Now on ScienceBlogs: The Laboratory at Harvard
Molecules: You'd better learn to live with them.
Category: Inorganic
Nitrogen? What's so special about that? You're soaking in it - 78% of air is nitrogen. As anyone who's been to a middle school science demonstration can attest, it gets pretty neat when you cool it down. At 77 K...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 9:55 PM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Inorganic
Yesterday, I discussed ammonium nitrate, an industrial fertilizer. One problem with it is its lavish reactivity. On its own, and particularly in combination with hydrocarbons, it makes a potent explosive - it was used in the attack on Oklahoma City...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 8:00 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Inorganic
The camping series continues. Previously: octenol, the related octenone, and DEET. Today we move away from insects for the time being, turning our attention to water purification. Sodium hypochlorite, or NaOCl, is sold as an aqueous solution - laundry bleach....
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 8:00 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Inorganic
As was mentioned in the comments to my entry on a refrigerant Monday, what we use has changed quite a bit over the years. If you don't know how a fridge or AC works (they're the exact same thing), here's...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 11:09 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Inorganic
I really, really love refrigeration. I will go so far as to say that it's the most important invention of the modern era. More than internal combustion, nuclear bombs and power, or electrification, refrigeration defines the US. If you're like...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 11:09 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Inorganic
I love stuff like this. A lot of people don't believe that water is blue until they see some really clean water. It really is, though, and the reason is simple yet fascinating. It is because water is blue -...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 9:00 AM • 17 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Inorganic
Mica is neat, you might remember it as the really flaky stuff you used during the minerals demo in grade school:...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 12:09 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Inorganic
Oscillating reactions are neat; I should write up one of my favorites sometime... Here, electrons flow from iron metal to mercury (I) sulfate to chromium (VI) oxide. Listen to the video for a step-by step explanation......
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 3:36 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Inorganic
Lead and chromium (VI) - you can't do much better for toxicity....
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 11:39 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Inorganic
Everyone by now has tried products like OxiClean, or detergents with "oxygen bleach." Rather than http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_hypochlorite" rel="nofollow">sodium hypochlorite, which is found in regular bleach, they've got sodium percarbonate, which is actually a mixed crystal of sodium carbonate (the old-timey name...
Posted by Molecule of the Day at 3:21 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
