Blog Posts

MOLE redefinition

9/28/2018

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

For the 2018-19 school year, buy a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget. It’s a great resource for 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.

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 !

“After an extensive consultation with the chemistry community, and following a review and critical evaluation of the literature, IUPAC is recommending a new definition of the mole based on a specified number of elementary entities:
The mole, symbol mol, is the SI unit of amount of substance. One mole contains exactly 6.022 140 76 × 1023 elementary entities. This number is the fixed numerical value of the Avogadro constant, NA, when expressed in mol−1, and is called the Avogadro number.
The new definition is published in the January 2018 issue of IUPAC journal Pure and Applied Chemistry and is readily available online. This IUPAC recommendation includes a discussion and explanatory notes. An earlier Technical Report published in July 2017 included more details and the critical review of the proposed definition of the fundamental chemical quantity ‘amount of substance’ and its unit the ‘mole’.”
https://iupac.org/new-definition-mole-arrived/

“The mole became part of the International System of Units (the SI) in 1971. Currently, it is defined as the amount of substance that contains as many entities as there are in 0.012 kg of carbon-12. But the need to redefine the kilogram has been discussed for decades – not least because of the long-term instability of ‘Le Grand K’, the artefact that defines the kilogram. Following the success of the 1983 definition of the metre, which is based on the speed of light in vacuum, the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) decided that this is also an opportune time to recast the definitions of all SI base units in terms of the most stable things known to scientists: physical constants.”
https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/a-new-definition-of-the-mole/3008663.article

“Iupac’s [International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry] new definition describes the mole as containing exactly 6.02214076 x 1023 (the Avogadro constant) elementary entities.

Textbooks published from 1971 onwards are likely to define a mole as the mass of substance containing the same number of fundamental units as there are atoms in exactly 12.000 g of 12C.

The new definition stresses that moles are to do with counting entities rather than measuring the mass of a sample of something else.”
https://eic.rsc.org/analysis/a-new-definition-for-the-mole/3008601.article

“Iupac’s new mole definition will be considered by the General Conference on Weights and Measures – the only body that can make changes to the SI – in November this year and, if accepted, will become the official one in May 2019.”
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/textbooks-need-an-update-after-moles-definition-changed/3008537.article

The celebration of Mole Day on Tuesday, 10/23/2018. Some past blog posts include:
01/10/2014              2nd Entry (Mole Conversions and
                                       Moletown Map)
10/20/2014              Celebrating Mole Day
10/15/2015              Mole Mathematics
10/15/2016              Mole Day is Coming!

Here are several past blog posts that you will find useful for the Beginning of the School Year:

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
08/10/2014          Lab – Reaction in a Bag
03/25/2015          Your School Library
08/27/2015          Outlines for Student Notes
09/17/2015          Multiple Versions of Quizzes and Tests
11/27/2015          Your School Library II
08/28/2016          The First Days of School
01/12/2018          Grading Rubrics for Lab Reports
08/17/2018          Chemistry Using Virtual Reality

For the 2018/2019 school year, buy a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget – it is a great resource! You can examine the labs and decide what you want to use during the school year.

*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.

Have a great weekend!

0 Comments

gas explosion in boston

9/21/2018

0 Comments

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

For the 2018-19 school year, buy a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget. It’s a great resource for 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.

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 !

“Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency Friday [September 14, 2018] in three towns north of Boston rocked by a string of deadly gas explosions, and he put another utility company in charge of restoration efforts. …

Baker said Eversource would replace Columbia Gas of Massachusetts on the same day he warned stunned residents of the towns that the return to normalcy could take time following blasts Thursday that set homes ablaze, forced evacuations and left one person dead.

Later in the day, the governor said Columbia was ‘simply inadequately prepared’ to effectively manage relief efforts.”
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/14/us/massachusetts-explosions-fires/index.html

“At least 70 buildings north of Boston, Massachusetts have been set ablaze by what appears to be a ruptured gas line. Authorities are evacuating residents from parts of Lawrence, Andover and North Andover. One person has died.

The residents of the three communities north of Boston, serviced by Columbia Gas, have been ordered to evacuate after a reported gas line rupture triggered a series of violent explosions.

Ironically, perhaps, earlier in the day Columbia Gas issued an announcement that it would begin upgrading its distribution lines in the region.

According to the press release:
For your safety, your gas service will be off during the
installation. We may relocate the gas meter to an
appropriate place outside – at no additional cost to
you. Once our work is completed, we’ll conduct a
natural gas safety inspection outside and inside your
home or business. After a successful inspection, we’ll
relight your appliances.’ ”
https://www.rt.com/usa/438416-boston-gas-explosions-fire/

“At a press conference on Thursday [September 14, 2018], fire investigators suggested that over-pressurization in a gas-delivery main may have caused the blasts. The natural gas supplier for the affected area is Columbia Gas, a subsidiary of NiSource Inc. (NYSE: NI). Columbia serves more than 50,000 customers in the Merrimack Valley including the cities of Andover, North Andover, and Lawrence where the explosions and fires occurred.”
https://247wallst.com/infrastructure/2018/09/14/whats-to-blame-for-boston-area-natural-gas-explosions/

“A federal investigator says there's no evidence to suggest the gas explosions that rocked communities north of Boston were intentional.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/boston-gas-explosion-investigation-no-evidence-intentional-1.4825599

“The Massachusetts natural gas distribution system is one of the oldest in the United States, with the age of some of the piping more than a century old, according to utility company disclosures with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-massachusetts-explosions/one-dead-a-dozen-injured-in-gas-blasts-in-boston-suburbs-idUSKCN1LU0W6

“U.S. oil and gas pipeline-related deaths jumped to the highest level in seven years in 2017. The 20 fatalities were the most since 2010, when a natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, California, leveled a neighborhood and killed eight people.

