Blog Archives

sri lanka bans plastic bags

9/29/2017

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.

A 5-Star Customer Review of Chemistry on a Budget at amazon.com states:
“[S]traight forward, to the point, using household chemicals…this is the lab book for you.
I teach high school chemistry and this is exactly what i was looking for. Labs included simple household chemicals that could be easily found. Nice format, easy to follow along procedures, and touches on every topic of our chemistry curriculum.”

You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you -- Order Now. It’s a great resource!

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 !

“Sri Lanka’s government announced the implementation of a ban on the production and sale of plastic bags effective Friday, September 1, [2017] after the collapse of the island's largest dump led to a rubbish disposal crisis. The ban will reportedly not be enforced until January 2018, and also covers the use or manufacture of expanded polystyrene. Those in violation of the ban will face two-years imprisonment and/or a fine of 10,000 Sri Lankan rupees (USD 65).
The government stated it would replace plastic bags with reusable cloth bags, however there has been widespread opposition to the ban. Sri Lanka's polythene manufacturers claim that around 345,000 employees would lose their jobs.”
https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/70886/sri-lanka-plastic-bag-ban-in-effect-september-1

BTW, polythene is also known as polyethylene.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/polythene

“Rotting garbage piled up in many parts of the capital, [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte], after the giant rubbish tip collapsed in April [2017], crushing dozens of homes and killing 32 people.
Many blamed the haphazard use of plastic, which was also cited in flash flooding in the capital after storm water drains became clogged.”
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Sri_Lanka_bans_plastic_after_garbage_crisis_999.html

“Polythene and Styrofoam is used by local shops to wrap lunch. Polythene shopping bags [are] also widely used in supermarkets and shops.

Shopping bags will be replaced with reusable cloth bags under the new law, the Central Environmental Authority said. “
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1064290.shtml

“Rotting garbage piled up in many parts of the capital after the giant rubbish tip collapsed in April [2017], crushing dozens of homes and killing 32 people.
Many blamed the haphazard use of plastic, which was also cited in flash flooding in the capital after storm water drains became clogged.
In response, President Maithripala Sirisena banned the sale of plastic bags, cups and plates, as well as the burning of refuse containing plastic.”
https://phys.org/news/2017-09-sri-lanka-plastic-garbage-crisis.html

“Local residents have complained that piles of garbage have been left uncollected in the capital with the government vowing that it would clean up Colombo and its outskirts soon.
Sri Lanka is also facing its worst ever dengue epidemic with over 225 patients killed and over 80,000 infected.”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-07/12/c_136438443.htm

What is dengue?
“With more than one-third of the world’s population living in areas at risk for infection, dengue virus is a leading cause of illness and death in the tropics and subtropics. As many as 400 million people are infected yearly. Dengue is caused by any one of four related viruses transmitted by mosquitoes. There are not yet any vaccines to prevent infection with dengue virus and the most effective protective measures are those that avoid mosquito bites. When infected, early recognition and prompt supportive treatment can substantially lower the risk of medical complications and death.”
https://www.cdc.gov/dengue/index.html

“Sri Lankan soldiers dug through rubbish with their bare hands Saturday to pull out victims after a huge garbage mountain collapsed on their homes, killing at least 15 people.
Four children were among the dead following Friday’s incident at Kolonnawa on the northeastern edge of the capital, Colombo national hospital spokeswoman Pushpa Soysa said.
The 300-foot (91-metre) high dump came crashing down on neighbouring homes…as the country marked the traditional new year.
Local residents have complained that piles of garbage have been left uncollected in the capital with the government vowing that it would clean up Colombo and its outskirts soon.”
http://www.nan.ng/news/plastic-shopping-bags-banned-sri-lanka/

“The short term measures also include the ban on the manufacture, import or sale of containers, plates, cups, spoons made of polystyrene, the ban on the sale of processed or cooked meals packed in polythene containers and the promotion of paper, cloth or reed bags or biologically degradable plastics for customers when purchasing items in stores, prohibition of burning polythene and plastic in open places introduction and promotion of biologically degradable polythene and plastics.
Tax concessions would be provided to import machinery for the manufacture of biologically degradable plastic and a cess tax of 15% on the import of plastic raw material and goods.
In the long term the use of recycled plastic products would be banned.”
http://www.dailymirror.lk/132675/Use-of-polythene-rigifoam-shopping-bags-banned

Some past blog posts about Organic Compounds include:

05/21/2014    Organic Chemistry – Alkanes, Alkenes
                         & Alkynes
05/25/2014    Organic Chemistry – Organic Compounds

*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!

