Education is it the key?

Visit education in a flash to find out more on what it is meant to be educated, how technology and science may offer us a greater of an advanced future. Finally looking at how traveling around the world will help to maintain ones ability to learn and love life.

What is chemistry? (Part 1)

Frost, in ‘Learning to Teach Science’ had made an attempt to describe Chemistry, stating that “Chemistry is about two stories:

The macroscopic world of bulk materials and the invisible world of atoms and molecules.” 

When talking about Chemistry there is always a transfer of information from both sides and when summarised, Frost said:

"It is the story of the flow of energy that accompanies chemical change that links the two.”

Chemistry is seen as the one of the ‘big three’ of the sciences (Wellington & co.) Chemistry fits neatly between the macro world of biology and the largely micro world of physics and in a sense, they both depend upon Chemistry (Stacey Bretz, 2008, p.15). 

Bretz an editor of “Chemistry in the National Science” had been quite determined to make it clear that physics and biology would not be able to function without the ‘world of chemistry.’ She had gone on to say that its language provides the products that people use and that can directly have an influence on everyday lives.

Did you know? (Water - Part 1)

Water is fantastic!

It is the compound that no one or any living thing can do without, life depends on this simple molecule. The larger portion of our earth is covered in water taking up most of our earths mass (around 70%). In us humans water makes up over 50% of our body mass some suggesting it could be over 60% which indeed is remarkable. Water is our life force and it is abundant in every form, Water is able to exist as the 3 states of matter being solid, liquid and gas.

So what about its physical and chemical properties?

Water (H₂0) is made up of 2 hydrogen atoms and one oxygen
atom. They are bonded to each other by covalent bonds. These covalent bonds are produced when two separate atoms share electrons with each other (covalent bonding is known as the sharing of electrons). Ionic bonding (the formation of Ions) is the other type of bonding found in the world of compounds and molecules. Thes best way to look at ionic bonding is the transfer of electrons.

So why does the water share its electrons with both the two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom?

The oxygen atom has a much greater affinity for the electrons than either of the hydrogen atoms, although it does not exert that much of a force to completely pull all the electrons away from the two hydrogen atoms to form Ions.