In a 2011 letter to PHMSA and others after San Bruno, the National Transportation Safety Board called for a host of improvements to lessen the likelihood of explosions and to reduce the severity of leaks after they happen.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-14/boston-gas-explosions-highlight-stalled-pipeline-safety-push

“There have been a number of gas-related disasters in recent years. In the San Francisco Bay Area, the San Bruno pipeline explosion on Sept. 9, 2010 killed eight people and wiped out an entire swatch of the suburban enclave located just south of San Francisco. The blast, spawned by a steel natural-gas pipeline that exploded beneath the Crestmoor neighborhood, released a loud roar that sounded to many like an earthquake of a large jet crashing.

This week, the explosions came in a series, setting off fires in dozens of homes in the towns of Lawrence, Andover and North Andover. As gas crews and first-responders tried to shut off gas and electricity to the area, Massachusetts authorities told all residents whose homes are serviced by Columbia Gas in the three communities to flee for safety.

‘This one is unique and unusual,’ said Mark McDonald, president of NatGas Consulting in Boston. ‘It appears to be an over-pressurization of the entire system, which is quite uncommon. ‘ “
https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/09/14/gas-explosions-near-boston-are-just-the-latest-in-a-long-string-of-blasts/

Other related Blog posts include:
01/22/2014      Combustion of a Hydrocarbon
11/25/2014      Predicting Products of a Combustion
                                Reaction (5th Rxn Type)
01/22/2016      Methane Leak in California
01/26/2018      Current Event -- Oil Drill Site Explosion
03/23/2018      Current Event: Chemical Plant Explosion in TX
07/20/2018      Gas Explosion in Wisconsin

Here are several past blog posts that you will find useful for the Beginning of the School Year:

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
08/10/2014          Lab – Reaction in a Bag
03/25/2015          Your School Library
08/27/2015          Outlines for Student Notes
09/17/2015          Multiple Versions of Quizzes and Tests
11/27/2015          Your School Library II
08/28/2016          The First Days of School
01/12/2018          Grading Rubrics for Lab Reports
08/17/2018          Chemistry Using Virtual Reality

Blog posts useful for an Intro to Chemistry unit 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
09/12/2014        Density
09/19/2014        Element Symbols & Intro to Chemical
                             Language

For the 2018/2019 school year, buy a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget – it is a great resource! You can examine the labs and decide what you want to use during the school year.

*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.

Have a great weekend!

0 Comments

High-tech electronics made from autumn leaves

9/14/2018

0 Comments

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

For the 2018-19 school year, buy a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget. It’s a great resource for 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.

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 !

“Northern China's roadsides are peppered with deciduous phoenix trees, producing an abundance of fallen leaves in autumn. These leaves are generally burned in the colder season, exacerbating the country's air pollution problem. Investigators in Shandong, China, recently discovered a new method to convert this organic waste matter into a porous carbon material that can be used to produce high-tech electronics.”
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170829113813.htm

“Many roads in this part of China are lined with trees of the genus Paulownia, sometimes called phoenix trees. Despite the government’s disapproval, many locals burn the fallen leaves, worsening the country’s notorious air pollution. In Beijing alone, about 2 million tonnes of leaves and other plant waste are burned every year.

Now, Hongfang Ma at the Qilu University of Technology in Jinan and her colleagues have figured out how to turn phoenix tree leaves into organic capacitors. These could be used like batteries to store energy, potentially avoiding some of that air pollution into the bargain.

The process of making organic capacitors does release a little carbon dioxide, but not nearly as much as would be emitted if you let the same quantity of material burn or decay, says Caroline Burgess Clifford at Penn State University. “Any type of use of any waste material is a good thing.”
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2146097-fallen-leaves-could-be-turned-into-devices-that-store-energy/

“The investigators used a multistep, yet simple, process to convert tree leaves into a form that could be incorporated into electrodes as active materials. The dried leaves were first ground into a powder, then heated to 220 degrees Celsius for 12 hours. This produced a powder composed of tiny carbon microspheres. These microspheres were then treated with a solution of potassium hydroxide and heated by increasing the temperature in a series of jumps from 450 to 800 C.

The chemical treatment corrodes the surface of the carbon microspheres, making them extremely porous. The final product, a black carbon powder, has a very high surface area due to the presence of many tiny pores that have been chemically etched on the surface of the microspheres. The high surface area gives the final product its extraordinary electrical properties.