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los angeles lead clean-up

9/22/2017

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I hope your school year is starting well! It's been a combination of seating charts and assigning books, fire drills and some 3-day weekends. You will start settling into a routine soon!

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.

A 5-Star Customer Review of Chemistry on a Budget at amazon.com states:
“[S]traight forward, to the point, using household chemicals…this is the lab book for you.
I teach high school chemistry and this is exactly what i was looking for. Labs included simple household chemicals that could be easily found. Nice format, easy to follow along procedures, and touches on every topic of our chemistry curriculum.”

You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you -- Order Now. It’s a great resource!

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 !

“People who live near the old Exide battery plant in Los Angeles are demanding state help. Nearly all of the 10,000 homes within a 1.5-mile radius of the old plant have been found to have soil contaminated with lead and other toxins in their yards... Before closing, the Exide Technologies plant recycled car batteries for 70 years, spewing toxic lead, benzene and arsenic into the air, slowly poisoning these properties. Now, a recently released report confirms only 25 percent of homes will be cleaned.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/la-residents-demand-help-to-clean-up-contaminated-soil/

As reported on 7/6/17, “The Department of Toxic Substances Control plan sets in motion the next two years of a massive cleanup project spanning more than 10,000 properties across seven southeast Los Angeles communities around the Exide Technologies facility.
Crews have so far tested more than 8,200 yards, with more than 95% exceeding California’s 80 parts per million health standard for residential soil.
Based on sampling results released Thursday on 7,011 of those parcels, about 27% would qualify for cleanup under the plan, which has new guidelines for which properties will be cleaned based on lead contamination levels.”
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-exide-cleanup-plan-20170706-story.html

This page summarizes the situation related to the Exide Technologies facility in Vernon, California:
“What did Exide do?

Exide operated a lead-acid battery recycling facility in the city of Vernon, CA.
Exide is not currently operating, and [The California Department of Toxic Substances Control aka] DTSC is working to safely close the facility. When operating, it processed an average of 120,000 tons of lead per year, or approximately 11 million batteries per year.
Based on soil testing conducted by DTSC, Exide’s contamination may potentially reach up to 1.7 miles away from the facility, which includes approximately 10,000 properties.”

https://a53.asmdc.org/article/exide-cleanup

“What are the health risks?
Lead is a poison that, even in small amounts, can lower children’s IQs and cause other developmental harm.
From 1922 to 2014, regulators say, the Vernon plant’s lead-smelting operations deposited the harmful metal in the soil up to 1.7 miles away.
According to an analysis released last year by the [California] state public health department, nearly 300 children younger than 6 living near Exide had high blood lead levels in 2012 — the last year the plant was in full operation. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers blood lead levels of 5 micrograms per deciliter or more to be elevated.”
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-exide-what-we-know-20170806-htmlstory.html

“How long was Exide polluting L.A. area neighborhoods?
The plant operated in the industrial city of Vernon since 1922, spewing toxic air pollution over decades. Georgia-based Exide took over in 2000.
The 15-acre facility, known as a lead-acid battery smelter, had been one of only two plants west of the Rocky Mountains that could melt down lead from used car batteries for use in producing new ones. It operated around the clock seven days a week in the industrial city of Vernon, processing about 25,000 batteries a day.

Exide ran afoul of environmental regulations for years. Local, state and federal officials cited the plant over and over for emitting too much cancer-causing arsenic and lead, a potent neurotoxin, and for violating hazardous waste laws.”
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-exide-cleanup-story-so-far-20151121-story.html

This situation is concerning for various reasons such as the contamination started in 1922, but mainly that it is another story of toxic contamination affecting U.S. citizens. Some past blog posts related to this topic include:

09/24/2015      Facts about the element Mercury
10/08/2015      Current Event - Contaminated Drinking Water
12/17/2015      Current Event -- Lead Poisoning
09/23/2016      Water Pollution in US Schools
12/23/2016      Criminal Charges in Flint, Michigan
01/20/2017      Contaminated Drinking Water
                            at US Marine Camp

*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

Chemical Plants Affected by Hurricane Harvey

9/15/2017

0 Comments

Wow, the school year has begun!

