It's time for a quick run down of the teams from the Chemistry Conference who made it to the tournament this Spring -- some who we fully expected to see here, and a few surprises. But it's also time for you, the fans, to make some noise in support of your favorite teams! If we follow your observations on these competitors down to the quantum level, they're bound to effect the outcome (albeit in a probabilistic way).
Here are the first round match ups:
Acid vs. Base: It's not a surprise to find these teams here, as they're standbys in the Chemistry Conference. While tournament games are all played inside, we hear that Acid has been practicing out in the rain to get ready for these games. It's worth noting that Base has put in a surprisingly strong showing all season.
Caffeine vs. Ethanol: Another classic battle in collegiate chemistry. Both teams have their rabid fans, but we should note that Ethanol has been getting in more trouble with college officials this season. A win here might help put that unpleasantness behind them.
f-orbitals vs. d-orbitals: Everyone expected to see d-orbitals here again this year, but the appearance of f-orbitals in the tournament is a bit of a surprise. There are probably fans in the stands who may not even recognize the f-orbitals as they file in. Fans of the p-orbitals, who didn't make the cut this year, will have to find the node in their bitterness about their fortunes.
Sublimation vs. Evaporation: This year, freezing was left out in the cold, but all available signs point to the battle between sublimation and evaporation being a gas.
Entropy vs. Enthalpy: The heat is on! Sure, it seems like a law of nature that entropy will triumph in this meeting of titans, but the court is an open system, so fan involvement could make all the difference here.
Fossil fuels vs. Alternative fuels: This match, with its dimensions of social, economic, and political relevance, has captured the attention of people who don't usually count themselves as fans of the Chemistry Conference teams. In the end, though, it may come down to which team can draw on its reserves and which can propel itself to the final buzzer on a cleaner burn.
Büchner funnel vs. Erlenmeyer flask: These are two of the more hands-on teams in the conference. It will be interesting to see whether the specialist can take down the generalist, and whether either of these teams breaks under pressure.
FTIR vs. NMR: Both very technical teams on the court, this may be a match that comes down to the quick-and-dirty team against the team with lots of attention to detail that needs time to relax. (A warning to the crowds from arena security: be careful with your credit cards around NMR.)
Games for this bracket will be held on Friday afternoon, Pacific Time. It's time for the fans (and wannabe commentators) to weigh in on these teams, whether to psych them up or to psych them out. Bring it!
Go Caffeine! All the way to the Final Victory!
It should be noted that alcohol has a record going back for decades of almost never losing on Friday afternoons.
The Sublimation vs. Evaporation game will be a close call, but no matter which way it goes, you can bet it will be an aerial game.
Also, in the fossil fuels vs. alternative fuels match, although fossil fuels has a huge endowment, its players are among the oldest in the league and may be prone to auto-combustion. Watch for some of the alternative newcomers to try blowing past the veterans in a sustainable tide.
Personal opinions and observations: Base has always had higher numbers than acid. The d-orbitals have the weight and reserves advantage. Enthalpy has an advantage in the high pressure environment of the playoffs. Büchner sucks. NMR has the holding power.
I want to say alternative fuels will win, but fossil fuels are just too much of a powerhouse. Still, I'm hoping.
I think base will neutralize acid, and caffeine and ethanol will combine to make some new kind of super team (beverage) sold by Pepsico. An alcoholic version of Enviga (http://www.enviga.com/). A Gatorade for science. This will neutralize the base and go on to be the tournament's winner.
Mind you if the winner of the sublimation/evaporation gets past the second round - it will all end up as hot/cold air.
Definitely caffeine!
Although it will be a tough match against entropy in the final round...
It's hard to believe that HGH (Human Growth Hormone) is not in the field this year.
Caffeine woo hoo! Simply because crap like Ice Wine exists. And people, Infra-Red just doesn't stand a chance with NMR.
And with the alternative fuels: do we know if Nuclear is being suited up?
Of the matches I have been able to handicap I feel pretty confident about the following:
I'm pretty sure acid and base will neutralize each other leaving a team that will water down the winner of the caffeine and alcohol battle.
As for that caffeine and alcohol I see caffeine sprinting out to an early lead but alcohol will use its natural depressant characteristics to lull caffeine to sleep and take the match in the late game.
Regarding the battle between sublimation and evaporation it will probably come down to which of the two can hold on for the win. If the game heats up then I see evaporation dominating over sublimation but if they can keep it cool then sublimation can overtake evaporation in the end.
As for entropy and enthalpy, once again I expect enthalpy to heat up the court in the first half but we all know that entropy will win in the end.
In the battle between the Büchner funnel and the Erlenmeyer flask, it is pretty clear that the Büchner will start up on top and spend most of its time looking down on the on the Erlenmeyer but without its accompanying flask I feel that the there just wont be enough pressure to let the Büchner hold on and in the end and Erlenmeyer will prevail.
Ethanol seems a shoo-in. it is present in at least two of the other teams: evaporation and alterative fuels.
But if Caffiene wins, I can go to that party too.
An easy win for the d-orbitals, so long as they play an unpaired sweeper, allowing them to exploit the forces of magnetism...
Well we all know that the largest f-orbital will pwn the d-orbital Just in terms of size!
But due to mob support I will go with caffeine for the win.
If enthalpy knows what's good for it, it'll keep entropy away from the hoop because once entropy starts scoring, it's freakin' chaos. Complete disorder. Denatured madness.