I remember when I was a kid, as I tended the wood stove to warm the house I would rummage through my old Nintendo Power magazines looking for colorful pages in attempt to change the flames hue. It was no doubt a young child’s early...
Have a hard time remembering the elements? Let this song help you out.
The Elements
%{font-family:verdana;font-size:13px}”The Elements” (1959) is a song by musical humorist Tom Lehrer, which recites the names of all the...
Investigating the top majors, Sherlock Holmes is on the case. You can profile your picks and review the evidence to find the sure-fire academic answers you’ve been looking for…
Study Case #7ChemistryFaculty: Arts, Scien...
Chemistry, as we all know, is the science of matter. You should already be familiar with concepts like substances, elements, compounds, molecules, and other such lovely terms.
Ever wondered though, what are all these things made o...
John Dalton’s Atomic Theory
Last time we learned that during ancient times, in Greece and India, people came up with concepts that would later form the underlying basis of atomic theory. We later learned that for the next few hu...
Thomson and Subatomic Discoveries
Let’s have a quick recap- atomic theory began in ancient times, when smart people hypothesized that matter is composed of small particles. Since they had little proof and since nobody really car...
From cookies to solar systems
As you’ll recall, since Dalton came up with a modern atomic theory, things started to move. J.J. Thomson was the first to rock the boat with his discovery of the electron through experimentation wit...
Progress and Problems
So, here’s what we had so far: ancient people coming up with the idea of atoms, Dalton realizing it makes sense and publishing the first atomic theory, Thomson revolutionizing this theory and proving the ex...
Quantum Physics and Bohr
We’ve had lots of progress since Dalton’s sphere-atoms. We found out that electrons exist, then found out about the nucleus. We saw different masses for atoms of the same elements, called isotopes....
Basic Chemistry, Part 1
What comes to mind when I say chemistry?
Boring lessons in high school? Cool experiments with explosions? Test tubes full of liquids in various colours? Chemistry has all that, and more.
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Basic Chemistry, Part 2
So, you’ve read lesson 1 about atoms, elements, compounds, substances, and other chemical stuff. Now we can continue!
%{font-family:verdana;font-size:13px}We’ve discussed the protons and neutrons...
Basic Chemistry, Part 3
Good news! You should already know from reading lesson 1 and lesson 2 all about substances, specifically atoms, elements, and how they combine to form ionic or molecular compounds.
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Make your own home-made volcano!
Materials:%{font-family:verdana;font-size:13px}An empty, 1/2 litre water bottle%Baking soda%{font-family:verdana;font-size:13px}Vinger%Dish detergent%{font-family:verdana…
Turn regular milk into a magical piece of art!
This experiment is adapted from the one by Anne Marie Helmenstine, found at About.com.
Materials:%{font-family:verdana;font-size:13px}A clean plate%Milk (2 %, whole, whatever)%{font-fa...
Grow your own crystal rock candy!
This experiment is adapted from the one by Anne Marie Helmenstine, found at About.com.
Materials:
A cup of water%{font-family:verdana;font-size:13px}3 cups of sugar%%{font-family:verdana;font-size:...
Welcome to an Exciting Science Match!
This time, we’ve got 2 teams lined up for the game- the. Purely Particles and the Wild Waves.These 2 amazing teams have prepared their best players for this big league game, which is going t...
Zap it out with physics!
Materials:
Some of the following:Hair (your own, if you have some)A balloonA combA tap of waterYour pet (or little sibling if you have one)A thick carpetA door with a metal knob
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The aldehydes and ketones having – carbon atom in the presence of dilute alkali undergo – hydroxyaldehyde and – hydroxyketone. The reaction is called ALDOL CONDENSATION.Basic reagents such as dilute sodium hydroxide, aq...
‘Aldol’ is an abbreviation of aldehyde and alcohol. When the enolate of an aldehyde or a ketone reacts at the α-carbon with the carbonyl of another molecule under basic or acidic conditions to obtain β-hydroxy aldehyde or ket...
An acid-induced rearrangement of oximes to give amides.This reaction is related to the Hofmann and Schmidt Reactions and the Curtius Rearrangement, in that an electropositive nitrogen is formed that initiates an alkyl migration.Mechanism...
Haloform ReactionThis reaction has been used in qualitative analysis to indicate the presence of a methyl ketone. The product iodoform is yellow and has a characteristic odour. The reaction has some synthetic utility in the oxidative dem...
Azo coupling is the most widely used industrial reaction in the production of dyes, lakes and pigments. Aromatic diazonium ions acts as electrophiles in coupling reactions with activated aromatics such as anilines or phenols. The substit...
Kolbe-Schmitt ReactionA base-promoted carboxylation of phenols that allows the synthesis of salicylic acid derivatives.MechanismHunsdiecker ReactionThe silver(I) salts of carboxylic acids react with halogens to give unstable intermediate...
The Fries Rearrangement enables the preparation of acyl phenols.MechanismThe reaction is catalyzed by Brønsted or Lewis acids such as HF, AlCl3, BF3, TiCl4 or SnCl4. The acids are used in excess of the stoichiometric amount, especially t...
Birch ReductionThe Birch Reduction offers access to substituted 1,4-cyclohexadienes.MechanismThe question of why the 1,3-diene is not formed, even though it would be more stable through conjugation, can be rationalized with a simple mnem...
Schmidt ReactionThe acid-catalysed reaction of hydrogen azide with electrophiles, such as carbonyl compounds, tertiary alcohols or alkenes. After a rearrangement and extrusion of N2, amines, nitriles, amides or imines are produced.Mechan...
Gabriel SynthesisPotassium phthalimide is a -NH2-synthon which allows the preparation of primary amines by reaction with alkyl halides. After alkylation, the phthalimid is not nucleophile and does not react anymore. Product is cleaved by...
Claisen CondensationThe Claisen Condensation between esters containing α-hydrogens, promoted by a base such as sodium ethoxide, affords β-ketoesters. The driving force is the formation of the stabilized anion of the β-keto ester. If two ...