Alkali Earth Metal of the Week
So far, I've enjoyed learning about the Earth Alkaline Metals most because they are all found naturally on Earth. This is more appealing to me because the more I learn about synthetic chemistry and synthetic anything, really, the more I see a relationship between creating something and in turn creating some sort of imbalance.
All Alkaline earth metals are shiny. They are somewhat reactive at standard temp and pressure and are usually a silvery-white color.
I chose Magnesium for my Alkaline Earth Metal of the week because I have been learning a lot about it in Nutrition and Vitamins and also in Physiology.
Magnesium (Mg), along with the other alkaline earth metals, has two electrons in their outer shell. This forms cations with a charge of +2. It is also in group 2 and the s-block of the periodic table of elements, which also means that the outer electrons in are in an s-orbital.
Mg has many uses. Mixing it with other metals can make the over all product lighter. It can be used as a reducing agent and helps with many physiological aspects of the body.
Avogadro's Hypothesis
After looking over Avogadro's Hypothesis "equal volumes of
gases, at the same temperature and pressure, contain equal numbers of molecules." I obviously also agree with it although I'm not sure how I could "test" this. I could see how there was much confusion before about the mixing of molecules and compounds, but because of Avogadro and his hypothesis we can now see that molecules come in units. So H2O is 2 sets of hydrogen molecules with one set of oxygen molecules.
Molecular Medicince
Molecular medicine seems like an amazing way to help get rid of immediate pain and discomfort in certain conditions and could maybe even be life saving for some, but it sure isn't going to come without a price. Inhaling medicine because of the vast surface area on our lungs seems like a great idea, and I'm not saying that it isn't, but if we look at where we're at now, our gut has suffered both individually and as a people, because of medicine hitting our stomachs, I can't help but worry about what it may do to the condition of our lungs. I suffer with an auto-immune disorder which is directly related to the over use of anti biotics given orally, not just to me but to my parents and grandparents. Antibiotics and other western medicines given in pill form has caused so many epidemics while trying to "cure" others. There is no doubt that molecular medicine will also have drastic side effects causing new problems.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Monday, February 10, 2014
Week 5 The Chemistry of Color and Nutrition
Inert Gas of the Week
For my inert gas of the week I am picking Neon. With an atomic number of 10 Ne has an atomic mass of 20 meaning there are 10 protons and 10 neutrons as well as 10 electrons. Ne is the fourth most abundant element in the Universe and was discovered shortly after Krypton in the year 1898. Two chemists were studying liquid air when they found this element. The largest use of Ne is in signs but is also used as a refrigerant. In a test tube it's color is a rich orangish red.
Food Colors In My Kitchen
I usually eat a pretty "strict" diet in the way that I stay away from processed foods and TRY to stay away from sugar, although I definitely struggle with this addiction.
Here are a couple pictures of some common foods you might find in my kitchen.
After looking at this I see that I am lacking in foods that are blue and red. I'm not sure what else I could eat besides blueberries that are blue, but I did buy some at the store yesterday. For the red maybe I can introduce peppers.
Last week I introduced black into my diet by incorporating Hijiki. I'm excited about that. I am also looking forward to incorporating more black sesame into my diet.
At first I thought I was also missing yellow, but I drink bone broth every day and I think that will suffice.
One other thing that is ALWAYS in my kitchen is chocolate. It's not in the picture tho because right now the chocolate happens to be my bed. Can't live without it!
Thoughts From This Weeks Class
This was my favorite class so far and I wish we could have explored the actual chemistry behind the colors of food even more. I find food to be so interesting and also beautiful. Not a day goes by where I am not impressed by the beauty of food.
I also liked learning a little more about Chakras and have been incorporating visualizing the colors in my body when I meditate. In fact, even today, I have a sore throat and have been eating blueberries to help that areas chakra. I look forward to learning a lot more about color theory and how it relates to food.
For my inert gas of the week I am picking Neon. With an atomic number of 10 Ne has an atomic mass of 20 meaning there are 10 protons and 10 neutrons as well as 10 electrons. Ne is the fourth most abundant element in the Universe and was discovered shortly after Krypton in the year 1898. Two chemists were studying liquid air when they found this element. The largest use of Ne is in signs but is also used as a refrigerant. In a test tube it's color is a rich orangish red.
