Sodium, Neon, and Silly Cats

Puns are always available in chemistry!
Group one elements first so: SODIUM! As I literally just said, sodium is a group one element and therefore is often called an alkali metal. Although salt is the most common form of sodium [sodium chlroide], it is also used in items such as soap! I never knew that before. Its symbol is Na and has an atomic number of 11.
Neon! Neon is next as it exists in only a small amount of the atmosphere 9 present at 1 part in 65000) naturally as opposed to sodium which everyone has heard of. Ne has 10 protons and electrons and is located in group 18. Most people have heard of Neon colors, but never thought of it as an individual element surrounding us every day!
https://www.webelements.com/sodium/

Copper and Tellurium

Oh dear flirty chemists!
Lets begin with copper or Cu! Copper is the 29th element on the periodic table, meaning it as twenty nine protons and electrons. It is in group eleven and is a very important metal. It is also a good conductor of heat and electricity as most metals are. It even gave policemen their nickname of ‘cops’ or ‘coppers’ since their uniforms used to have copper buttons!
Tellurium, Te, has a white or silver appearance. It has an atomic number of 52 meaning 52 protons and electrons. It belongs in group 16 on the periodic table and is semi-metallic. With light exposure, Tellurium becomes a better conductor. Tellurium gives off a garlic like smell.
https://www.webelements.com/copper/
http://www.webelements.com/tellurium/

Dyes Turning Yellow River Pink

The Yellow River is going pink? Because of tofu? WHAT? I was planning to write a post about water color which can be used to determine the surrounding environments pollution levels, when I came across this little piece of information. As a vegetarian (and tofu lover) I was very curious to see why tofu would need dye, for one thing, and why it is being released into a river in such a way that it is considered pollution.
A stretch of this river located in China has changed to a magenta color due to colors that spill into it almost every day. In this article, unlike the first one I saw, the pinkish color is due to an actual pink dye being released from a steam heating station where water is dyed pink to distinguish it from drinking water.
Ill update on this later, but it does not seem as if many articles want to discuss dyes being released into the river.

http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1550046,00.html

Coal Washing Chemical Spill

ALthough I have never heard of washing coal, apparently water doesn’t cut it. Instead of plain, pure water, 4-methylcyclohexane methanol is used. Called MCHM, this chemical helps remove the burnable fossil-fuel from the unburnable products around it like rock and dirt. Thousands of this litters were spilled this past week into the Elk River in West Virginia. 300,000 people are currently advised in the area not to drink the water, which is a rather scary thought. I mean if we can’t drink it, should we really breath in remains of it as the coal is burned? At the moment the toxicity levels are unknown. Within the same article, it states that although MCHM has not been proven to have a large health effect, only eye and skin irritation, it has also not been highly tested for its safety. I suppose this will have to change now that people will easily have contact with this organic solvent.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-dangerous-is-the-chemical-spilled-in-west-virginia

Baking Soda vs Baking Powder

These two have always seemed so similar and it used to confuse me on why every recipe called for specific versions of each, but after doing some research I understand why! Although baking soda is in baking powder, baking powder dilutes it. (This causes more to be necessary when substituting it for baking soda) The properties of baking soda make it good for recipes with acidic ingredients as it prevents things such as heartburn. Baking powder on the other hand adds a fluffiness to food Baking soda’s chemical name is sodium bicarbonate which is also included in Baking powder as said before. If stored in a warm temperature atmosphere, both will eventually lose their potency.

http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/bakingdesserts/a/Baking-Soda-And-Baking-Powder.htm

Tantalum, Lithium, Silicon

Ta+Li+Si: ALthough I’m not actually made of Tantalum, Lithium, and Silicon but it is cute to see my name in the periodic table.(:
During the same chem class that this blog comes from, I’ve also created a project about Tantalum with tflstar89.wordpress.com! The idea was to create a t-shirt that corresponded with your element. For ours, we did an airplane pilot as Tantalum is often found in airplanes. It is a metal and number 73 on the periodic table meaning its atom has 73 protons and electrons. Tantalum also is very resistant to acids and so it is often used in nuclear bombs!

The next element mention is Lithium, number 3 on the periodic table. Lithium is often used in medicine for eating disorders, headaches, alcoholism, overactive thyroids and more! LIthium increases serotonin levels, which in a previous blog I discussed as leads to feelings of happiness and love when in high quantities and depression when in low quantities. Due to this characteristic, Lithium is also used for anti-depressants.

The last element I mentioned is Silicon. It has an atomic number of fourteen and was discovered in 1824. It is classified as a semi-metal and solid at room temperature. SIlicon is the seventh most abundant element in the universe and the second most abundant in the Earth’s crust! Funny that for being an element that is basically everywhere, not many people know much about it.

Let it snow!!

Well, there’s snow outside, there’s snow in Egypt, I thought we should bring snow to chemistry as well. Although growing up we have all been warned to stay away from the yellow snow, not all colored snow is bad or disgustingly made. For example, the red antarctic snow often called watermelon snow has a sweet smell and taste and can be green or red! This snow is created by Chlamydomonas nivalis which contains a secondary red pigment in addition to chlorophyll. The first accounts of watermelon snow are in Aristotle’s writings.