuclear Waste and Lake Huron
03/26/2016            Nuclear Waste Storage
05/01/2016            30th Anniversary of Chernobyl  
07/31/2016            Cost of Nuclear Shutdown in Germany
08/07/2016            Debate about Nuclear Power
11/25/2016            Tsunami Near Fukushima
02/10/2017             High Fukushima Radiation Levels
 
*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom.  Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
 
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
 
Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.

Have a great weekend!

​
0 Comments

Converting Carbon Dioxide to Methane

7/21/2017

0 Comments

 
I hope you all are getting a chance to relax and rejuvenate during this Summer of 2017!
 
The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials.
 
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. 
 
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you.
 
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
 
It will take a few weeks for the book to get to you, so ORDER NOW!  You’ll want to have some time before the school year starts to see how you can use the book Chemistry on a Budget in your class.
 
*Some of you have already purchased Chemistry on a Budget – be sure to check out Page 141 !
 
“Duke University researchers have developed tiny nanoparticles that help convert carbon dioxide into methane using only ultraviolet light as an energy source.
Having found a catalyst that can do this important chemistry using ultraviolet light, the team now hopes to develop a version that would run on natural sunlight, a potential boon to alternative energy.”
https://today.duke.edu/2017/02/light-driven-reaction-converts-carbon-dioxide-fuel
 
A similar effect was obtained in 2016 by researchers at the University of Illinois:
“While plants produce fuel in the form of sugar, the artificial leaf delivers syngas, or synthesis gas, a mixture of hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide. Syngas can be burned directly, or converted into diesel or other hydrocarbon fuels.
The ability to turn CO2 into fuel at a cost comparable to a gallon of gasoline would render fossil fuels obsolete.
Chemical reactions that convert CO2 into burnable forms of carbon are called reduction reactions, the opposite of oxidation or combustion. Engineers have been exploring different catalysts to drive CO2 reduction, but so far such reactions have been inefficient and rely on expensive precious metals such as silver...”
https://phys.org/news/2016-07-breakthrough-solar-cell-captures-carbon.html
 
And another article describes another method to produce methane from carbon dioxide.  This article is a little more challenging to read:
“A doubly substituted form of the nitrogenase MoFe protein (α-70Val→Ala, α-195His→Gln) has the capacity to catalyze the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) to yield methane (CH4). … The catalytic rate depends on the partial pressure of CO2 (or concentration of HCO3−) and the electron flux through nitrogenase. The doubly substituted MoFe protein also has the capacity to catalyze the unprecedented formation of propylene (H2C = CH-CH3) through the reductive coupling of CO2 and acetylene (HC≡CH). In light of these observations, we suggest that an emerging understanding of the mechanistic features of nitrogenase could be relevant to the design of synthetic catalysts for CO2 sequestration and formation of olefins.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3511747/
 
There is not much news on the Internet right now about any of these developments in converting carbon dioxide, CO2, to methane, CH4.  This shows that several scientists work  on similar problems to either explore the problem and develop new technologies, or to replicate another scientist’s method.

​Carbon dioxide contributes to climate change and the methane produced is a renewable fuel source that could reduce the use of fossil fuels and nuclear power.   This research is required before developing any of these technologies.

 
*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom.  Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
 
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
 
Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.

Have a great weekend!


0 Comments

Using Redox to clean rust

7/14/2017

0 Comments

 

I know a lot of you are earning credits toward higher education degrees, working to earn some extra money, or catching up on personal business; but, I hope you’re also getting a chance to relax during this summer of 2017.   You’ve earned it!
 
The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials.
 
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. 
 
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you.
 
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
 
It will take a few weeks for the book to get to you, so ORDER NOW!  You’ll want to have some time before the school year starts to see how you can use the book Chemistry on a Budget in your class.
 
*Some of you have already purchased Chemistry on a Budget – be sure to check out Page 141 !
 
Recently, I was researching for methods to clean rust off a bathroom drain at my home.   A few methods using chemicals were suggested, but they were more caustic than I would like to use. 
 
One method that is very effective, just a little slow, was to use aluminum foil to clean rust off the bathroom drain.
 
Because aluminum is higher on the Activity Series, it will replace the iron of the iron III oxide (rust) in a Single Replacement reaction.  The solid iron produced can be rinsed away because very fine particles are the result.  If the iron powder remains on the porcelain of the tub or sink, use an over-the-counter cleaner to remove.
 
What is rust?
“Rusting of iron consists of the formation of hydrated oxide, Fe(OH)3, FeO(OH), or even Fe2O3.H2O. It is an electrochemical process which requires the presence of water, oxygen and an electrolyte. In the absence of any one of these rusting does not occur to any significant extent.”
http://corrosion-doctors.org/Experiments/rust-chemistry.htm
This page provides the chemical reactions of rust from a Reduction/Oxidation or Redox focus.
 
