Completa,+Patrick

While reading the article, "Influences of Ancient Greek on Chemical Terminology" I found out that the prefixes used in naming chemical compounds are derived from Greek. I also learned that many words that are used to teach chemistry, such as atom and ion, are Greek derivatives. Lastly, I learned that these terms exist because of the early discoverers in the Western world named them around the 18th and 19th century who had good grounding in classical languages.

Patrick, Did you find some examples of things that interested you? 4 stars.

While reading the article, "Polymers in the Field and Track," I was surprised to learn what those little rubber pebbles in the turf was. I have always been curious what the purpose was for the annoying little bits of rubber in the football field here at school. It turns out that they are actually styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) granules that help to keep the "grass" blades erect on the field. They also subsequently serve as a sort of cushion which helps reduce the likelihood of breaks and injuries on the field.

Patrick, A little short. Good points though!

I read the article, "How Does Solar Power Work?". While reading, I was very surprised to learn how little of the United State's energy is accounted for by solar energy. Although solar energy is much cleaner and won't run out like other resources, such as coal and fossil fuels, it is really quite inefficient. The cost necessary to purchase and maintain a solar panel is not worth the amount of energy produced. scientist are working on developing a material that is more energy and cost efficient. The reason that it surprised me was simply because I've never really put much thought into the subject, but I suppose it does make sense as to why more people don't use solar energy. But I believe that if scientists can come up with a material that is both energy efficient and cost efficient, it could be a major breakthrough for the energy crisis. If solar energy became affordable, we would never have to worry about our energy resources being depleted.

Patrick, This technology is advancing. You're right about it solving our energy needs. MW

While reading the oil and water article, I came across some facts that I already knew as well as some that I didn't. One point that I came across that I knew previous to reading the article was the fact that water is very polar and that it's intermolecular forces are hydrogen bonds. I also knew that like dissolves like. This means that polar molecules are miscible in other polar molecules and likewise, non-polar molecules are miscible in non-polar molecules. Lastly, I already knew how dispersion forces worked. One thing that I learned from reading this article is the fact that oil is actually attracted to water, but cannot mix at the molecular level. I learned that oil is less dense than water and therefor floats on top. Although I already knew that less dense liquids float on top, I never really thought about the fact that oil floats on water. The last thing I learned from this article is that water has a permanent dipole and can actually induce a dipole in non-polar molecules more than other non-polar molecules do.

Patrick,

OK. Pretty good. BTW Hydrogen bonds are inter- not intra- molecular forces. Late on this one. 4 stars. MW

Although I already knew that salt was used on roads to prevent icing, I never really thought about why that was. After reading the Salting Roads article, I came away with some information that I wasn't privy to priar to reading. One thing that I learned was that compounds such as MgCl2 and CaCl2 are actually more affective than NaCl because they disassociate into three ions, rather than two, which depresses the freezing point even further. I also learned that the salt only melts the ice that it is in direct contact with. The melted water forms a salt water solution that melts the surrounding ice. That salt water solution also prevents new ice and snow from accumulating. Lastly, I learned that some places don't even bother using salt because the temperature there is so low that the salted ice would still freeze.

Patrick, Well done! You are doing great this mp! 5 stars! MW

When reading the hand warmers article, I read some things that I already knew like the fact that the reaction rate will increase with increasing surface area of the reactants. (not finished)


 * ( 1 star.

Wow, I totally forgot to go back and finish that. :/

While reading the Flaking Away article, I read some things that I aready knew. First of all, I already knew that rusting is a redox reaction because solid elemental iron is oxidized to iron(II) ions, and H2O is reduced to hydroxide. I also knew that rust is more prone to occur in coastal and snowy regions. Finally, I already knew that the reason that iron rusts so easily is because it gives up electrons so willingly. Three things that I learned, however, is that dented areas in cars serve as anodic regions which causes rusting. I also learned that if you put energy into rust, it is possible to reverse corrosion. Lastly, I learned that cars made of silver and gold would be less prone to rusting in colder climates. (although that wouldnt be very cost-effective...)

PC. OK. MW.