Showing posts with label Elements. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elements. Show all posts
6/5/11
Two New Elements Confirmed by IUPAC: Elements 114 and 116
A chemical element is a pure chemical substance consisting of one type of atom distinguished by its atomic number, which is the number of protonsin its nucleus. There are 94 elements believed to occur naturally on Earth and rest of the elements are synthesized in laboratories.
10/5/10
What is Graphene? This years Nobel in Physics Goes to Graphene
Graphene is made of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern, forming a single layer so thin that it’s nearly see-through.
The 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to University of Manchester physicists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov who performed the first experiments on graphene, a two-dimensional sheet of carbon atoms.
In the video, Profesor explains some basics about graphene.
In the second video watch an interview with one of the Nobel Prize Physics winner
6/4/10
Chemistry of the World Football Cup Trophy
FIFA world cup is going to start soon in South Africa. Each and every teams target is to get the trophy. In this post I will write something about the chemistry of the trophy. Chemically this trophy is quite interesting.
The present day trophy was commissioned in 1974 by FIFA. The trophy stands 36.5 cm tall and is made of 5 kg gold. This means that it is hollow inside. Otherwise it would weigh ~ 70-80 kg, considering high density of gold. The gold used in the trophy is not pure gold. Gold is an unusual metal. Pure gold is very soft. If the trophy was made by pure gold, then when the winner holds it would bend. Thats why they used 18 carat (75%) gold. Other metals are mixed with gold to make it stronger.This trophy is interesting for second point. There are two stripes of green at the base. These are made from a mineral called malachite, which is a copper compound (basic copper carbonate-Cu2CO3(OH)2.)
Whoever wins the trophy, good luck to every team. Enjoy world cup games. Don't forget to watch video above.
1/12/10
12/26/08
Sodium: One of the most reactive metals
In the video series of elements, I am presenting one of the most reactive metal called Sodium (Na). It has one electron in its outermost shell, so it is very reactive. That is why it is stored in mineral oil like Kerosine. It is soft and light.
It reacts with water very quickly and explosively. This is interesting to show students. I used to show my high school students (+2 students in Nepal) how reactive this metal is by dropping a small piece of sodium on water. It generates hydrogen gas, producing orange flame. Students were always excited and interested to see the experiment.
The video in this post explains about fundamentals about Sodium. Enjoy the video and leave your comments on the comment box below.
11/30/08
Hydrogen:The Lighest Element
Hydrogen is the first element in the periodic table. It is the lightest element with atomic number 1 and symbol H. It is very abundant element, found in the universe, in the space between stars, and off course on the earth.
It is part of water. One molecule of water has 2 atoms of hydrogen.
The video in this post explains about fundamentals of hydrogen. This channel in you tube is a great one, I found. Very useful, educative to layman. The periodic Table of video has videos of all elements. In the video, they show some demonstration to better understand the element and an old man, looks scientist talks about the importance of the element. I don't know his name though.
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