Water molecules

That webpage with the discussion of water molecules was interesting. it was very simple to understand the basic concept of a water molecule because of the way the page had been organized. i enjoyed seeing the various patterns water molecules make, and it made me think about how nature is all patterns, and how intelligent all the atoms in nature, or whatever designed the atoms, are. i liked seeing how the one molecule of water surrounded by four other water molecules created a pattern, which was easy to see because the molecules were color-coded to show a clear distinction between Hydrogen and Oxygen.

Cu

Copper is my transitional metal for the week. I chose this because I have always liked the metal when used in jewelry, in fact my friend in tucson uses copper pennies and puts them on the train tracks and makes earrings from them.
-atomic number is 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity.
-copper metal can be used as an anti-germ surface that can add to the anti-bacterial and antimicrobial features of buildings such as hospitals.
-In sufficient amounts, copper salts can be poisonous
-the 2+ copper ion at lower concentrations is an essential trace nutrient to all higher plant and animal life.
-In animals, including humans, it is found widely in tissues, mostly in liver, muscle, and bone.
-It functions as a co-factor in various enzymes and in copper-based pigments.

Elements, Compounds & Mixtures Elements

in response to the web page from purdue university on elements, compounds and mixtures, i like how very simply they explain the difference between the 3 things. those can be very confusing, like a salad fork vs a dinner fork. i also enjoyed seeing the little circles with the mobile models bopping around, it was a nice visual to enhance the description.

Ozone sucks

So, i spoke to a friend and first she had no idea what ozone was. so i read some of the article, What is Ozone? to her. After the part about Tropospheric ozone, the "bad ozone", resulting from automobile exhaust and industrial emissions, she said, "see that's why i ride my bike. i'm going to have a sticker made and put it on my bike that says, 'ozone SUCKS!'"

that is the only person i talked to about it. it really surprised me that she really didnt know much about it, considering she is really environmentally conscious and is getting her masters in landscape architecture. oh well.

i didnt really know what it was either, till last week, and i live on this planet surrounded by the stuff.

element of the week: Gallium

I chose this one because i like it's name. it sounds like gallant. also, it sounds like gallum, from lord of the rings, a character who rather freaked me out.

General properties
Name, symbol, number	gallium, Ga, 31
Element category	post-transition metal
Group, period, block	13, 4, d
Standard atomic weight	69.723(1) g·mol−1
Electron configuration	[Ar] 3d10 4s2 4p1
Electrons per shell	2, 8, 18, 3 (Image)

some little facts:
-Elemental gallium is not found in nature, but it is easily obtained by smelting, extractive metallurgy
-Gallium also attacks most other metals by diffusing into their metal lattice, makes other metals brittle
-As it liquefies slightly above room temperature, it will melt in the hand

Chemistry

I have to admit that after having taken Chemistry this summer to "get it out of the way" I was a little frustrated to have to take another unit of it at AIMC. But, I really enjoyed the class readings and discussions and I really like how the class has been formulated to tie into our lives and current issues.
That being said, I did pretty good on the quiz because I have just taken Chemistry. Those periodic tables are cool. I really like studying the periodic table. That's about the only thing I liked doing in my summer class. The spiral table was a little too complicated for me, but the cartoon picture association was neat. I learn best when I have weird word/picture associations.

Oh, and I remembered that I actually did have a blog. A couple years ago. So when I went to Blogger.com, my ol' blog came up and it was like seeing an old friend. See y'all next week!