|
Daynotes
Journal
Week of 22 October 2007
Latest
Update: Sunday, 27 October 2007 10:55 -0400 |
08:33
-
Barbara starts a new job this morning, still with the same firm but in
a different group. The new job should be less demanding physically than
the job she was in. That job, in records management, mainly involved
research and computer work, but frequently required her to move large
numbers of storage boxes full of file folders. The new job should make
a lot fewer physical demands. From what Barbara has said, it sounds
like she's going to like it.
Work
continues on the Home Chem Lab Handbook. Here's my current working TOC.
The stuff in black is complete. The stuff in red is yet to be done, and
some of it may not make it into the book because of time or page-count
constraints. I added chapters 19 through 21 last, both because they'll
be time-consuming to write and because they require quite a few
specialty chemicals, including some nasty stuff like concentrated
nitric acid, chromium(VI) compounds, and so on.
0. Preface
1. Introduction
2. Laboratory Safety
3. Equipping a Home Chemistry Lab
4. Chemicals for the Home Chemistry Lab
5. Mastering Laboratory Skills
6. Laboratory: Separating Mixtures
Introduction
Differential Solubility: Separate Sugar and Sand
Distillation: Purify Ethanol
Recrystallization: Purify Copper Sulfate
Solvent Extraction
Chromatography: Two-Phase Separation of Mixtures
Determine the Formula of a Hydrate
7. Laboratory: Solubility and Solutions
Introduction
Make Up a Molar Solution of a Solid Chemical
Make Up a Molal Solution of a Solid Chemical
Make Up a Molar Solution of a Liquid Chemical
Make Up a Mass-to-Volume Percentage Solution
Determine Concentration of a Solution by Visual Colorimetry
8. Laboratory: Colligative Properties of Solutions
Introduction
Determine Molar Mass by Boiling Point Elevation
Determine Molar Mass by Freezing Point Depression
Observe the Effects of Osmotic Pressure
9. Laboratory: Introduction to Chemical Reactions & Stoichiometry
Introduction
Observe a Composition Reaction
Observe a Decomposition Reaction
Observe a Single-Displacement Reaction
Stoichiometry of a Double Displacement Reaction
10. Laboratory: Reduction-Oxidation (Redox) Reactions
Introduction
Reduction of Copper Ore to Copper Metal
Observe the Oxidation States of Manganese
Redox Titration of Vitamin C
11. Laboratory: Acid-Base Chemistry
Introduction
Determine the Effect of Concentration on pH
Determine the pH of Aqueous Salt Solutions
Observe the Characteristics of a Buffer Solution
Standardize a Hydrochloric Acid Solution by Titration
12. Laboratory: Chemical Kinetics
Introduction
Determine the Effect of Temperature on Reaction Rate
Determine the Effect of Surface Area on Reaction Rate
Determine the Effect of Concentration on Reaction Rate
Determine the Effect of Catalysts on Reaction Rate
Observe a Clock Reaction
13. Laboratory: Chemical Equilibrium and Le Chatelier's Principle
Introduction
Observe Le Chatlier's Principle in Action
Quantify the Common Ion Effect
Determine a Solubility Product Constant
14. Laboratory: Gas Chemistry
Introduction
Observe the Volume-Pressure Relationship of Gases (Boyle's Law)
Observe the Volume-Temperature Relationship of Gases (Charles's Law)
Observe the Pressure-Temperature Relationship of Gases (Gay-Lussac's Law)
Use the Ideal Gas Law to Determine the Percentage of Acetic Acid in Vinegar
15. Laboratory: Thermochemistry and Calorimetry
Introduction
Determine Heat of Solution
Determine the Specific Heat of Ice
Determine the Specific Heat of a Metal
Determine the Enthalpy Change of a Reaction
16. Laboratory: Electrochemistry
Introduction
Produce Hydrogen and Oxygen by Electrolysis of Water
Observe the Electrochemical Oxidation of Iron
Measure Electrode Potentials
Observe Energy Transformation
Build a Voltaic Cell
Build a Battery
17. Laboratory: Photochemistry
Introduction
Photochemical Reaction of Iodine and Oxalate
18. Laboratory: Colloids and Suspensions
Introduction