The investigators ran a series of standard electrochemical tests on the porous microspheres to quantify their potential for use in electronic devices. The current-voltage curves for these materials indicate that the substance could make an excellent capacitor. Further tests show that the materials are, in fact, supercapacitors, with specific capacitances of 367 Farads/gram, which are over three times higher than values seen in some graphene supercapacitors .”
http://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/164646/high-tech-electronics-made-from-autumn-leaves.html

“A capacitor is a widely used electrical component that stores energy by holding a charge on two conductors, separated from each other by an insulator. Supercapacitors can typically store 10-100 times as much energy as an ordinary capacitor, and can accept and deliver charges much faster than a typical rechargeable battery. For these reasons, supercapacitive materials hold great promise for a wide variety of energy storage needs, particularly in computer technology and hybrid or electric vehicles.”
https://www.optimistdaily.com/2017/08/china-is-making-high-tech-electronics-from-autumn-leaves/

“The research has been focused on looking for ways to convert waste biomass into porous carbon materials that can be used in energy storage technology. Along with the tree leaves, the team has successfully converted potato waste, corn straw, pine wood, rice straw and other agricultural wastes into carbon electrode materials. The team hopes to improve even further on electrochemical properties of porous carbon materials by optimizing the preparation process and allowing for doping or modification of the raw materials.”
https://electronics360.globalspec.com/article/9676/autumn-leaves-are-a-developing-material-in-high-tech-electronics

This is another attempt to find a way to use a waste material and reduce the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere rather than letting the leaves simply decompose.

Here are several past blog posts that you will find useful for the Beginning of the School Year:

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
08/10/2014          Lab – Reaction in a Bag
03/25/2015          Your School Library
08/27/2015          Outlines for Student Notes
09/17/2015          Multiple Versions of Quizzes and Tests
11/27/2015          Your School Library II
08/28/2016          The First Days of School
01/12/2018          Grading Rubrics for Lab Reports
08/17/2018          Chemistry Using Virtual Reality

Blog posts useful for an Intro to Chemistry unit 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
09/12/2014          Density
09/19/2014          Element Symbols & Intro to Chemical
                                Language

For the 2018/2019 school year, buy a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget – it is a great resource! You can examine the labs and decide what you want to use during the school year.

*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.

Have a great weekend!

0 Comments

Airplane air concerns

9/7/2018

0 Comments

not enough oxygen;
not enough outside air to dilute whatever is in the cabin air;
a contaminated air supply; and
exposure to high concentrations of pesticides on selected routes.”

http://www.afacwa.org/aircraft_air_quality

“Most aircraft have strong filter systems. With the exception of some smaller or much older aircraft, airplanes are equipped with True High-Efficiency Particle Filters (True HEPA) or High-Efficiency Particle Filters (HEPA).

These filtration systems then filter and recirculate the air from the cabin and mix it with fresh air. The dirtier a HEPA filter gets, the more efficient it becomes, so it can easily handle the passenger load on a Boeing 747.

Air recirculation happens pretty quickly. The HEPA filtration system can make a complete air change approximately 15 to 30 times per hour, or once every two to four minutes. According to IATA, "HEPA filters are effective at capturing greater than 99 percent of the airborne microbes in the filtered air. Filtered, recirculated air provides higher cabin humidity levels and lower particulate levels than 100 percent outside air systems.

HEPA filters catch most airborne particles, meaning their capture standard is pretty high in term of commercial spaces. A HEPA filter's complete air change is better than most other forms of transportation and office buildings and similar to the standard for hospitals.”
https://www.tripsavvy.com/air-quality-during-your-flight-54164

‘Airplanes take about 50 percent of the air collected in the outtake valves of the passenger compartment and mix it with fresh air from outside that gets heated by the engines. That air is then passed through HEPA filters that sterilize it before it’s reintroduced to the passenger cabin.‘ ”
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/41581445/ns/travel-seasonal_travel/t/does-airplane-air-really-make-you-sick/#.W41n3Lgnbcs

“ ‘Airplane air isn’t as bad as most people envision,’ said Charles Gerba, an environmental microbiologist at the University of Arizona at Tucson. Gerba, also known as Dr. Germ, studies germs and where they congregate and doesn’t worry much about the air quality on airplanes.’On a trip, it’s more likely that the food you eat and the things you touch will make you sick.’ ...

Many passengers mistakenly believe that the air in the cabin that they left the gate with is the air they have to breathe for the rest of the trip. ‘This is not true,’ said Boeing spokesperson Bret Jensen.

He blames low humidity for giving airplane air a bad rap. ‘The overall relative humidity aboard an aluminum airplane is low — around 6 percent — and people become dehydrated on long flights if they don't drink water regularly. This can make people feel different than when they boarded the airplane.’
Modern airplanes do recirculate air, ‘but don’t let that scare you,’ said travel health expert Mark Gendreau, the senior staff physician and vice chair of emergency medicine at Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Mass.

Incidents over the years have occurred when airline passengers claim to have been sickened by the air in the airplane.

For example, on August 2, 2017 in ‘Oklahoma City [, OK] – [m]ultiple people were treated for breathing problems at the Will Rogers World Airport after an unknown odor was reported on a plane. … [A] Jet Blue flight en route to Ft. Lauderdale from California had to stop at the Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City when multiple people on board the plane started having breathing problems due to an unknown odor coming from the back of the plane.
Officials say three crew members and two passengers received medical attention.
The cause of the odor is still being investigated.”
https://kfor.com/2017/08/02/what-we-know-about-unknown-odor-that-caused-breathing-problems-on-plane-that-stopped-at-will-rogers-world-airport/

“The fresh air in a plane’s cabin, known as “bleed air,” is brought in through the engine. Because of this, toxins from the engine oil or hydraulic fluid can seep into the airplane -- either in minute quantities that accumulate over time, or in larger amounts if there’s a leak.