Food Colors In My Kitchen
I usually eat a pretty "strict" diet in the way that I stay away from processed foods and TRY to stay away from sugar, although I definitely struggle with this addiction.
Here are a couple pictures of some common foods you might find in my kitchen.
Last week I introduced black into my diet by incorporating Hijiki. I'm excited about that. I am also looking forward to incorporating more black sesame into my diet.
At first I thought I was also missing yellow, but I drink bone broth every day and I think that will suffice.
One other thing that is ALWAYS in my kitchen is chocolate. It's not in the picture tho because right now the chocolate happens to be my bed. Can't live without it!
Thoughts From This Weeks Class
This was my favorite class so far and I wish we could have explored the actual chemistry behind the colors of food even more. I find food to be so interesting and also beautiful. Not a day goes by where I am not impressed by the beauty of food.
I also liked learning a little more about Chakras and have been incorporating visualizing the colors in my body when I meditate. In fact, even today, I have a sore throat and have been eating blueberries to help that areas chakra. I look forward to learning a lot more about color theory and how it relates to food.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Week 4 Green Chemistry
Catalyst of the Week
Cobalt
Co
Atomic Number 27
32 Neutrons
Cobalt found in the Earth is only found mixed with other elements, usually in Iron. You must reduce it down to it's elemental form using a technique called smelting. It is then a silver, hard metal.
People in the past have used Cobalt for dying. Hence the term "Cobalt Blue".
Discussion Write Up
Science without social responsibility is a huge discussion these days because we are living with the repercussions. There are many reasons how this happened; in fact I feel like I could spend hours talking about the human psyche, privilege, money, and Colonialism and how it relates to where we are now environmentally because I think it's all related. The one thing I can't figure out, is how are the people who are making this chemical waste and doing the extreme extractions of our Earth's elements not scared out of their minds?! I just feel like there has to be a lot of running away from one's own conscience. Or did they really not know how bad it was? I don't know, but either way it's mind blowing to me. It makes no sense.
Cobalt
Co
Atomic Number 27
32 Neutrons
Cobalt found in the Earth is only found mixed with other elements, usually in Iron. You must reduce it down to it's elemental form using a technique called smelting. It is then a silver, hard metal.
People in the past have used Cobalt for dying. Hence the term "Cobalt Blue".
Discussion Write Up
Science without social responsibility is a huge discussion these days because we are living with the repercussions. There are many reasons how this happened; in fact I feel like I could spend hours talking about the human psyche, privilege, money, and Colonialism and how it relates to where we are now environmentally because I think it's all related. The one thing I can't figure out, is how are the people who are making this chemical waste and doing the extreme extractions of our Earth's elements not scared out of their minds?! I just feel like there has to be a lot of running away from one's own conscience. Or did they really not know how bad it was? I don't know, but either way it's mind blowing to me. It makes no sense.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Review of "Greener Energy- Atom Economy"
This is a pretty straight forward article. Basically, if you're working with chemistry and doing experiments there is a calculation you can do to find out how much waste you're putting out for every reaction you are doing. The equation is called Percent Atom Economy and is simple:
Review of Neptune's Medicine Chest
Wow, I don't know exactly where to begin because I have opposing opinions about this article. On one hand, I am so happy to know there are more nutrients we can be getting from the sea. Both preventative and healing for such things like cancer. But it also freaks me out that humans are going for this "untapped" territory, for many reasons.
One, we have destroyed so many eco systems by now and are experiencing only the beginning of the entropy it's causing. Humans will probably do the same thing to the ocean floors and deplete that environment as well. The ocean is home to so many billions of living things and we tend to go into unmarked territory, claim it as our own and ruin it. How is this ok? I know it's great to save lives and if one of my family members could receive medicine that would help with their sickness of course I'd want it, but where are our limits in how much we take? What are our regulations with how we go about extracting these things.
Secondly, because of patents, people are taking these incredible nutrients and messing with their chemical make up so they can "invent" the medicine and get the credit for it. The problem with this is that, as us TCM students know, whenever you take some thing from it's natural environment and then mess with it you lose the natural balance of that thing. This causes many side effects and our body systems weren't meant for nutrients that have been chemically modified.