Observe Some Properties of Colloids and Suspensions
Produce Firefighting Foam
Prepare a Gelled Sol
Prepare a Solid Aerosol
19. Laboratory: Qualitative Analysis
Introduction
Using Flame Tests to Discriminate Metal Ions
Using Borax Bead Tests to Discriminate Metal Ions
Qualitative Analysis of Inorganic Cations
Qualitative Analysis of Inorganic Anions
Qualitative Analysis of Bone
Qualitative Analysis of Reducing and Non-Reducing Sugars
20. Laboratory: Quantitative Analysis
Introduction
Quantitative Analysis of Vitamin C by Acid-Base Titration
Quantitative Analysis of Chlorine Bleach by Redox Titration
Quantitative Analysis of Seawater
21. Laboratory: Synthesis of Useful Compounds
Introduction
Synthesize Some Artificial Pigments
Synthesize Hard and Soft Soaps
Synthesize Rayon Fiber
Synthesize Methyl Salicylate from Aspirin
Synthesize Esters from Alcohols and Organic Acids
22. Laboratory: Forensic Chemistry
Introduction
Use the Sherlock Holmes Test to Detect Blood
Perform a Presumptive Test for Illicit Drugs
Reveal Latent Fingerprints
Use the Marsh Test to Detect Arsenic or Antimony
That's a lot to get done, and it'll be heads-down work for me until it's finished.
09:59
-
Late start this morning. I had to drop off the digital camera that we
ordered for the Reynolda Manor Library friends group, stop by Walgreens
to pick up some butane lighter fuel, and take my truck to be inspected.
Work continues on the home chem lab book.
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
08:37
-
Our thoughts are with our friends in California, many of whom are under
threat from the massive wildfires going on there now. More than 640
square miles (1,600 square kilometers) have already burned, and many of
the fires are completely out of control, from north of Los Angeles to
the Mexican border. More than half a million people have been
evacuated, and many will lose their homes to the fire.
As
I read the news articles this morning, one thought struck me. If a
disaster on this scale struck anywhere else in the world, hundreds
of millions of American dollars and tens of thousands of tons of
American relief supplies would already be en route to the scene of the
disaster. So where is the rest of the world when a disaster occurs
here? I'm not holding my breath.
When the chips are down, you
find out who your real friends are. And, time after time, when disaster
strikes here, we've found out who our real friends are. We can count on
the Brits, the Canadians, and the Aussies. The rest of the world sends
token assistance at best.
I
got email from my editor, Brian Jepson, last night about the cover for
the home chem lab book. He suggested having the art folks at O'Reilly
shoot the cover image. I pointed out that, although they're extremely
competent, they're not chemists. I was afraid we'd end up with an image
that was unintentionally funny, like the famous RJ Reynolds Camel ad
that showed a telescope on a balcony. The wrong end of the telescope
was pointed at the sky, and the guy in the image was looking through
the wrong end of the finder.
Brian suggested that I shoot some
placeholder images to give the art folks some ideas. So Barbara pulled
out a white sheet for a background. I'll set up on the kitchen table
and shoot some images. Stuff like an Erlenmeyer flask on a ring stand
with a burner under it, balance with a beaker containing some colorful
crystals, a test tube rack with test tubes full of colorful solutions,
a few chemical bottles, a volumetric flask, a pipette or two lying on
the table, etc. etc.
Perhaps if I'm lucky I'll be able to shoot
something good enough to use as the actual cover. I'll use Barbara's
Pentax DSLR and the slave flash unit I bought for shooting images in
the lab. If the on-camera flash plus the little slave flash aren't good
enough, I may set up a couple of the neodymium tungsten bulbs in
gooseneck lamps and shoot without flash. Of course, then I'll need to
figure out how to set the white balance properly.