Here is a video of aluminum foil and water being used to remove rust on an old bicycle:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UPO8aJh_6A
 
Using cola instead of plain water (the cola contains the electrolyte phosphoric acid, H3PO4) with aluminum foil is demonstrated in the following video, but is it the best method?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijvg8abpVzA
 
Another approach is shown in the video below using aluminum powder for greater surface area of the reactants, white vinegar rather than water or cola, added table salt to increase the electrolyte (as stated in the video), and flour to aid polish.  An electric polishing pad is used for approximately 2 hours – here is the result:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76-lQwTru3s
It was a great result but very time consuming; also, an electric appliance is not safe to use around water (such as a bathtub).
 
I had a very rusty tub drain to clean.  I used very wrinkled aluminum foil (to increase the surface area), white vinegar for acid and polished by hand.  I had to clean the iron off the porcelain with an over-the-counter cleaner -- but did not have time for 2 hours.  I worked maybe 5-10 minutes.
 
Vinegar is not a very strong electrolyte (remember, it is a weak acid) so table salt (NaCl) provides more ions to the solution, strengthening the electrolyte.
 
A very effective method to clean the rust off the tub drain was by increasing the surface area of the reactant aluminum foil by crumpling it loosely and using a stronger electrolyte in the form of a table salt (NaCl) aqueous solution. 

The stronger the NaCl solution, saturated if possible, the better.  The NaCl isn't a reactant but an important medium for the redox reaction.


(just added 7/17/17) You might want to wear plastic gloves while doing this -- the small bits of iron get under your fingernails and are difficult to clean off.

Overall, this simple method was effective, it was just necessary to keep replacing the reactants -- the aluminum foil and the salt solution – and the method is time-consuming.
 
This was a much-needed repair in my own home, and I’m very excited that it worked with easily obtained materials (and a little elbow grease).  I regret that I did not remember to take before and after pictures!
 
Here are past posts related to this topic:
​
01/11/2014           New Schedule
                               (Single Replacement Reaction –
                                    Cu with Ag)

11/21/2014              Predicting Products of a Single
                                  Replacement Reaction
                                  (3rd  Rxn Type)
 
05/04/2014             Electrochemistry – Redox Basics
 
05/14/2014             Electrochemistry – Electrochemical
                                  Cells

05/21/2015             Natural Cleaners
 
You could start collecting rusty items or have students contribute to your collection so you could demonstrate this redox reaction in class, it's that immediate!

Also, you might want to offer Extra Credit to your students in researching any cleaning/repair methods using chemical reactions. 
 
*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom.  Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
 
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
 
Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.

Have a great weekend!

​
0 Comments

Teflon water worries

7/7/2017

0 Comments

 
The Summer of 2017 is in full swing!  Just in case you haven’t reflected on your school year, past blog posts that may be useful include:
06/11/2015      End of Year Reflection
06/19/2016      End of Year Reflection II
 
The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials.
 
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. 
 
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you. 
 
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
 
*Some of you have already purchased my lab book – be sure to check out Page 141 !
 
All of us expect that the water available in our homes and work to be clean and free of contaminants.  This does not appear to be true and as water delivery systems are aging, problems continue to develop.
 
“Some 60,000 Wilmington, N.C., residents get their drinking water from the Cape Fear River.
DuPont and its spinoff company Chemours manufacture chemicals at a plant upstream from the city.
The plant is situated on a 2,100-acre property on the Cape Fear River in Fayetteville. It is there where a chemical called GenX -- a potentially cancer-causing substance that is a byproduct of DuPont and Chemours' manufacturing processes -- is produced.
Wilmington residents are demanding to know if those toxic chemicals are making their way downriver into the city's drinking water.
The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority co-authored a three-year study on the chemical's elevated presence in the water. But as CBS News' Jericka Duncan reports, the findings were never made available to the general public -- not even to Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/wilmington-nc-cape-fear-river-water-tainted-genx-dupont-chemours/
This link also contains a useful news report from 6/26/2017.
 
