Articles written by Ernest Capraro - Page 21

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About me - Ernest Capraro

This author has experience both as a chemist and as a teacher of high school chemistry and physics. He is currently employed within the pharmaceutical industry, and holds a Master's degree, unsurprisingly, in chemistry.

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Sciences > Chemistry Stoichiometry: An introduction: 2 of 2
Stoichiometry is often the bane of a chemistry student's existence. Unlike many lessons which can be learned and forgotten after the test, stoichiometry is a tool that is used constantly throughout the remainder of chemistry. If the skill is not learned, it makes difficult or impossible every concept that follows that requir... More..
Sciences > Chemistry How big is a mole?: 2 of 2
Moles, of course, are furry critters with poor vision that dig up gardens and golf courses. They're smaller than your average cat. For students of chemistry, however, the mole is a magic (and often mysterious) number. The mole is nothing more than a counting number. It is equal to Avogadro's number of anything. Avogadro's nu... More..
Sciences > Chemistry Calculating the molarity of water: 2 of 2
Calculating the Molarity of Water Chemistry teachers often like to challenge their students with this one. It combines the use of concentration, density, and molar mass all in one problem, along with an added twist. (What could a truly warped chemistry teacher enjoy better than that?) Several assumptions are necessary as wel... More..
Sciences > Chemistry An overview about the chemical element Chlorine: 2 of 2
Chlorine is one of the more noxious elements. A greenish gas at room temperature, elemental chlorine is diatomic - which is to say two chlorine atoms are bound together by a single bond. Like all halogens (elements from Group 7 on the periodic table), chlorine is an oxidizer. It is toxic to humans, causing damage first to an... More..
Sciences > Chemistry Examples of acid base indicators: 2 of 2
Acid-Base indicators provide a quick, visual reference. They show (indicate) by color whether a material is acidic (less than pH 7) or basic (greater than pH 7). An acid-base indicator does not tell you how acidic or basic a solution is, only which. This limits the ways a single indicator can be used, but they are quite help... More..
Sciences > Chemistry What is an aromatic compound?: 2 of 2
To the average person, the word "aromatic" usually means "pleasingly fragrant". For chemists too, it held this meaning originally. Over time, chemists found that certain organic compounds were much more stable (unreactive) than was normal for similar chemicals. Because many of these molecules were also quite pungent, the che... More..
Sciences > Chemistry How to grow a big alum crystal: 2 of 2
Alum - potassium aluminum sulfate - KAl(SO4)2 is one of the more popular crystals to grow. This may be because it makes a nice octahedral crystal that is visually appealling, or because it isn't terribly toxic. It probably also has a lot to do with its very convenient solubility curve. The biggest drawback, in my opinion, is... More..
Sciences > Chemistry An overview about the chemical element Platinum: 2 of 2
Platinum is well known today as a precious metal, but its value is a rather recent facet of history. More difficult to purify than gold and silver, it was more of a curiosity until modern times. Platinum jewelry is popular and valuable today. Indeed, platinum carries a higher price tag than gold, commemorated in the record i... More..
Sciences > Chemistry The relationship between volume and temperature in the Ideal Gas Law: 2 of 2
The ideal gas law is familiar to many beginning chemistry students as "piv-nert" - the equation PV = nRT. In this equation, P stands for pressure, V for volume, n for the moles of gas, R is the gas constant, and T is temperature (in Kelvin). If we are specifically interested in the relationship between volume and temperature... More..
Sciences > Chemistry How glowsticks work: 2 of 2
Glowsticks emit light through the process of chemiluminescence. Chemiluminescence is a big fancy word for light given off as a result of energy supplied by a chemical reaction. Glowsticks will contain a set of reactants that you activate by breaking a capsule that contains one chemical, allowing it to mix with the others in ... More..