Some past Measurement blog posts you might find useful include:
08/19/2014        Measurement and Significant Figures
08/24/2014        SI System & Scientific Notation
09/02/2014        Dimensional Analysis or
                             The Factor-Label Method

The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials.

A 5-Star Customer Review of Chemistry on a Budget at amazon.com states:
“[S]traight forward, to the point, using household chemicals…this is the lab book for you.
I teach high school chemistry and this is exactly what i was looking for. Labs included simple household chemicals that could be easily found. Nice format, easy to follow along procedures, and touches on every topic of our chemistry curriculum.”

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 Chemistry on a Budget – be sure to check out Page 141 !

“Houston’s sprawling network of petrochemical plants and refineries released millions of pounds of pollutants in the days after Hurricane Harvey began barreling toward Texas.
Even under normal operations, the hundreds of industrial facilities in the area can emit harmful chemicals. But from Aug. 23 to Aug. 30 [2017], 46 facilities in 13 counties reported an estimated 4.6 million pounds of airborne emissions that exceeded state limits, an analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund, Air Alliance Houston and Public Citizen shows.
Federal and state regulators say their air monitoring shows no cause for alarm. But the extra air pollution is just the latest concern for residents and environmental groups in the days after the storm. At least 14 toxic waste sites were flooded or damaged, raising fears of waterborne contamination. And nearly 100 spills of hazardous substances have been reported.”
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/08/us/houston-hurricane-harvey-harzardous-chemicals.html?mcubz=0

“Oil refineries and chemical plants across the Texas Gulf coast released more than 1 million pounds of dangerous air pollutants in the week after [Hurricane] Harvey struck, according to public regulatory filings aggregated by the Center for Biological Diversity.
While attention has zeroed in on the crisis at the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, other facilities -- oil refineries, chemical plants and shale drilling sites -- have been reporting flaring, leaks and chemical discharges triggered by Harvey.
Emissions have already exceeded permitted levels, after floating rooftops sank on oil storage tanks, chemical storage tanks overflowed with rainwater, and broken valves and shutdown procedures triggered flaring at refineries.
The chemicals released in the week after Harvey made landfall include benzene, 1,3-butadiene, hexane, hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, toluene and xylene.
All seven chemicals are toxic air pollutants documented to harm human health; several cause cancer. Other emissions would bring the total to more than 5 million pounds, the Center for Biological Diversity said.”
http://www.nola.com/environment/index.ssf/2017/09/hurricane_harvey_aftermath_che.html

“Harvey then made landfall in south-central Texas late Aug. 25 [2017] as a Category 4 hurricane, threatening millions of residents with 130-mph winds, heavy rains, and a massive storm surge that swamped coastal areas. It meandered around southern Texas for days as a weakening hurricane and then downgraded to a tropical storm over the weekend.
By Aug. 27 [2017], winds died down to as much as 40 mph, but the storm dumped a year’s-worth of rain in less than a week on Houston and much of southeastern Texas.
By Aug. 29 [2017], two flood-control reservoirs had breached, increasing water levels throughout the Houston area.
Harvey made landfall again Aug. 30 [2017] over Port Arthur, Texas, and western Louisiana, bringing widespread catastrophic flooding. While authorities and first responders handled as many as 10,000 rescue missions around Houston, at least 30,000 people fled to temporary shelters.
Tropical Storm Harvey was then downgraded to a tropical depression late Aug. 30 [2017], but it continued to dump massive amounts of rain on parts of eastern Texas, Louisiana, and southern Arkansas.”
https://www.worldvision.org/disaster-response-news-stories/hurricane-harvey

“A group of first responders exposed to smoke from a Crosby, Texas, chemical plant fire after Hurricane Harvey are suing the owner of the plant for more than $1 million, saying that they vomited and gasped for air in the middle of the road in a scene the suit describes as "nothing less than chaos."
The responders allege that the plant owner, Arkema, minimized the dangers of exposure to the fire and failed to warn the responders manning the perimeter of the mandatory 1.5 mile evacuation area to move further away from the fumes after the first of nine trailers full of volatile organic peroxide burst into flames in the early nighttime hours of Aug. 29 [2017].”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-lawsuit-harvey-chemical-plant-fire-20170907-story.html