In the latter case, crew members and passengers have suffered from headaches, dizziness, tremors and other neurological symptoms after inhaling the toxins during their flight. Even in small quantities, pilots and flight attendants have suffered long-term neurological symptoms, including tremors, that appear to be the result of long-term exposure to aircraft engine oil contaminants. “
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/04/01/how-airplane-cabin-air-can-get-you-sick.aspx

A starting idea of the year is the definition of Element, Compound and Mixture. Here is the extension of concerns related to air mixtures in airplanes – you may want to develop at Homework assignment from topics in this article.

Here are several past blog posts that you will find useful for the Beginning of the School Year:

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
08/10/2014          Lab – Reaction in a Bag
03/25/2015          Your School Library
08/27/2015          Outlines for Student Notes
09/17/2015          Multiple Versions of Quizzes and Tests
11/27/2015          Your School Library II
08/28/2016          The First Days of School
01/12/2018          Grading Rubrics for Lab Reports
08/17/2018          Chemistry Using Virtual Reality

For the 2018/2019 school year, buy a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget – it is a great resource! You can examine the labs and decide what you want to use during the school year.

*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.

Have a great weekend!

0 Comments

the 2018-2019 school year

8/31/2018

0 Comments

Bismuth catalyst to treat excess carbon dioxide

8/24/2018

0 Comments

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

For the 2018-19 school year, buy a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget. It’s a great resource for 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.

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 !

“The chunk of metal sitting on a table in Joel Rosenthal’s office at the University of Delaware looks like it should belong in a wizard’s pocket. Shiny silver with shocks of pink and splashes of gold, it’s called bismuth, and it’s currently used to make products ranging from shotgun pellets to cosmetics and antacids, including Pepto-Bismol.

But Professor Rosenthal’s research is expanding bismuth’s repertoire—he’s identified a kind of magic in the metal that may be just what the doctor ordered for Planet Earth. He says it could help reduce rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and provide sustainable routes to making fuels.

Rosenthal and his team in UD’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry have discovered that bismuth has an unusual property that can be harnessed to help the environment—as a chemical ‘spark’ or catalyst for converting carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, into liquid fuels and industrial chemicals. The findings are reported in ACS Catalysis, a journal published by the American Chemical Society. Rosenthal’s team also has filed a patent on the work. “
https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2018/may/joel-rosenthal-reducing-carbon-dioxide-through-catalytic-plasticity/

“Finding productive uses for carbon dioxide remains a key challenge in reducing emissions of the greenhouse gas. Now, researchers at the University of Delaware, Newark, report that bismuth can serve as an electrocatalyst to transform CO2 into liquid fuels and chemical feedstocks. Moreover, the catalyst can be tailored or tuned to efficiently promote multiple types of reactions, notes Joel Rosenthal, a professor at the university’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry who led the research. He refers to bismuth’s ability to do this as ‘catalytic plasticity.’ ”
https://www.chemicalprocessing.com/articles/2018/bismuth-beckons-for-carbon-dioxide-conversion/

“Rosenthal refers to bismuth's specialized capability as ‘catalytic plasticity.’ When an electrical current is applied to a bismuth film in a bath of salty liquids containing imidazolium and amidinium ions, he and his team can ’tune’ the chemical reaction to convert carbon dioxide to either a liquid fuel such as gasoline, or to formic acid—a valuable chemical with many industrial uses—from preserving human food and livestock feed, to manufacturing rubber and leather, artificial flavorings and perfumes.”
https://phys.org/news/2018-05-excess-carbon-dioxide-good.html

“This past April, [2018] Earth's atmosphere attained its highest sustained levels of carbon dioxide since humans have been monitoring it -- exceeding 410 parts per million for the entire month -- according to measurements made at Hawaii's Mauna Loa Observatory.”
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180530132954.htm

“Bismuth (Bi), atomic number 83, is a high-density, silvery, pink-tinged metal. Bismuth metal is brittle and so it is usually mixed with other metals to make it useful. Its alloys with tin or cadmium have low melting points and are used in fire detectors and extinguishers, electric fuses and solders.

Bismuth oxide is used as a yellow pigment for cosmetics and paints, while bismuth(III) chloride oxide (BiClO) gives a pearly effect to cosmetics. Basic bismuth carbonate is taken in tablet or liquid form for indigestion as ‘bismuth mixture’.”
http://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/83/bismuth

“Using bismuth(III) triflate as a precursor, the researchers electrodeposited amorphous bismuth metal on a carbon electrode under mild conditions. The bismuth catalyst achieves current densities that are an order of magnitude greater than existing silver and gold CO2-reduction catalysts. The high current density means that a device using the catalyst can churn out a large volume of CO per electrode area. Clifford P. Kubiak, an expert in catalytic CO2 fixation at the University of California, San Diego, says that although challenges remain with the system, such as the high operating potential and the coproduction of water with the CO, ‘this is a very important contribution to the field of electrochemical reduction of CO2.’ “
https://cen.acs.org/articles/92/i20/Bismuth-Catalyzes-CO2-Reduction.html

Keep looking for other experiments that replicate this technique and support its claims.

