Bollinger,+Meredith

Hydrofluoric Acid: When reading this article, I was surprised that such a dangerous chemical was not more heavily regulated. The fact that the man had found it in his basement is surprising. I also learned that chemical burns do not leave a mark, unlike burns from heat. Even a very small amount of hydrofluoric acid on your skin is enough to cause magnesium and calcium levels to drop, leading to muscle spasms or even kill you.

Influences of Ancient Greek on Chemical Terminology: After reading the article, I was very interested to see all of the influence of the Greek language on our modern chemistry. I found it interesting that many medical terms are derived from Greek, such as allergy and diabetes. Usually when I think of medicine, I think of Latin roots. Also, I was surprised by the long charts of prefixes and suffixes that we use today in English. For example, I never knew that "photo" means light and "graphy" means drawing or writing, but when put together, "photography" makes sense. Finally, I learned that azeotropes, meaning "to boil without change" in Greek, gives off vapor of the same composition as the liquid when boiled.

Meredith, I'm impressed that you picked out azeotrope! MW

On a Wing and Low Air: The Surprising Way Wind Turbines Kill Bats: In this article, I read about how the pressure changes from windmills are enough to kill small mammals, namely bats and some small birds. Because the pressure changes in the air are so intense, the blood vessels and lungs in the bats quickly expand and burst, killing them. The pressure drops 5-10 kilopascals in these zones. Some bats were killed by actually flying into the blades of the windmill, which surprised me. I would think that they would be able to detect the presence of a blade moving so fast. It is difficult to prevent the casualties because little is known about the migration roots of bats, and turning off windmills at night when the bats are active prevents electricity production. These bats are positive for crops and may cause a negative effect on our food if too many are killed from these windmills. Meredith, I was questioning this myself. It's hard to believe that bats are getting wiped out by the windmills. The blades I have seen seemed to turn pretty slowly. Good Post. MW

Polymers in the Field: I found this article interesting because I have personal experience on the turf on our field because of marching band. I didn't know that the turf has holes to drain water and that the turf is slightly sloped, but this makes sense. This keeps the field somewhat dry. However, I've noticed that with even a little bit of rain, the draining system is not very effective and the turf gets slippery. I also know from experience that the tiny bits of tire they put on the field for cushion get in sneakers and are very annoying. I was also interested in reading about the vulcanized rubber track that they installed. I wonder if our track is one of these? I used to run track and know that shock absorption puts less stress on a runner's knees and ankles. I'd imagine that these tracks are much better for serious runners and that they are probably very common for serious competitions, such as the Olympics.

Meredith, I agree. They probably do use these in competitions. I wonder if they are standard for world records and such? MW

Oil and Water: Before reading the article, I knew that when two or more substances do not mix, they are immiscible. I knew that water has strong hydrogen bonds as well as dipole-dipole bonds, while oil only has dispersion forces. I also knew that a substance is hydrophobic if it cannot be wet by water. From the article, I learned that density is not the reason for a separation between oil and water, but rather the way water molecules are much more attracted to other water molecules than to those of oil. I learned that while water molecules bead up to stay away from nonpolar surfaces, oil will spread out to be to be as close as possible to the water, forming a rainbow on the pavement. Since water has much stronger attractions to each other than oil does, water is what keeps the water and oil from mixing.

Meredith, Looks good! MW

Salting Roads: After reading this article and thinking about the discussions we've had in class, I am able to understand much more clearly how salt on the roads keeps water from freezing. I used to think that the salt just absorbed the water; however, now I know that there is much more to it. In order to prevent water from forming ice on the roads, a layer of water must first form. Then the salt will form salt water solution, and the freezing point of the solution is reduced. Now additional melted snow will not be able to freeze. I was interested in reading about the different salts that are used for a better environment, such as magnesium chloride, and how their dissociation into three ions, rather than two, can lower the freezing point much more effectively. I also found it funny that there are new salts to put on the roads that include sugar.

Meredith, Very thorough and well written. 5 big stars! MW

Hand Warmers: I can say that hand warmers have gotten me through some pretty frigid football games these past few years. I already knew that hand warmers are sealed in airtight packages. I figured that oxygen was required to activate the warmers since the producers go to such lengths to ensure airtight packaging, but I never realized that their design was so complicated. I never knew that the inside of the pouch contains iron. I wonder how many times they had to test them in order to determine when the perfect amount of oxygen reached the inside? I have never heard of reusable hand warmers before. Do they just automatically activate when the temperature gets cold enough? I was very surprised to find that some hand warmers can reach 135 degrees F and last up to twenty-four hours. I have never had such luck with them.

Meredith, I'm sure many, many tests were done! There is a metal disc in the reusable ones that you push on and it activates the crystallization. 5 stars. MW

The Chemical Composition of Maple Syrup: I already knew that syrup came from the sap of maple trees. I knew that syrup tappers collect sap during the spring. I also knew that most of our syrup comes from Canada. I was very surprised to find that it takes 40-50 gallons of sap to make a single gallon of syrup because it contains mostly water. I learned that there are several minerals in syrup, including potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, sodium, phosphorous, iron, zinc, copper, and tin. I also learned that sap tapped in the late season may taste "off," due to excess levels of sodium or amino acids.

Meredith, Good post. Well covered. 5 stars. MW

Flaking Away: Before reading the article, I knew that a dented part of a car tended to rust more easily, but now I know that it's because stress points in the metal create anodic regions where it is more easily oxidized. I never knew that rust had a chemical name- ferric oxide (ferrous means iron in latin!). The part about the salt makes sense because a reaction needs a salt bridge to transfer electrons, so areas around salt water will have more rust on cars. The author suggests using gold or silver metal to make cars, but this is not practical because it would dramatically increase the price of cars and would be unsafe in the event of a crash. I think it is a very good idea to further develop paint that releases rust inhibitors. I was surprised that corrosion costs the nation $276 billion every year, so it is a good idea to continue antirust research.

Meredith, That kind of money does get peoples interest! 5 rust-free stars! MW