“The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is investigating the explosions, and warned about the dangers of bringing the plant back online after flood damage. But Arkema is far from the only petrochemical plant or refinery that faces hazards as its employees survey the storm damage and begin resuming operations.
The Houston area is America’s petrochemical hub, with more than 450 plants, including dozens of refineries, which means literally billions of gallons of hazardous chemicals and fuels housed alongside millions of people in America’s fourth-largest city.”
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/09/the-environmental-fallout-of-hurricane-harvey.html

“In accident plans Arkema submitted to the EPA in 2014, executives said a hurricane and a power loss were potential hazards. Yet the plans, which were supposed to address worst-case scenarios, didn’t explain what Arkema would do if faced with either.
Executives also acknowledged Friday that they didn’t have materials at the plant that could have neutralized the organic peroxides.
Instead, workers were forced to scramble and move the chemicals away from floodwaters after buildings were engulfed and power was lost. Workers transferred the compounds to refrigerated containers, but those failed, too, causing Thursday’s fire. “
http://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-harvey-2017-fires-at-houston-chemical-plant-2017-9

“Floodwaters also have inundated at least five toxic waste Superfund sites near Houston and some may be damaged, though Environmental Protection Agency officials have yet to assess the full extent of what occurred.
Turner said Houston's drinking water wasn't affected by the storm but added on ‘Face the Nation’: ‘We would hope that the EPA would be on the ground now to take a look at those Superfund sites, to make sure that contamination is contained and limited.’ “
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/arkema-chemical-plant-harvey-controlled-burn-crosby-texas/

“Seven emergency workers filed suit on Monday [9/4/17] against the French chemical company Arkema, saying they were sickened by fumes from explosions last week at the company’s flood-stricken plant near Houston. They say they were not given ample warning of the dangers from volatile chemicals stored at the plant.
The workers were among those hospitalized after falling ill from the fumes, according to the lawsuit, filed in Harris County District Court. The local responders also claim that Arkema failed to properly secure the chemicals or draw up adequate emergency plans. They are seeking at least $1 million in damages.
The suit describes a chaotic scene at the plant when the first of nine trailers storing a highly flammable compound ignited on Aug. 31 [2017].
‘Immediately upon being exposed to the fumes from the explosion, and one by one, the police officers and first responders began to fall ill in the middle of the road. Calls from medics were made, but still no one from Arkema warned of the toxic fumes in the air,’ the lawsuit claims.
Flooding from Hurricane Harvey knocked out electricity at the plant and also disabled backup systems meant to keep a class of unstable chemicals, called organic peroxides, cool. Workers at the plant moved the chemicals into trailers before abandoning the site under orders from the local authorities. The police ordered people to evacuate a 1.5-mile radius around the plant when Arkema officials warned that explosions were imminent.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/us/harvey-safety-workers-sue-arkema.html?mcubz=0

“At Shell's Deer Park refinery, two tanks were damaged and oil ran into a surrounding berm. At BASF's Beaumont pesticide plant, tanks overflowed and leaked unknown chemicals. At the Chevron Phillips Cedar Bayou plant, a cooling pump failed, causing overpressurized chemicals to be burned off in a flare.
When Harvey swept through the Gulf Coast and Houston area, it forced the shutdown of hundreds of industrial facilities across the region. Now, with waters receding, these operations will be coming back on line in the coming weeks, raising the prospect of cancer-causing gas emissions, toxic spills, fires and explosions, said Sam Mannan, director of a center that studies chemical process safety at Texas A&M university… [E]xperts noted, the long-term implications of flooding disasters of this scale in petrochemical clusters have been poorly studied, and the possibility of future plant mishaps - months or years away - stands to be worsened by damages that have yet to be discovered.”
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Government-ill-equipped-to-monitor-industrial-12178805.php

A recent report states:
“The Environmental Protection Agency has opened an inquiry into whether the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas followed federal safety rules to protect against hazards, following explosions at the facility that resulted from Hurricane Harvey flooding.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt told the Washington Examiner on Monday he authorized a request for information to Arkema under Section 114 of the Clean Air Act about whether the company complied with a risk management plan filed with the federal government.
Depending on the information obtained by the EPA, the agency can issue administrative, civil or criminal action against Arkema, a multinational company based in France.”
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/epa-opens-inquiry-into-arkema-chemical-plant-explosion-after-harvey-flooding/article/2634057

As this story develops, there continues to be reported. It could be an interesting topic for your students to research as they learn about Laboratory Safety; also, it could be an Extra Credit topic to investigate.