Past blog posts related to Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide include:

11/06/2015    Inventions to Recycle Carbon Dioxide
02/06/2016    Carbon Dioxide Conversion to Methanol
08/21/2016    Solar Cell Converts CO2 to Usable Fuel
07/21/2017 Converting Carbon Dioxide to Methane
04/13/2018    Once We Can Capture CO2 Emissions...
06/01/2018    Film on Ocean Water Interrupts
                       CO2 Absorption
08/03/2018   Concrete That Traps CO2 Emissions Forever

Past blog posts about The Periodic Table include:

02/23/2014            The Periodic Table
04/01/2015            NOVA video "Hunting the Elements" (2012)
12/03/2015            Periodic Table Trend Activities
01/07/2016            Four New Elements
06/12/2016            New Elements Named
12/09/2016            Cool Periodic Table
01/05/2018          Naming Elements

For the 2018/2019 school year, buy a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget – it is a great resource! You can examine the labs and decide what you want to use during the school year.

*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.

Have a great weekend!

0 Comments

Chemistry using virtual reality

8/17/2018

0 Comments

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

Before the 2018-19 school year, buy a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget. It’s a great resource for 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.

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 !

“There was a time when biochemists had a lot in common with sculptors. Scientists who had devoted their lives to studying a molecule would building a model, using metal and a forest of rods to hold up the structure of thousands of atoms. …

These days simulations on screens have replaced such models, sacrificing some of their tactile value while gaining the ability to show movement. But what if you could enter a virtual reality environment where the molecules lie before you, obeying all the laws of molecular physics as calculated by supercomputers, and move them around in three dimensions? “
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/03/science/chemistry-virtual-reality.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FChemistry&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection

“The practice of building and manipulating models has a rich history and profound impacts across a range of domains, including the physical sciences, the social sciences, engineering, medicine, design, and architecture. Here, our primary focus is on modeling at the nanoscale. From a modeling perspective, the nanoscale represents an interesting domain, because the objects of study (for example, molecules) are invisible to the naked eye, and their behavior is governed by physical forces and interactions significantly different from those forces and interactions that we encounter during our day-to-day phenomenological experience. In domains like this, which are imperceptible to the naked eye, effective models are vital to provide the insight required to make research progress.”
http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/6/eaat2731

“For many years, chemistry students have been taught to manipulate physical models depicting molecules as a means of learning how they work. The researchers note that such models are not up to the task of showing how molecules work dynamically—they cannot show movement or the flexibility of molecules, which leaves students having to imagine how they might look. In more recent years, computer applications that allow students to watch and even manipulate molecules onscreen have led to improvements in teaching techniques. But, as the researchers also note, such apps that generally make use of touch screens still lack the required hands-on approach. To improve on such applications, the researchers have created a VR [virtual reality] system that is able to show complex molecules as they exist in a 3-D space. And even better, users are able to physically manipulate the molecules to learn more about their properties.“
https://phys.org/news/2018-07-virtual-reality-chemistry-d.html
This article contains three brief video clips of 3D models using virtual reality models.

“Sales of VR headsets, which have only just begun to ship, are expected to reach nearly $1 billion by the end of 2016, according to a global forecast from technology consultancy CCS Insight. This first generation of headsets isn’t cheap: The Oculus Rift is priced at $599 and the HTC Vive at $799. Building on the momentum predicted for 2016, shipments of VR headsets and AR devices could reach 96 million units by 2020.

It would be easy to dismiss the excitement as hype, but one university researcher says this is the Model T era for VR headsets.”
https://cen.acs.org/articles/94/i14/chemists-tilt-heads-virtual-reality.html

Here the abstract of one 2014 experiment in China titled, “A case study of Augmented Reality simulation system application in a chemistry course”:

“The comprehension of micro-worlds has always been the focus and the challenge of chemistry learning. Junior high school students’ imaginative abilities are not yet mature. As a result, they are not able to visualize microstructures correctly during the beginning stage of chemistry learning. This study targeted “the composition of substances” segment of junior high school chemistry classes and, furthermore, involved the design and development of a set of inquiry-based Augmented Reality learning tools. Students could control, combine and interact with a 3D model of micro-particles using markers and conduct a series of inquiry-based experiments. The AR tool was tested in practice at a junior high school in Shenzhen, China. Through data analysis and discussion, we conclude that (a) the AR tool has a significant supplemental learning effect as a computer-assisted learning tool; (b) the AR tool is more effective for low-achieving students than high-achieving ones; (c) students generally have positive attitudes toward this software; and (d) students’ learning attitudes are positively correlated with their evaluation of the software.”
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563214002271

“University of Bristol researchers have designed and tested a new virtual reality (VR) cloud-based system intended to allow researchers to reach out and “touch” molecules as they move — folding them, knotting them, plucking them, and changing their shape to test how the molecules interact. Using an HTC Vive virtual-reality device, it could lead to creating new drugs and materials and improving the teaching of chemistry.

More broadly, the goal is to accelerate progress in nanoscale molecular engineering areas that include conformational mapping, drug development, synthetic biology, and catalyst design.”
http://www.kurzweilai.net/discovering-new-drugs-and-materials-by-touching-molecules-in-virtual-reality

This technology is in (or is going to be in) College level Chemistry classrooms/ laboratories. It can be useful for your students to know what may be awaiting them in their higher level study.

