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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Units and Sig. Figs…
With my holidays almost at a close (but you still have masses of time so enjoy it!) I thought it would be worthwhile posting this from Hank Green. It is the second video of a series on Chemistry from the YouTube channel – Crash Course. It is a new channel to me but looks really …
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I Can See Clearly Now…
Eating carrots won’t improve your eyesight. That is, unless you have vitamin A deficiency which causes a condition known as nyctalopia (or night blindness). People suffering from this condition are less able to see in low light levels. In extreme cases it may lead to poor vision in the light as well. Nyctalopia is not …
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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.
Tryptophan…
I go on about amino acids a lot. Sorry about that! If you click here you will be logged into Focus eLearning (come straight back!), then if you click here you will be taken to a nice page about how the digestive enzyme pepsin breaks a protein molecule in your food down into individual amino …
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Degrees Of Confidence…
As should be very obvious from how governments around the world have dealt with recent pandemic difficulties, science does not deal in absolute certainty. We often hear that they are ‘following the science‘ but I suspect that allows enough wiggle room for them to do what is politically most appealing. Science deals with probability and …
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Brussel Sprouts…
I didn’t like sprouts as a child and I must admit to a degree of ambivalence even now as an adult. I think they are generally better-cooked these days so that they arrive at the table crunchy rather than mushy (everything seemed to be boiled to destruction when I was young). I am just not …
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Standard Form…
This is especially relevant to those of you doing Radley Physics Papers. Joking aside, knowing a little mathematical notation can be very helpful. Often a “back-of-the-envelope calculation” is enough to use as a guide to the sort of answer you might expect. Standard form is a way of expressing numbers as multiples of ten. It …
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Coloured Compounds….
Although I have written about chromatography, and how it can be used to separate mixtures of coloured compounds, it occurs to me that I have not really talked about why certain chemicals are a particular colour or even what colour really is. I shall try to address this omission here. Our experience of colour is …
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Melchior…
I am dropping back to just one post a day for a while. There is plenty in the back catalogue if you need more. Happy Christmas! Melchior is an alloy of copper and nickel used to make coins and cutlery. It is silvery in colour and particularly resistant to corrosion, even in saltwater. One version …
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