Pontz,+Luke

I found this article rather interesting. I learned that I was wrong in my assumption that strong acids had strong bonds. I don't remember how much we discussed strong acids in honors chem and even if we did learn about them, it has been a year so I'm a bit rusty. It does make sense though that strong acids have weak bonds so they can latch on to different atoms. I also never knew that calcium was so vital to our nervous system. I knew it was important for bone strength, but thought that was where its importance ended. I have heard of hydrofluoric acid but never of its danger. I am shocked to learn how harmful it is and how common it is as well. I did remember from honors chem that an acid is composed of a nonmetal and a hydrogen atom. I also remember from honors chem that an ion is an atom that has either gained or loss an electron resulting in a positive or negative charge. I also knew, not from chem but from first aid, that chemical burns can often act beneath the skin. That is why they can be very serious. People see little or no mark and disregard the pain, not knowing that a chemical is slowly eating its way through the affected area causing sometimes irreversible harm.

Luke, Good reflection piece. We will learn a lot about acid strength in this course. 5 stars! MW

I never knew Greek had such an influence on chemistry, I knew it did in biology and naming life forms but never realized it influenced chemistry as well. My first VIP is the origin of the word chemistry which comes from //khem// which refers to the mysterious practices in Egypt and //cheo// which refers to the metallurgical operations in Greece (honestly I have no idea what metallurgical means, but I think the connection to the mysterious Egyptians was interesting because we still have a lot to learn about chemistry). My second VIP is that in counting, chemistry uses all Greek numbers except for two and nine. Here it uses //bis// and //nona// both of which are Latin. For some reason, unbeknown to me, scientists decided to switch languages at two and nine which seems odd. My third VIP is that piezoelectric comes from the word //piezo// which means to squeeze. So something that is piezoelectric releases an electrical charge when it is squeezed, I though that was cool. My MVP is that back in the 18th and 19th century when chemistry was being born most intelligent and academic men were well learned in ancient Greek due to a much higher emphasis on classical education. That is why chemistry has its roots in ancient Greek.
 * Influences of Ancient Greek on Chemical Terminology**

Luke, Good points! I like your MVP which shows good insight into "classical education". Well done ! 5 stars. MW

I found this article to be rather entertaining, I enjoy reading things such as this. I read a book over the summer called The Black Hole Wars, by Leonard Suskind, which talked a lot about Einstein's theories so I'm fairly comfortable with them, obviously I don't fully comprehend them yet, I'm just scratching the surface. However, I was not aware that Einstein published all three of these theories in one year, I found that pretty remarkable. My first VIP is Einstein's idea of light interacting with metals as little packets of energy. This explains the photoelectric effect and, whether or not the theory is correct, it has proven to be very applicable for the time being. My second VIP is that Einstein predicted the dimensions of an atom by observing how dust particles moved through water. This interested me because the only way I know of that this could be done is by using Newtonian physics and imagining the collisions occurring among the particles. However, this bridges the micro and macroscopic in a sense so I assume I am missing or misinterpreting something and I am curious as to how exactly Einstein did this. My Third VIP is the notion that nothing in the universe can travel faster than light in a vacuum. This idea is what turned the physics world upside down. I have yet to be enlightened as to why this is so but I have come to assume it is because light is essentially pure energy without mass and nothing can travel faster than pure energy. Finally, my MVP is that space and time are relative factors. This goes completely against human instinct, yet makes perfect sense. The idea is so abstract and impossible to envision but somehow in my mind it simply works. It took a while but after reading a few books this summer I actually managed to get my mind around the idea. I can't imagine how Einstein did this himself though. That is why it is my MVP.
 * Einstein's Miraculous Year**

Luke, Einstein had the unique ability to imagine beyond normal human observation. Have you read Stephen Hawkings books? 5 huge stars! MW

I have played on artificial turf fields so I was interested in this article. Personally I will always prefer the feel of a well kept grass fields but artificial turf has defiantly come a long way. I thought that it was interesting that the name Astroturf came from the Astrodome, I never knew that. I also found it interesting that the field cane get up to 55.9 degrees Celsius. I knew the fields got hot but had no idea it was that extreme. I learned a bit about how elastic rubbers work. I didn't know that elastics were rubber fibers with some bonds in between allowing the fibers to be stretched out but not broken. I think spraying the fields with water immediately before sporting events to absorb all of the heat ties in quite well with our thermo unit we just completed. Since water has such a high heat capacity it cools the field down almost immediately.
 * Polymers in the Field**

