Daily Post 30/1/12

What are today's Main Topics?
-Chap. 1: temperature, states of matter, and density.

Describe the difference between an absolute scale and a relative scale?
The difference between absolute scale and relative scale is that the absolute scale refers to the temperature in which molecular motion begins to occur (0K) and relative scale refers to the molecular motion that we are familiar with (70°F).

What questions do you have? Further explanation
-Why didn’t we cover Bose-Einstein condensate and Plasma?

What things do you wonder about? Think/career/connection
-Possibility of achieving temperatures below absolute zero; benefits of using materials close to absolute zero; when can a solid, liquid, and gas coexist.

Daily Post 27/1/12

What are three topics that we covered in class today?
-Chemical/Physical changes
-How to use the periodic table
-Introduction to atoms and molecules 

What did you find interesting in class today?
The topic I found most interesting during class was the balloon experiment because it combined the knowledge I already knew and added-on to it.

List a few ways that we identify a chemical reaction has occurred.
During the balloon experiment, the oxygen molecules reacted with the hydrogen atoms. The evidence of this happening is an explosion when the balloon was heated with the candle.

Write a question or comment that you have about the material that we covered today.
Most of the material covered during class I had previous knowledge in as well as, but it acted as a refresher for me.

How Chemistry relates to our Career

1.       Why is chemistry important to your career?

The definition of chemistry is “The science that deals with the composition and properties of substances and various elementary forms of matter.” The importance of chemistry for my career is that it involves the process of how atoms and molecules interact with each other both at the atomic and larger scale. Chemistry also can be used for creating nanomaterials to be applied as a coating on consumer products.

Sources: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chemistry

2.       Select a molecule that will be important in your career and describe the uses and characteristics of this molecule.

Molecule: Titania

Applications:

-Used for coating materials/particles such as Carbon nanotubes and Quantum dots
-Can be used as a sensor to monitor the amount of oxygen in the air.
-When Titania is used in photovoltaic cells, it can increase the efficiency of electrolytic splitting between hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water.
-When applied in a thin coat to a material, Titania exhibits self-cleaning and disinfecting properties when exposed to UV light.

Characteristics:

-Density: 4 g/cm³
-White color
-Molecular name: TiO₂
-Molar mass: 79.87 g/mole
-Melting point: 1843 °C
-Boiling point: 2972 °C

Source: http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=1179; http://www.anl.gov/PCS/acsfuel/preprint%20archive/Files/48_2_New%20York_10-03_0584.pdf;