12:21
-
The problem went away. My editor said that they'd just order whatever
equipment they needed and have it delivered to their offices in
California. I suggested that they order the Laboratory Glassware Set
($59) and the Laboratory Hardware Set ($39) from United Nuclear, along with some chemicals so they'd have the bottles to use a props. I also suggested they order an inexpensive centigram balance for the cover shot. They'll subsequently use the stuff for setting up displays at Maker Faire and similar events.
All
I needed to do was shoot some example images to show them what a
reasonable setup might look like. Here's one. Yeah, using food coloring
is kind of hokey, but I'm sure they'll want colorful stuff for the
cover shot. And that really is crystalline copper sulfate in the
small beaker on the balance.
Thursday, 25 October
2007
08:40
-
The EFF web site is down again, which means I had to use a text editor
to remove the EFF Blue Ribbon banner at the top of the page so that my
HTML editor would load it. This is twice in the last week or two, and
it's getting annoying. I linked to the image rather than including a
local copy of the image because the EFF requests it be done that way so
that they can update the image when there's an urgent need for people
to do something, but I think I'll replace the linked image with a
static copy of the image. I'm wondering if the EFF site is coming
under some sort of DDoS attack.
There
was a bizarre article in the paper this morning. Apparently, a white
family that lives in a predominantly black neighborhood decided to
celebrate Halloween by putting an effigy in their front yard. The
effigy was apparently a realistic simulacrum of a human being, made
from clothing stuffed with straw or whatever, suspended from a
tree limb, and surrounded by painted gravestones and cobwebs. There was
no noose; they simply suspended the effigy from a rope so that it would
stand upright. Presumably if they'd mounted the effigy on a stake
there'd have been no problem.
But some of the neighbors took
exception to the display and called the police, who showed up and asked
the owners to remove the effigy. They did so, but they're puzzled about
how their Halloween effigy suddenly became a symbol of racism. The
paper quoted several of their black neighbors talking about the legacy
of lynching in the South, but the article did at least mention that
their next-door neighbors, who are also black, said that they saw
nothing wrong with the display. I guess the folks with the effigy
should consider themselves lucky not to have been charged with a
so-called hate crime.
It seems to me that there needs to be an
absolute line. If someone chooses to hang an effigy in his front yard,
even if that effigy is a black man hanging from a noose, that's his
business. He is not, in my opinion and that of most other people, a
good person, but if his message is only "I hate black people and wish
they were all dead", well, it's his Constitutional right to express
that sentiment. On the other hand, if he burns a cross in the yard of
his black neighbors, or if he hangs a noose from their door, that's a
direct threat against a specific person, and he should be charged with
trespassing, assault, and whatever other crimes the DA can think of.
The
rains have finally arrived. We've had about an inch (2.5 cm) in the
last 24 hours, with another inch or two expected over the next couple
of days. That helps a lot, but we're still down about 14 inches (35 cm)
for the year to date.
Winston-Salem has instituted voluntary
water conservation measures, which is moronic. We've been asked to take
shorter and less frequent showers, turn off the water while we brush
our teeth, stop washing our cars, and so on. None of that is necessary.
Many
cities and towns in North Carolina, including Greensboro about 30 miles
to the east of us, are in desperate straits, with their reservoirs far
down and only 90 days or less of water remaining. If the forecast for a
dry winter is accurate, some of those places may run out of water
entirely. But Winston-Salem has its own huge reservoir, with sufficient
reserves to outlast even a years-long drought. Although the Yadkin
River, from which we draw our water, is at near historic low flow
rates, Winston-Salem is still using less than one seventh of its flow.
And even if that flow became dangerously low, they could simply open
the gates on the reservoir to replenish it.
Winston-Salem has
absolutely no need to conserve water, even in the midst of an extreme
drought, and asking people to conserve water under those circumstances
is at best a useless gesture and at worst counterproductive. The story
of the boy who cried wolf comes to mind.
