The Disappearing Spoon: Chapter 3 Summary and Reflection

This chapter starts out by talking about the element Arsenic and  it's discoverer Robert Bunsen. The author also talks about how Robert improved and popularized the design of the Bunsen burner and how he was also the creator of the spectroscope. It was discussed how Dmitri Mendeleev was the creator of the first periodic table of elements and thought out an idea of how to classify elements into small sets and then developed a system of scientific law. Mendeleev's rival, Julius Lothar Meyer figured out that red blood cells transported oxygen by binding it to hemoglobin and also had his own periodic table and theories that proved to be correct. Lecoq de Boisbadran discovered the element gallium, the first new element discovered since Mendeleev’s table. Lastly, the Ytterby quarry was discussed and six out of the seven elements discovered in Ytterby were Mendeleev’s missing lanthanides. For me, this chapter was very interesting because I had no idea about how the buns on burner was created and I defiantly had no idea he also created the spectroscope. I thought it interesting how stubborn Mendeleev was in his beliefs to the point that the facts were changed so he could keep his table the same. Lastly, I liked the chapter overall because it was very informative in the sense that elements were used in different ways for different things.

Disappearing Spoon, Chapter 2 Summary and Reflection

This chapter Near Twins and Black Sheep mainly focuses on the elements Carbon, Silicon, and Germanium. The author discusses Carbon and how it forms the backbone of the amino acids and relates it to a 1185 reconstructible word.  Also in the chapter, the author talks about how Carbons electron structure does not allow it to transfer electrons, so it has to share electrons with other atoms, and  this allows carbon to form secure bonds with other atoms on amnio acid chains creating the folding of amino acids. The similarities between Carbon and Silicon are discussed. Germanium is talked about in relation to Silicon and their similarities are presented. They are both semiconductors and were used to make transistors. This chapter to me was very interesting because of the fact that all three elects were closely tied. It was fun to learn about the discoveries scientists made and how they tied it in to things we use on a regular basis. I didn't know how important elements were to our everyday functionality and so that was pretty neat to learn. Lastly, I liked this chapter because it was very factual and a lot of information was packed into it which made it easier to read.

9-17-2013 Homework: Dual wave/particle.

Scientists believed for the longest time that light was emitted as either a wave or particle. One theory was that light was wave-like in nature, producing energy that traverses through space in a manner similar to the ripples spreading across the surface of a still pond after being disrupted by a dropped rock. The opposite theory insists that light is composed of a steady stream of particles, much like tiny droplets of water sprayed from a hose. However, both theories hold true in certain circumstances. Under certain conditions, such as when light is shined through narrow slits, it behaves as only a wave can. Under other conditions, such as when light is shined on a metal and the spray of electrons that comes off, light behaves only as particles can. 

The Disappearing Spoon: Chapter 1 Reflection

The novel The Disappearing Spoon,  started it's story off in a very generic background information kind of way. The first chapter starts off by giving a brief description of what the table of elements is while also showing how the table is set up and why it is set up that way. The first chapter also relays information regarding all the backgrounds of the elements in the table, such as the noble gases and alkali metals. The author went into depth about early discoveries in chemistry by various scientists during the early 19th and 20th centuries. He describes D-shells, which are misshapen and incomplete layers of electrons and also describes  how they lay underneath other layers of electrons. On the same note he describes F-shells, which are found in lanthanides and bury F-shells even deeper than the transition metals stored their D-shells. The author went into depth about a very aspiring woman scientist, Maria Goeppert, a woman from Germany in the early 1900s. He talks about her discoveries in chemistry and how she was able to prove what made elements more stable. Lastly, he finished off the chapter by telling how reading the table vertically down the column helps us to understand the connections between the elements more fully. On a personal side, I really enjoyed the beginning of the book. It was very informative and supplied a lot of background stories that tied in how the chemistry evolved over the years. It was sort of depressing in the fact that most of these people's great work was never recognized or acknowledged for quite a long time. I think that the stories were a great way to get chemistry terms across in a way that wasn't extremely boring. The book got a little repetitive at times but all of the information was valuable. Overall, the first chapter was very informative and interesting.