Sunday, August 1, 2010

Dove

Dove is formulated to be pH neutral, with a pH that is usually between 6.5 and 7.5. Dove contains lesser alkali than other soap.

Heres the commercial:

Acid

Acid
An acid in common usage is a substance that tastes sour, reacts with metals and carbonates, turns blue litmus paper red, and has a pH less than 7.0 in its standard state. Examples include acetic acid (in vinegar) and sulfuric acid (used in car batteries). Acid/base systems are different from redox reactions in that there is no change in oxidation state. Acids can occur in solid, liquid or gaseous form, depending on the temperature. They can exist as pure substances or in solution. Chemicals or substances having the property of an acid are said to be acidic.

Acids are generally dangerous. Never drink them or put them near your eyes. Never pour water into a concentrated acid as it heats up and can spit hot acid at you.


An indicator is a chemical that changes colour. Indicators are liquids, but they can be soaked into a type of paper similar to blotting-paper to form strips of indicator paper.

Just dip the indicator paper into the unknown liquid and it will change colour to show the pH.

The simplest indicator is Litmus (from the Litmus plant). It goes red in acids, blue in alkalis.

pH = less than 7 pH = more than 7

Universal indicator is a better indicator than litmus because it can show a greater range of colours. The chart below shows the approximate colour that universal indicator goes when put into liquids of different pH values.

pH = 3 or less pH = 4 or 5 pH = 6 pH = 7 (neutral) pH = 8 or 9 pH = 10 or more

Universal indicator is available as a liquid or soaked into absorbing paper. It is often used to work out the pH of soil samples to see which plants can be grown in a certain patch of ground.

There are other indicators, for example, methyl orange (which changes colour from colourless to orange at pH of about 3). They all have different pH values where they change colour, and each has its own uses.

references:http://richardbowles.tripod.com/chemistry/acids/acids.htm

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Hydrogen/Nuclear Bomb


Firstly, how does a hydrogen/nuclear bomb work?
­Nuclear bombs involve the forces, strong and weak, that hold the nucleus of an atom together, especially atoms with unstable nuclei. There are two basic ways that nuclear energy can be released from an atom:

•Nuclear fission - You can split the nucleus of an atom into two smaller fragments with a neutron. This method usually involves isotopes of uranium (uranium-235, uranium-233) or plutonium-239.
•Nuclear fusion -You can bring two smaller atoms, usually hydrogen or hydrogen isotopes (deuterium, tritium), together to form a larger one (helium or helium isotopes); this is how the sun produces energy

In either process, fission or fusion, large amounts of heat energy and radiation are given off.

To build an atomic bomb, you need:

•A source of fissionable or fusionable fuel
•A triggering device
•A way to allow the majority of fuel to fission or fuse before the explosion occurs (otherwise the bomb will fizzle out)
this video shows you what destruction a nuclear bomb can bring:

Molecules

A molecule is defined as an electrically neutral group of at least two atoms in a definite arrangement held together by very strong (covalent) chemical bonds. Molecules are distinguished from polyatomic ions in this strict sense. In organic chemistry and biochemistry, the term molecule is used less strictly and also is applied to charged organic molecules and biomolecules.

heres a brief explaination on what molecules are:

Ions


Ions are atoms with either extra electrons or missing electrons. A normal atom is called a neutral atom. That term describes an atom with a number of electrons equal to the atomic number.

For example, a sodium (Na) atom have eleven electrons, one too many to have the shell filled. You need to find another element who will take that electron away from the atom. Bring in chlorine (Cl). Chlorine (Cl) will take that electron away and leave the sodium atom with 10 electrons inside of two filled shells. Now, it has became an ion and missing one electron. It is now a sodium ion (Na+). It has one less electron than its atomic number.

Isotopes



An atom is missing a neutron or has an extra neutron. That type of atom is called an isotope. An atom is still the same element if it is missing an electron. The same goes for isotopes. They are still the same element. They are just a little different from every other atom of the same element.


Radioactive Isotopes
Radioactive isotopes, also called radioisotopes, are atoms with a different number of neutrons than a usual atom, with an unstable nucleus that decays, emitting alpha, beta and gamma rays until the isotope reaches stability. Once it's stable, the isotope becomes another element entirely. Radioactive decay is spontaneous so it's often hard to know when it will take place or what sort of rays it will emit during decay.'

references taken from: http://www.ehow.com/about_5095610_radioactive-isotopes.html

Neutron

Neutron
The neutron is a subatomic particle with no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. They are usually found in atomic nuclei. The nuclei of most atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of protons in a nucleus is the atomic number and defines the type of element the atom forms. The number of neutrons is the neutron number and determines the isotope of an element. For example, the abundant carbon-12 isotope has 6 protons and 6 neutrons, while the very rare radioactive carbon-14 isotope has 6 protons and 8 neutrons.


All elements have atoms with neutrons except for one. A normal hydrogen (H) atom does not have any neutrons in its tiny nucleus. That tiny little atom (the tiniest of all) has only one electron and one proton. You can take away the electron and make an ion, but you can't take away any neutrons.

If you add a thousand neutrons you will be creating one super-radioactive atom.