[This is follow up to Gold Part One.] A pupil asked… Will the earth naturally produce more gold for us to extract? How long will this take? How long is the half-life of gold and what does it decompose into? Would it be possible to industrially produce gold from different atoms? A. Pupil Esq. When …
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Category:Chemistry
Words, Words, Words (Chem. Ed.)…
I thought it might be good to have a page with definitions for some commonly used words in science. This post will be largely chemistry based; I have done biology and physics versions too. I apologise in advance if it is too simple for you – just make sure that you really do understand each …
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Phase Transition…
. The graph shows how the temperature (in this case of some ice) changes over time when left out on a laboratory bench at 20 °C. The ice changes from being in a solid state to a liquid state. This change of state is a phase transition. There are five distinct regions of the graph …
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Fractional Distillation…
Fractional distillation is the process used to separate the many liquid components of crude oil; and nitrogen, oxygen and argon from liquid air. Simple distillation in the laboratory can also be adapted to separate mixtures of miscible liquids.
Distillation…
When you need to separate the solvent from a solution then distillation is the way to go. The solvent evaporates, leaves the solute behind, and can be condensed in a separate container.
Hydrocarbon Explosions…
I think I have shown you this high speed video of a YouTube scientist igniting mixtures of hydrocarbon gases and air. He does this because it is fun, and because it shows the different energies released with different mixtures. This shuttle launch shows the incredible energy released when hydrogen is combined with oxygen. The reaction is exothermic, …
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The Dreaded Suck-Back…
If you heat a boiling tube, and it has a delivery tube submerged in water, then you need to be wary of suck-back. When you stop heating, the contents of the boiling tube cool and the air contracts. This draws water up the delivery tube and into the hot glass boiling tube. Hot glass does …
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Carbohydrate…
If you look at the word carbohydrate you can probably work out what elements it must be made from. The letters ate at the end of a compound indicate that there is oxygen built into the molecule. Examples would be copper sulfate (copper, sulfur & oxygen) or calcium carbonate (calcium, carbon & oxygen). Carbohydrate does …
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Various Reagents…
There are numerous chemicals that are used in science practical work but which only get the briefest of mentions. I thought it might be useful to make a list of some here so that you can learn what they all do. Solvents We use various solvents (to dissolve things) with water being the most obvious. …
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A Quick Puzzle…
What chemical element is represented by this list? (Answers in the comments below please.) SILICONHELIUMNEONHYDOGENLEADOXYGEN Here’s a periodic table to help you. Click on it for a larger version.