Not exactly alchemy, but still pretty cool:
Using a tabletop laser, University of Rochester optical scientists have turned pure aluminum, gold.
And blue. And gray. And many other colors. And it works for every metal tested, including platinum, titanium, tungsten, silver, and gold.
via Researchers Create Gold Aluminum, Black Platinum, Blue Silver : University of Rochester News.
I want a blue titanium toaster.
More fun info based on our studies of elements, chemical reactions, acids and salts so far this year…
HowStuffWorks “Why does fake gold turn your skin green?”: “When you buy a cheap, fake gold ring, it’s likely made of mostly copper. When you perspire, the metals in the ring react with the acid in your sweat to form salts, which are green. These acids are essentially causing the copper to corrode on the surface of the metal, which forms a salt compound of the metal. These salts are absorbed into the skin and the result is a decidedly green digit. This is nothing to be worried about; it’s not a metal allergy you’re suffering from. It simply means that the gold ring you thought was real is really just a cheap imitation. Metal allergies cause redness and swelling, not a dull green color. Another way to spot fake gold is that it can rust in high humidity or over time. “
The world is much more interesting when you know a little background information!
If you are in Robotics this semester, we briefly discussed this on Friday…
New Clues Discovered to Detect Alien Worlds (A Weekend Feature): “The key is lithium. A stellar spectography survey of over five hundred stars reveals that known-planet-bearers, including our own Sun, have less than a hundredth of the lithium of ‘barren’ stars. Stars don’t produce much lithium in their fusion reactions, so most share the same proportion of the element, which was created at the beginning of the universe. But some stars seem to destroy their stock, fusing it into other elements, and a European team have found that they all have one thing in common: planets.”
I love lithium.
Here are the 10 problems we started on today (click).
Additionally, you can try your hand on the interactive balancing activity site here:
Let me know if you have any questions!
Today we continued our studies of Antoine Lavoisier and his importance to chemistry (and many other areas).
Here is a link to the reading that we covered in class on the life of Lavoisier.
Additionally, here’s a link to the Wikipedia article we discussed which has a couple of fantastic pictures relating to Mr. Lavoisier and his experiments.
Remember, your homework is due tomorrow. In case you forgot…
Your Homework:
Find 10 important points about Lavoisier from our conversation in class or from your own readings of their linked texts.Write/type/blog those points and your responses to them in complete sentences.
(Your points should not just regurgitate what others have said but include your own insights).
See you tomorrow!
Here are the notes we started covering in class on Tuesday and will finish up on Wednesday (your homework is on the last slide):
If you have trouble finding points for your homework, try clicking on Antoine Lavoisier’s and Dmitri Mendeleyev’s names at the top of slides 9 and 10. Those links will take you to the texts of their respective books.
Check this out:
I wonder if your cars will be powered by hydrogen combustion someday? I hope so.
cool
what would happen if the LHC blow up how much damage would there be
Well, it depends on which section or which part. If the main collider exploded, it really wouldn’t be too much of an explosion above ground since the entire LHC is underground.
However, there are constantly nuclear (and sub-nuclear) explosions going to be happening on the scale of a mini big-bang… the trick is we know how to control the explosions and record the data!
I’ve just finished grading Test 1.
You can see your results on http://www.mygradebook.com.
If your dog/cat/squirrel ate your password or (for some reason!) you have forgotten/lost your password, send me an email/Facebook message/IM/txt and ask.
For the most part, the grades you see will be your final grades for the semester.
Let me just say I’m am SO proud of you all… thank you for being fantastic students.
Mr. H
Today in class we took the Test 1 Review to help prepare for this quarter’s only major test (worth 12 points).
Here is the link to the Test 1 Review.
Use the review to help you study and prepare your notes for Test 1 (Thurs-Fri this week) since many of the questions will strongly resemble these questions and the topics they cover. The formatting will also be the same.
We’ll go over the answers in class.
Today, we took Quiz 5 on Ionic and Covalent Bonds via the http://www.mygradebook.com site. The “retest” will be posted tomorrow morning and you’ll have until tomorrow night (Friday) at midnight to complete that if you’d like.
You can also head over to MyGradeBook and look at your grades and what assignments you’re missing if you haven’t done so already.
Avi Borad is discussing. 
evan, and 
craig are discussing. 
COOL??!!