“DuPont introduced GenX in 2009 to replace PFOA, a compound it used to manufacture Teflon and coatings for stain-resistant carpeting, waterproof clothing, and many other consumer products. PFOA, also known as C8, was phased out after DuPont was hit with a class-action suit over health and environmental concerns. Yet as The Intercept reported last year, GenX is associated with some of the same health problems as PFOA, including cancer and reproductive issues.
Levels of GenX in the drinking water of one North Carolina water utility, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, averaged 631 ppt (parts per trillion), according to a study published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters in 2016. Although researchers didn’t test the water of two other drinking water providers that also draw water from that area of the Cape Fear River, the entire watershed downstream of the Chemours discharge, which is a source of drinking water for some 250,000 people, is likely to be contaminated, according to Detlef Knappe, one of the authors of the study.
Research presented at a conference this week at Northeastern University detailed the presence of GenX in water in North Carolina and Ohio. In both cases, the chemical was found in water near plants that were owned by DuPont and since 2015 have been operated by DuPont’s spinoff company, Chemours. Both GenX and PFOA belong to a larger group of chemicals known as PFAS, which are structurally similar and believed to persist indefinitely in nature.
In Ohio, Jason Galloway, a university student who presented at the conference, measured the chemical in surface water as far as 20 miles from the Chemours plant, which is across the Ohio River in Parkersburg, West Virginia. After reading about the chemical in The Intercept, Galloway sampled water near the plant and tested it for GenX. Galloway found the chemical in various creeks and streams in the area at levels reaching more than 100 ppt. He explained that some of the chemical was likely deposited far from the plant by wind.
In North Carolina, GenX was present in water at even higher levels, with the most concentrated sample measuring 4,500 ppt. Although the EPA has not set legally binding regulations on any member of this class of chemicals, the agency last year set a drinking water standard for PFOA and the related chemical PFOS of 70 ppt. Several states have also set their own drinking levels for PFOA. Vermont has set the lowest so far at 20 ppt, and water experts in New Jersey have proposed an even lower level, 14 ppt, though it has not yet been finalized.”
https://theintercept.com/2017/06/17/new-teflon-toxin-found-in-north-carolina-drinking-water/
 
What is GenX? Here is a description in a news report that includes the interview of a biologist using a molecular model:
https://www.wwaytv3.com/2017/06/23/genx-explained-by-biologist/
 
“GenX, an unregulated contaminant, has been detected in both the river and drinking water. The chemical can’t be removed using traditional water treatment methods.
Cape Fear River Watch hosted a GenX Community Forum on Wednesday night, where, former Wilmington Mayor Harper Peterson said, ‘we can express our fear, concern, worries and outrage.’
These emotions have troubled many Wilmington residents since June 7, when the Star-News reported the findings of a team of scientists including NC State University professor Detlef Knappe. That study, published in 2016, showed GenX had been detected in drinking water, with its upstream source being Chemours. A spinoff of DuPont, Chemours discharges GenX into the Cape Fear via the factory’s effluent.
Gen X in the family of PFOA chemicals (perfluoroctanoic acids), a byproduct of manufacturing Teflon. PFOAs are widespread in the environment; they’re even present in house dust. Despite their ubiquitousness, GenX is classified as an ‘emerging contaminant’ by the EPA. Emerging contaminants have not been independently tested for safety or toxicity; nor are they regulated. Its effects on human health are unknown. GenX is biopersistent, meaning it remains in the body, in this case, for an estimated one to three years.”
http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2017/06/22/former-wilmington-mayor-express-outrage-genx-contamination-drinking-water-cape-fear/#sthash.bVR2h5Y3.dpbs
 
“The unregulated compound in the Cape Fear River has raised public health concerns. But according to a statement released by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, ‘the GenX levels detected in 2013-14 would be expected to pose a low risk to human health.’
 
The source of the chemical has been tied to a byproduct of The Chemours Company’s Fayetteville plant about 70 miles north of the Cape Fear River. Chemours has since announced that it will ‘capture, remove, and safely dispose of wastewater that contains the byproduct GenX’ that’s generated at the site.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) is currently investigating the issue and conducting water sampling along Cape Fear River.

‘Our objective is to determine the current concentration of GenX in the lower Cape Fear, and in partnership with DHHS, better characterize any potential health risk associated with that concentration. The potential health risk will help guide next steps in the process,’ NCDEQ Public Information Officer Bridget Munger said in an email.

The Chemours Company permit, which expired in October, is up for renewal as part of the five-year permit cycle, however, the renewal is currently on hold pending results of the state’s investigation, she said. There are 19 major facilities located on the mainstem of the Cape Fear River that have a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System wastewater discharge permit, according to NCDEQ. Over half of those facilities are municipal wastewater treatment plants.”

​Past posts about Water Quality include:

08/13/2015           Colorado Mine Accident
10/08/2015           Current Event - Contaminated Drinking
                               Water​
11/13/2015           Sewage in Lake Champlain​
​01/13/2016           Doce River Mine Accident (Brazil)
02/20/2016           Nuclear Waste and Lake Huron
09/23/2016           Water Pollution in US Schools
01/20/2017           Contaminated Drinking Water at US
                               Marine Camp
 
During the 2017-2018 school year, students could research the current status of this issue for a Homework assignment or as an Extra Credit assignment.
 
*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom.  Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
 
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
 
Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.

Have a great weekend!

​
0 Comments

    Author

    Marjorie R. Heesemann is a chemistry teacher with 15 years of experience who is now working to develop resources for the Chemistry classroom.

    Archives

    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.