“Jonas Boström, whose day job is in computational chemistry at AstraZeneca, along with former student Magnus Norrby, recently started a company called EduChem VR. They aim to increase comments like ‘wow, this cool!’ in chemistry education.

Twenty years ago when I studied chemistry at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, the lecture halls were full of students. Today they echo empty. Chemistry is often seen as dull and dry… and difficult to understand.

In an attempt to reverse that trend, and to engage students and inspire further studies we set out to produce virtual reality (VR) apps for chemistry education. Apps that can be used with todays’ kids’ favorite toy – their smartphone.”
http://www.rsc.org/news-events/community/2017/sep/virtual-reality/

“All molecules are 3D objects, thus making it perfect for VR. The way chemistry is taught today is usually with pen-and-paper/whiteboard... or using physical models, which is rather limiting and can be tedious to set up.

As an illustrative example, the stereochemistry concept is often as difficult to understand as it is to describe. In brief, many molecules have mirror images. These mirror images have the same molecular formula and connectivity of atoms but a different arrangement of atoms in space. They are thus not the same, and are non-superimposable. Just like your left and right-hand.

Proteins can often distinguish between these mirror images, and many chemical reactions favors the formation of one mirror image, a specific stereoisomer. This is an important concept which is difficult to explain using traditional methods.”

Two past blog posts referring to Technology in the Classroom include:
01/28/2015 Computer Simulations of Gases
03/25/2015 Your School Library (computers)

Before the 2018/2019 school year, buy a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget – it is a great resource! You can examine the labs and decide what you want to use during the school year.

*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.

Have a great weekend!

0 Comments

oil spill sponge

8/10/2018

0 Comments

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

Before the 2018-19 school year, buy a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget. It’s a great resource for 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.

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 !

“When the Deepwater Horizon drilling pipe blew out [on 20 April 2010,] … beginning the worst oil spill in U.S. history, those in charge of the recovery discovered a new wrinkle: the millions of gallons of oil bubbling from the sea floor weren’t all collecting on the surface where it could be skimmed or burned. Some of it was forming a plume and drifting through the ocean under the surface. …

[S]cientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have invented a new foam, called Oleo Sponge, that addresses this problem. The material not only easily absorbs oil from water, but is also reusable and can pull dispersed oil from the entire water column—not just the surface.”
https://www.anl.gov/articles/argonne-invents-reusable-sponge-soaks-oil-could-revolutionize-oil-spill-and-diesel-cleanup

“A new material can absorb up to 90 times its own weight in spilled oil and then be squeezed out like a sponge and reused, raising hopes for easier clean-up of oil spill sites.

This contrasts with most commercial products for soaking up oil, called 'sorbents'. These are generally only good for a single use, acting like a paper towel used to mop up a kitchen mess and then tossed away. The discarded sorbents and oil are then normally incinerated.

But what if the oil could be recovered and the sorbent reused? The new material, created by Seth Darling and his colleagues at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, seems to allow for both of these processes, cutting waste.”
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2123391-sponge-can-soak-up-and-release-spilled-oil-hundreds-of-times/

“The Oleo Sponge is made of a polyurethane foam whose interior surfaces are covered with oleophilic molecules that draw oil out of water. The challenge, according to Argonne, was finding a way to 'glue' those oil-loving molecules to the sponge’s interior. That issue was tackled with the help of 2011 research from Argonne scientists, who were able to infuse metal oxide with nanostructures. The Oleo creators used that technique to develop a primer for the interior of the sponge that the oleophilic molecules stick to. The result is a sponge that can adsorb up to 90 times its weight in oil.

After use, the sponge can be wrung out and the oil can even be reclaimed in some cases. Argonne says it’s actively looking to commercialize the material through licensing or collaboration agreements, and the sponge could be ready for real-world use in less than five years…

The sponge was tested extensively in a New Jersey saltwater research tank, where it was able to collect both diesel and crude oil from the tank, whether the oil was above or below the water’s surface.

Seth Darling, the sponge’s co-inventor and a scientist with Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials, said in a press release that 'The material is extremely sturdy. We’ve run dozens to hundreds of tests, wringing it out each time, and we have yet to see it break down at all.' "
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/03/oleo-sponge-invented-at-argonne-national-laboratory-can-sop-up-oil-in-a-spill/

In case you are not familiar with the term oleophilic, it is defined as “of or relation to a substance that has an affinity for oils and not for water.”
.https://www.dictionary.com/browse/oleophilic

Your students may be familiar with the terms hydrophilic which is a substance that dissolves in water (typically ionic or polar), and hydrophobic, which is a substance that will not dissolve in water (typically nonpolar).

" ‘What’s special about our technology is that we can extract the oil, either from the surface or from the water column, without creating any waste,’ explained Seth B. Darling, the director of the Institute for Molecular Engineering at Argonne National Laboratory and the project lead on Oleo Sponge… ‘We soak up the oil, and then the oil can be recovered, which is also added value because that can now be used—it was extracted from the Earth for a reason—and you can reuse the sponge. That allows you to address a much larger spill incident with a small amount of the absorbent’ …

[T]he U.S. Coast Guard put out a call for proposals for better ways to clean up oil spills. Darling and his team submitted a white paper about SIS and were asked to make a full proposal. Shortly after, they were funded to investigate the potential of SIS, and what eventually became Oleo Sponge, for the removal of oil.