Other blog posts you may find useful as the school year begins:
07/13/2014                  Chemistry Laboratory Safety
09/12/2014                  Density
09/19/2014                  Element Symbols & Intro to
                                           Chemical Language

*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

game over for the original kilogram

9/8/2017

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The 2017-18 school year has started!   Some ideas for beginning the school year include:

07/06/2014      Decorating Your Classroom
07/13/2014      Chemistry Laboratory Safety
07/20/2014      Classroom Grading Programs
07/27/2014      Classroom Ideas –Daily Announcements
                          and Teacher Websites
08/03/2014       Lab Report Help
08/28/2016       The First Days of School

The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials.

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.

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 Chemistry on a Budget – be sure to check out Page 141 !

“As clocks across France struck midnight on 1 July [2017] they heralded the end of the kilogram as we know it. Until that moment, scientists could submit measurements that will be used to redefine four of the seven base units: the kilogram, the ampere, the kelvin and the mole. Next year, this work will end the rule of the 128-year-old kilogram artefact and change the foundations of every mass measurement. …

The physical object representing the kilogram – the International Prototype of the Kilogram (IPK) also known more affectionately as le grand K – is a platinum–iridium cylinder manufactured in 1879 and chosen as the kilogram 10 years later. Only a few people have ever seen the big K; it sits under several nested bell jars in a triple-locked vault at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in France next to six sister masses, all kept at constant temperature and humidity.”
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/game-over-for-the-original-kilogram/3007760.article

"In the scientific community, kilograms have served as a nearly universal standard for over 200 years. 1799 saw the birth of the kilogram, initially defined as the mass of one liter of water at 4º C. This lasted for nearly a century, until scientists found themselves in need of a more stable unit for weight calibration.

The International Prototype Kilogram was crafted from platinum-idirium alloy and honed to perfection. To this day it remains locked in an environmentally controlled environment in Sèvres, France. Every 50 years the prototype emerges for comparison against its sister copies. The copies are used as models for a collection of replicas kept around the world.”
https://atlanticscale.com/calibrating-weight-original-kilogram/

“The kilogram has the dubious distinction of being the only SI unit still based on a physical object; specifically, a metal cylinder kept in a vault in France. Plans are well underway to redefine the kilogram in mathematical terms instead, and to that end a team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has submitted a precise new calculation of a key formula.”
http://newatlas.com/planck-constant-redefine-ilogram/50311/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=14c8e2d159-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-14c8e2d159-91567893

According to a 2009 article: “[a]s it stands, the entire world's system of measurement hinges on the cylinder. If it is dropped, scratched or otherwise defaced, it would cause a global problem. ‘If somebody sneezed on that kilogram standard, all the weights in the world would be instantly wrong,’ says Richard Steiner, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Md.

For that reason, the official kilogram is kept locked inside a secured vault at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris. Scientists are so paranoid that they've only taken it out on three occasions: in 1889, 1946 and 1989. Each time, they've compared it to a set of copies. In 1889, the copies and the kilogram weighed the same, but by 1989, they had drifted apart. Based on the data, the kilogram appears to weigh slightly less than the copies.”
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112003322

This issue has been discussed for the past 10 years.
From an article in 2007: “The official kilogram -- a cylinder cast 118 years ago from platinum and iridium and known as the International Prototype Kilogram or ‘Le Gran K’ -- has been losing mass, about 50 micrograms at last check. The change is occurring despite careful storage at a facility near Paris.
That's not so good for a standard the world depends on to define mass.

Now, two U.S. professors -- a physicist and mathematician -- say it's time to define the kilogram in a new and more elegant way that will be the same today, tomorrow and 118 years from now. They've launched a campaign aimed at redefining the kilogram as the mass of a very large -- but precisely-specified -- number of carbon-12 atoms.

‘Our standard would eliminate the need for a physical artifact to define what a kilogram is,’ said Ronald F. Fox, a Regents' Professor Emeritus in the School of Physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. ‘We want something that is logically very simple to understand.’