It's also frightening that he mentions how antibiotics saved millions of lives, and he hopes to find the new penicillin, but our generation is now dealing with the HUGE set backs that antibiotics has caused us. So many people are suffering from disease in epidemic proportions that can be traced back to the introduction of antibiotics in our body. So not only are we depleting from the ocean and rewiring the things we find, but we're also posing a threat for generations to come.
Sometimes it's so hard for me to accept that humans can't just leave stuff alone.
One, we have destroyed so many eco systems by now and are experiencing only the beginning of the entropy it's causing. Humans will probably do the same thing to the ocean floors and deplete that environment as well. The ocean is home to so many billions of living things and we tend to go into unmarked territory, claim it as our own and ruin it. How is this ok? I know it's great to save lives and if one of my family members could receive medicine that would help with their sickness of course I'd want it, but where are our limits in how much we take? What are our regulations with how we go about extracting these things.
Secondly, because of patents, people are taking these incredible nutrients and messing with their chemical make up so they can "invent" the medicine and get the credit for it. The problem with this is that, as us TCM students know, whenever you take some thing from it's natural environment and then mess with it you lose the natural balance of that thing. This causes many side effects and our body systems weren't meant for nutrients that have been chemically modified.
It's also frightening that he mentions how antibiotics saved millions of lives, and he hopes to find the new penicillin, but our generation is now dealing with the HUGE set backs that antibiotics has caused us. So many people are suffering from disease in epidemic proportions that can be traced back to the introduction of antibiotics in our body. So not only are we depleting from the ocean and rewiring the things we find, but we're also posing a threat for generations to come.
Sometimes it's so hard for me to accept that humans can't just leave stuff alone.
Transitional Metal of the Week
Ooooooo metals are so pretty!!! I chose copper because it's one of my favorite colors to wear.
Copper= Cu with an Atomic number of 29 and an Atomic Mass of 64 when rounded up. Meaning there are 29 Protons, 29 Electrons and 35 Neutrons.
Copper has a very high thermal and electrical conductivity so it can be used for a conductor. It's also used as a building material. And would be great jewelry on me (had to throw that in).
Copper= Cu with an Atomic number of 29 and an Atomic Mass of 64 when rounded up. Meaning there are 29 Protons, 29 Electrons and 35 Neutrons.
Copper has a very high thermal and electrical conductivity so it can be used for a conductor. It's also used as a building material. And would be great jewelry on me (had to throw that in).
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Element of the Week/ Class discussion thoughts
The element I chose to focus on for the week is Magnesium. Magnesium (Mg) has an atomic number of 12 and its atomic mass is 24. This also tells us that it has 12 neutrons. Its common oxidation number is +2. It is an alkaline earth metal
and the eighth-most-abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in
the known universe as a whole (Wikipedia).
Mg interests me because a lot of people are concerned with how much calcium they get, not knowing that Mg is what carries the calcium through your body for proper absorption. Therefore, many people are eating things that are calcium rich but are not absorbing the proper amount.
Magnesium is a cofactor in more than 300 enzyme systems that regulate diverse biochemical reactions in the body, including protein synthesis, muscle and nerve function, blood glucose control, and blood pressure regulation. It contributes to the structural development of bone and is required for the synthesis of DNA, RNA, and the antioxidant glutathione.
This Chemistry class is showing me more and more how much information is kept from us, but that can be found through reading a sufficient amount of articles on the matter at hand. I feel so lucky to be in school but sometimes the information I'm getting lays heavy on my heart, for others are still ignorant to the facts. This holds true for all the information I'm learning, including nutrition, "medicine", environment, etc.
Mg interests me because a lot of people are concerned with how much calcium they get, not knowing that Mg is what carries the calcium through your body for proper absorption. Therefore, many people are eating things that are calcium rich but are not absorbing the proper amount.
Magnesium is a cofactor in more than 300 enzyme systems that regulate diverse biochemical reactions in the body, including protein synthesis, muscle and nerve function, blood glucose control, and blood pressure regulation. It contributes to the structural development of bone and is required for the synthesis of DNA, RNA, and the antioxidant glutathione.
This Chemistry class is showing me more and more how much information is kept from us, but that can be found through reading a sufficient amount of articles on the matter at hand. I feel so lucky to be in school but sometimes the information I'm getting lays heavy on my heart, for others are still ignorant to the facts. This holds true for all the information I'm learning, including nutrition, "medicine", environment, etc.
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