‘This is a really nice example of basic science happening in a government lab, and then becoming—by working with other parts of the government—something that is really a technology,’ said Darling. ‘Often our government tends to be relatively siloed, and this was a really nice example of integration between the Department of Energy, Homeland Security, which owns the Coast Guard, and eventually the Department of the Interior. We had the science and technology here in the DOE and it was a challenge in the real world that was faced by Homeland and the DOI.’ ”
https://www.rdmag.com/article/2018/03/novel-reusable-sponge-could-revolutionize-ocean-oil-spill-cleanup

This situation refers to a nonpolar substance (oil) dispersed with a polar substance (water).

Here is a brief 11-minute video from Crash Course in Chemistry #23 providing an overview of the basics of Polar and Nonpolar Substances:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVL24HAesnc

Other related blog posts include:
03/12/2014       Polarity and Intermolecular Forces
03/16/2014       Dipole-dipole forces, etc.
03/19/2014       Properties of Solutions
01/26/2018       Current Event -- Oil Drill Site Explosion

Before the 2018/2019 school year. buy a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget – it is a great resource! You can examine the labs and decide what you want to use during the school year.

*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.

Have a great weekend!

0 Comments

Concrete that traps CO2 Emissions Forever

8/3/2018

0 Comments

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

You just have a few weeks before school starts. Buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget is a great resource for your classroom!

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.”
During the summer vacation, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful. You can examine the labs and decide what you want to use next year.

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 so you have it handy for the school year!

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 !

“Imagine a world with little or no concrete. Would that even be possible? After all, concrete is everywhere—on our roads, our driveways, in our homes, bridges and buildings. For the past 200 years, it's been the very foundation of much of our planet.

But the production of cement, which when mixed with water forms the binding agent in concrete, is also one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, about 5 percent of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions comes from concrete.

An even larger source of carbon dioxide emissions is flue gas emitted from smokestacks at power plants around the world. Carbon emissions from those plants are the largest source of harmful global greenhouse gas in the world.”
https://phys.org/news/2016-03-carbon-dioxide-sustainable-concrete.html

“Inorganic forms of solid carbon such as rock are also part of the carbon cycle. Rocks and other minerals are by far the largest sinks of carbon on Earth and they can weather or decompose, either naturally or through anthropogenic processes such as in cement kilns. The carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere is naturally in constant flux with other large sinks, such as the oceans and other surface waters, where it dissolves and through a variety of both organic and inorganic calcareous processes, such as reef formation and precipitation, settles back into the Earth’s crust.
However, concrete can also absorb carbon dioxide and store it in a process commonly referred to as carbonation. This may be viewed simply as an additional, alternative loop of the complex carbon cycle.”
http://www.cement.org/for-concrete-books-learning/concrete-technology/concrete-design-production/concrete-as-a-carbon-sink
“…how much [carbon] dioxide is absorbed in concrete and how long does it take? The answer is that we do not know. We have known for decades that concrete absorbs carbon dioxide, and in fact, there have been numerous studies on it. However, these studies mainly focused on only a portion of the carbon sequestration question, which is how carbon absorption might affect reinforcing bars within a concrete structure. When carbon dioxide is absorbed into concrete many chemical reactions take place. These usually result in a lowering of the pH in the portion of the concrete where significant amounts of carbon dioxide have been absorbed. … Some reinforcing materials in contact with concrete that has a lower pH are not as well protected from corrosion as these materials in contact with concrete that has a higher pH. Carbon dioxide slowly absorbs into a concrete structure from the source of the carbon dioxide (usually the air around it), and the depth at which this absorption has resulted in a significant pH change is usually referred to as the carbonation front. Usually applications with reinforcing material which might be affected by a change in pH are designed so that the carbonation front does not reach these materials over its intended life.”

“Production of concrete contributes to 90 per cent of global CO2 emissions from industrial processes, or 5 per cent from industrial processes and fossil fuels combined

Estimated that 38.2 gigatonnes of CO2 released by cement production between 1930 – 2013

Over same time, modelling indicates 4.5 gigatonnes were reabsorbed”
http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2016-11-22/concrete-is-a-carbon-sink/8043174

“Cement is responsible for 7% of global man-made greenhouse emissions, making it the world's second largest industrial source of carbon dioxide, according to the International Energy Agency. Data from the United States Geological Survey -- the scientific agency of the US government -- reveals that global cement production was responsible for about 4 billion pounds of CO2 emissions in 2017 alone.

…[A] Canadian startup has invented a new system for making concrete that traps CO2 emissions forever and at the same time reduces the need for cement.

CarbonCure's system takes captured CO2 and injects it into concrete as it's being mixed. Once the concrete hardens, that carbon is sequestered forever. Even if the building is torn down, the carbon stays put. That's because it reacts with the concrete and becomes a mineral. “
https://money.cnn.com/2018/06/12/technology/concrete-carboncure/index.html
“CarbonCure isn't the only company working to make concrete more environmentally friendly, but it's one of the first to market. Carbicrete and Carbon Upcycling are two other startups working on more sustainable solutions for concrete.”

Students looking for Extra Credit possibilities may be assigned research on the History and Economic Success of CO2 absorbing concrete.

Buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful during your school year. ORDER NOW so you have it ready for the upcoming school year.

*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.