Their proposal is that the gram -- 1/1000th of a kilogram -- would henceforth be defined as the mass of exactly 18 x 14074481 (cubed) carbon-12 atoms.”
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070921110735.htm

“Why should we care whether a kilogram in a vault is ‘perfect’ or not? Because it’s bad news when your standard is no longer standardized. While no one’s worried whether a single kilogram of apples is a hair lighter or heavier at the produce stand, a small discrepancy can become a gargantuan one if you’re dealing with, say, a whole tanker of wheat. The kilogram is also used as a building block in other measurements. The joule, for instance, is the amount of energy required to move a one-kilogram weight one meter. The candela, a measure of the brightness of light, is measured in joules per second.”
http://mentalfloss.com/article/31122/not-so-perfect-kilogram-and-why-metric-system-might-be-screwed

Some past Measurement blog posts include:
08/19/2014        Measurement and Significant Figures
08/24/2014        SI System & Scientific Notation
09/02/2014        Dimensional Analysis or
                             The Factor-Label Method

*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.

Happy New School Year!

0 Comments

radon in houses

9/1/2017

0 Comments

The 2017-18 school year has started! Some ideas for beginning the school year include:

07/06/2014      Decorating Your Classroom
07/13/2014      Chemistry Laboratory Safety
07/20/2014      Classroom Grading Programs
07/27/2014      Classroom Ideas –Daily Announcements
                          and Teacher Websites
08/03/2014       Lab Report Help
08/28/2016       The First Days of School

The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials.

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.

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 Chemistry on a Budget – be sure to check out Page 141 !

“Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer. You can’t see or smell radon. Testing is the only way to know your level of exposure. Radon can have a big impact on indoor air quality.”
https://www.epa.gov/radon

“[A] Noble gas, [is] any of the seven chemical elements that make up Group 18 (VIIIa) of the periodic table. The elements are helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), radon (Rn), and oganesson (Og). The noble gases are colourless, odourless, tasteless, nonflammable gases. They traditionally have been labeled Group 0 in the periodic table because for decades after their discovery it was believed that they could not bond to other atoms; that is, that their atoms could not combine with those of other elements to form chemical compounds. Their electronic structures and the finding that some of them do indeed form compounds has led to the more appropriate designation, Group 18.”
https://www.britannica.com/science/noble-gas

“A safe level of radon gas is no radon gas. Radon gas is a carcinogen which causes lung cancer. The US EPA has put it plainly, stating, 'Any radon exposure has some risk of causing lung cancer. The lower the radon level in your home, the lower your family’s risk of lung cancer.' The average person receives a higher dose of radiation from the radon levels in their home than from their combined exposure to all other radiation sources, natural or man-made. Radon gas is a naturally-occurring byproduct of the radioactive decay of Uranium in the soil. Depending on your geographic location, the radon levels of the air you breathe outside of your home may be as high as 0.75 pCi/L. The national average of outside radon levels is 0.4 pCi/L and it is estimated by the National Academy of Sciences that outdoor radon levels cause approximately 800 of the 21,000 radon induced lung cancer deaths in the US each year. Your risk of lung cancer increases substantially with exposure to higher radon levels. Lung cancer risk rises 16% per 2.7 pCi/L increase in radon exposure. World Health Organization, 2009 studies show that radon is the primary cause of lung cancer among people who have never smoked. However, the absolute numbers of radon-induced lung cancers are much larger in people who smoke, or who have smoked in the past, due to a strong combined effect of smoking and radon.”
http://www.radon.com/radon_levels/

“Check for radon every five years. People who have a radon system should check every two years to make sure it is working properly. Always check for radon when buying a home and after major renovations.”
https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/radiological/radon/radon.htm

This site has a set of “Frequently Asked Questions” about radon:
https://sosradon.org/faq

“Many radon test kits can be found online or in home improvement stores. Follow the directions on the packaging for the proper placement of the device and where to send the device after the test to find out your radon level.”
https://www.epa.gov/radon/find-radon-test-kit-or-measurement-and-mitigation-professional

Some past Periodic Table and Element blog posts include:

02/23/2014         The Periodic Table
09/19/2014         Element Symbols & Intro to Chemical
                             Language
04/01/2015         NOVA video "Hunting the Elements"
                            (2012)
09/24/2015          Facts about the element Mercury
12/03/2015          Periodic Table Trend Activities
12/17/2015          Current Event -- Lead Poisoning
12/28/2015          Lucky Iron Fish
01/07/2016          Four New Elements
06/12/2016          New Elements Named
12/09/2016          Cool Periodic Table
03/24/2017          Toxic Mercury Levels in Sea Life

*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 3-day weekend!

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