Luke, Looks good! You made some good connections to our class! 5 stars! MW

You may have noticed through small discussions at the end of class that I have quite an interest in science. I am curious about our world. This has been so my whole life and consequently I am already rather familiar with the reasons why salt melts ice. Believe it or not when I was a little kid I used to love throwing salt out in the snow just to watch it melt. To me it was magic, that is until my father was kind enough to explain what was going on, although not in a very detailed way, I was, after all, only four. Admitting I do not know it all ... yet, I did still learn a few things from the article. My first VIP is that when a solution of salt water freezes only the water molecules crystallize. I was under the misconception that the solute was in some way involved in the crystalline structure. I found it interesting that a solution can be purified by freezing it and washing away the solute. My second VIP is that the melting of the snow is a chain reaction. When salt is thrown on top of snow or ice only a small reaction occurs between the salt and the surface of the snow or ice. As this reaction progresses the salt slowly begins to dissolve in the melted water and as this happens the reaction gains speed. Then as vehicles drive over the snow and ice they mash the salt in deeper making the reaction increase even more. My third VIP is that engineers are now developing compounds that are sprayed on the surfaces of finished roads to help permanently protect them from ice. These new roads require less salt which in term saves money and has less of an impact on the environment. I think it will be interesting to see if that technology can grow to the point where our roads are made with compounds that don't allow ice to form at all, I don't know if that is really possible but it would definitely be convenient. My MVP is the principle that the number of dissolved particles determines the magnitude of the freezing point depression. That is why MgCl2 lowers the freezing point of water more than NaCl. MgCl2 disassociates into 3 ions whereas NaCl only disassociates into 2 ions.
 * Salting the Roads**

Luke, Fascinating story and well written reflections! I wonder if nanotechnology cold be used to create better road services? 5 huge stars! MW

1. When adding muriatic acid or sodium bisulfate to the water to lower the pH why is it important to add the chemicals at the deep end of the pool? It is a good idea to put chemicals in the deep end of a pool because they will be more diluted. If chemicals are dumped in the shallow end of the pool they will most likely take longer to cycle through the filtration system and disperse throughout the pool. Putting chemicals in the deep end also helps preserve the sides of the pool which can be damaged by chemicals such as chlorine.
 * Pool Chemistry Questions**

2. Many factors of pool chemistry can affect the walls of the pool causing undesirable effects such as scaling. To combat this the water must be maintained under strict guidelines. Do companies that manufacture pool linings use any special materials to help prevent unwanted effects of poor chemistry? No, companies do not make liners out of special materials to combat the effects of pool chemistry. However, pool liners are made out of the most durable compounds that are cost efficient for mass production. On average a pool liner should last up to ten years at least. Pools such as our school's with tiled sides can last much longer. The only drawback with a tiled pool is the mortar which Central was lucky enough to learn about. Some mortar will react with the chemicals in the pool and slowly disappear which means that care must be taken to use the correct mortar or else all of the tiles will slowly fall off.

3. Chlorine is a vital chemical in the maintenance of a pool. How much chlorine does our pool require on a weekly basis, and what type of chlorine compounds do we use? Our pool uses the chlorine compound sodium hypochlorite and has a computer which controls chlorine levels. In the pumping system a computer monitors all of the chemical properties of the water and adds chlorine as needed to maintain perfect chemistry. This means that very little chlorine must be added manually. Normally the chlorine is injected into the water supply already dissolved however, if levels get too low extra chlorine must be dumped in the pool. This chlorine is granular and must be manually dumped all around the pool. Because of the advanced computer monitoring system there is no set amount of chlorine that must be added to the pool, the computer simply adds what it needs when it needs it.

Luke, OK. Now answer the questions! 1/2 way home. 5 stars. MW

Luke, Great answers! A little late on this one though. 9 stars. MW

This article had some interesting information. I already new that rust and corrosion required three ingredients, an anode (the metal), a cathode (something such as oxygen in the air), and a conductive medium such as water. I also new that salt will speed up the rate of corrosion which is why rusting is a bigger issue near the coast and in tropical climates. I was also aware, due to my endeavors in chemistry, that iron is most common in an oxide state. More often than not we are dealing with Fe2+ or Fe3+ because these are the thermodynamically favored states of iron. I was not aware that there was a noticeable difference in the abundance of old cars between the coast/northern states, and the middle of the country. This is due to the amount of salt near the coast and salting roads in cold climates. It only makes sense that cars wouldn't last as long in these places. I found the research going into paint to be interesting. I have heard bits about smart paints that can fill scratches but I had no idea that paints were being developed that had rust inhibitors and other defenses to help protect cars. The last thing that I learned was that so much money is lost to rust. It costs the nation around $276 billion a year to fight rust. I new it was an issue but had no idea it was that serious. The DOD has scientists working on ways to prevent rust to preserve tanks, planes, and other equipment.
 * Flaking Away**

Luke, Good points! Very through and well written! 5 stars. MW