Have a great weekend!

0 Comments

invention for water conservation

7/27/2018

1 Comment

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

During the summer vacation, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful. You can examine the labs and decide what you want to use next 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.

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.”
During the summer vacation, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful. You can examine the labs and decide what you want to use next year.

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 !

“South Africa like other countries in the region is presently experiencing one of the worst droughts in 45 years, with the lowest ever rainfall since 1904. In 2015, South Africa received only an average of 403 mm, which is merely 66% of the annual average rainfall.

This situation led to severe strain on crop production with household food security being a major concern. With their advanced economy, the country has been able to withstand the drought.

Other countries in the region particularly Zimbabwe has had to depend on food aid from international organizations and other countries to be able to feed a section of citizens. Aside farm lands, animals have also been affected.”
http://www.africanews.com/2016/09/29/fighting-drought-with-orange-peels-s-african-girl-16-wins-google-award/

“South Africa's worst drought in recorded history has left eight of the country's nine provinces in a state of disaster, with thousands of communities and millions of households facing water shortages.

The agricultural union Agri SA has requested over $1 billion in government subsidies to help farmers through the crisis, but a cut-price solution could soon be available -- from an unlikely source.

Johannesburg schoolgirl Kiara Nirghin, 16, recently won the Google Science Fair's Community Impact Award for the Middle East and Africa with her submission ‘No More Thirsty Crops.’ ”
https://www.cnn.com/2016/08/09/africa/orange-drought-kiara-nirghin/index.html

“Kiara Nirghin beat students from around the world for a $50,000 (£38,000) scholarship with her ’fighting drought with fruit’ submission. …

Ms Nirghin, a student at the Anglican Church-founded St Martin's High School in the main city Johannesburg, said three experiments over 45 days resulted in her coming up with the ‘orange peel mixture’ as an alternative to expensive and non-biodegradable super-absorbent polymers (SAPs).

It was made out of waste products from the juice-manufacturing industry, she said.

These included molecules found in orange peels and naturally occurring oils in avocado skins.

The product is fully biodegradable, low-cost and has better water retaining properties than commercial SAPs. The only resources involved in the creation of the 'orange peel mixture' were electricity and time, no special equipment nor materials were required,’ Ms Nirghin added in her online submission.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-37497682

“Kiara’s knack for science led her to her kitchen where she discovered that peels of oranges and avocados can transform into SAPs under UV radiation and heat. …The SAP can be created using only electricity and fruit peels and can hold up to 300 times of their weight in liquid.

By combining orange peels and avocado skins, Kiara created a super absorbent polymer (SAP) that can store reserves of water about 300 times its weight in liquid relative to its own mass, according to the teen’s project page. This allows it to form reservoirs that farmers can use to maintain their crops at a low cost. The mixture is also sustainable, as it is made of recycled and biodegradable waste products. The polymer has the added benefit of sustainability as it uses recycled and biodegradable waste products.

Typical SAPs are expensive, not biodegradable and are composed of acrylic acid, sodium hydroxide and other chemicals. In addition to being more environmentally friendly, Kiara’s orange peel SAP can absorb 76.1 percent of water, which is a greater amount than the acrylic, starch and pectin SAPs, which all held 74 percent or less, according to her study. The teen’s mixture is also much more cost effective than chemical SAPs.”
http://www.konnectafrica.net/kiara-nirghin-south-african-drought/

“SAPs are widely used in arid areas to combat water scarcity and stave off the impacts of drought. The polymers can hold 300 times their weight in liquid. Often deployed as little gummy balls mixed into soil or a sticky slush that lays between plant lines, SAPs can retain rainfall and then slowly release it during dry spells. ”
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/drought-invention-16-year-old-south-africa/

“Typical SAPs are expensive, not biodegradable and are composed of acrylic acid, sodium hydroxide and other chemicals. In addition to being more environmentally friendly, Nirghin’s orange peel SAP can absorb 76.1 percent of water, which is a greater amount than the acrylic, starch and pectin SAPs, which all held 74 percent or less, according to her study.”
https://weather.com/news/news/south-africa-drought-johannesburg-kiara-nirghin-teen-solution-super-absorbent-polymer-sap

“As farmers’ crops withered and died, many turned to superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) to retain water in soil. The powders hold large amounts of water relative to their mass and create a hydrogel ‘reservoir.’ However, SAPS are also very expensive and not biodegradable.

Nirghin wanted to find a natural solution that farmers could afford. She discovered orange peels could work as a biodegradable polymer but would still need to be chemically processed. Instead, she boiled the orange peels with oil from avocado peels then used the photo polymerization of sunlight to connect the polymers.

Over the course of 45 days, Nirghin watched as pots containing her mixture retained more water, kept soil moist and produced more flowers than those with commercial SAPs. Products on the market can cost up to $3,000 per metric ton, while she said her version would cost $30-60 per metric ton.”
https://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/16-year-old-wins-google-prize-for-orange-peel-innovation-1.3094184

Here is a 3-minute news article summarizing this development:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwUtDvcHPpQ

The drought in South Africa was discussed in two previous blog posts:
02/02/2018 Current Event - South Africa Drought
02/09/2018 Current Event - South Africa Drought Update

During the summer vacation, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful. You can examine the labs and decide what you want to use next year.

*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.

Have a great weekend!

1 Comment

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