(Winston-Salem won't
let our friends in Greensboro perish from thirst. There's a large water
pipe between the cities, and Winston-Salem can supply as much water to
Greensboro as the pipe will carry. It won't be enough to allow
Greensboro to continue using water at its normal rate, particularly for
industrial use, but it will be enough to sustain residential supplies.)
Work
continues on the home chem lab book. I'm working on the qualitative
analysis chapter now. I've finished up the lab sessions on flame
testing, borax bead testing, analysis of inorganic anions, and analysis
of inorganic cations. Today I'm working on a session about qualitative
analysis of bone. The final session is about qualitative analysis of
some reducing and non-reducing sugars. Then it'll be on to the next
chapter, quantitative analysis, followed by the chapter on synthesizing
some useful compounds.
08:33
-
It's been raining for a couple of days. We've gotten something over 4"
(10 cm) of rain so far, and it looks like we may get another inch or
two today and tonight. That's enough to end the drought for us locally,
and if that amount of rainfall was widespread it's enough to
increase the level of the reservoirs significantly. The newspaper
reports the levels of four local reservoirs. All but one of them was up
slightly this morning, but the largest increase was only an inch or
two. We need increases of five to eight feet to bring them back up to
their normal pool levels.
I
finished the chapter on qualitative analysis yesterday and posted
it to the subscribers' page. I'd just gotten started on the next
chapter, quantitative analysis, when I got email from my editor. He
asked me to get a couple of chapters--one of the early narrative
chapters and a representative lab chapter--in finished form so he can
send it to the design folks. Until they design and layout the chapters,
we have no real idea of how much page count is already occupied and how
much remains available. So, over the next few days, I'll be doing final
re-write on those chapters, shooting images, incorporating editor's and
tech reviewers' comments, and otherwise getting the chapters ready for
production.
This book is four-color, which means it's very
expensive to produce and page count really matters. Running over the
allotted page count increases production cost, which translates to a
higher cover price. We'd like to avoid that, so we'll try very hard to
stick to the allotted page count. Four-color also takes longer to
produce and print, and it looks like the book will hit the bookstores
sometime in late winter or early spring.
Saturday, 27 October
2007
09:28
-
I finished the re-write on Chapter 3 (Equipping a Home Chemistry Lab)
yesterday and posted it to the subscriber page. I haven't shot the
images yet, and there are 30 of them. I'll get those shot today and
tomorrow and embed thumbnails in the text. This is the example
narrative chapter we'll send to the design/layout folks to get an idea
of how manuscript pages translate to book pages. Once I finish that
chapter, I'll do final re-write on the gas chemistry lab chapter, which
we'll send to the design/layout folks to serve as a lab chapter example.
According to the Winston-Salem airport, we've had 4" (~100 mm) of rain
over the last few days. The rain was pretty widespread. In the
mountains to our west, thirteen counties were under flood watches and
warnings, which is ironic for an area that was in and is still
in extreme drought. A lot of the water just run off. Still, it ran
off into the reservoirs, which is good. The pool level of the Kerr
Scott Dam and Reservoir, which serves Winston-Salem, was up about 14"
(~350 mm) overnight and is now only about 60" below normal pool level.
But we need another four or five similar widespread rains to get things
back to normal in the region, and that seems unlikely to happen any
time soon.
10:55
- I finished making adds and edits on Chapter 14, Gas Chemistry, yesterday, and posted it to the subscriber page.
I
was going to start shooting images for the equipment chapter, but I
decided to defer that until today. I've set up the kitchen table
for product shots. I was using an old white tablecloth, but no matter
how well it's ironed it shows wrinkles in the images. Barbara was out
running errands yesterday, so she stopped by If It's Paper to find out
what they had in the way of something I could use for a seamless white
background. She came up with a roll of white plastic picnic-table
covering. It looks like it should work fine, so today and tomorrow I'll
be shooting images for that chapter.
Copyright
� 1998,
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 by Robert Bruce
Thompson. All
Rights Reserved.
