Andrew+Ma

=Wiki Assignment 10 – Biomolecules=
 * Carbohydrates are made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Carbohydrates are used as a major source of metabolic energy, in cellulose as a structural material, and as a component of DNA and RNA. Two examples of the biomolecule group are C₂(H₂O)₂ and C₃(H₂O)₃.
 * Proteins are made up of sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and hydrogen. Proteins are essential to the composition of almost every part of organic substances. They used in parts of skin, hair, cartilage, muscles, enzymes, and antibodies for composing body structure and immune system function. Examples of proteins involve the specific composition of amino acids. Some amino acids are arginine, lysine, and proline.
 * Lipids are are large category of diverse molecules that are related by their solubility in nonpolar organic solvents. They are made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in more complex structures than carbohydrates. Their uses are in regulating water to your body and compose fats. Two examples are fatty acids and detergents.
 * Nucleic acids are made up of nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. They are used in DNA and RNA to carry out subsequent function of body growth. Two examples of nucleic acids are cytosine and thymine.

=Wiki Assignment 9 – Concentrated vs. Dilute and Strong vs. Weak= 1. A concentrated solution is a solution that has a higher ratio of solute to solvent than that of a dilute solution. 2. Strong acids have an equilibrium constant that leaves a higher concentration of their conjugate base in the solution than a weak acid would. 3. Representations of acid solutions:
 * A concentrated solution of a strong acid: HA + H₂O + 2H₃O⁺ + 2HA⁻
 * A concentrated solution of a weak acid: 2HA + 2H₂O + H₃O⁺ + HA⁻
 * A dilute solution of a strong acid: HA + 4H₂O + 2H₃O⁺ + 2HA⁻
 * A dilute solution of a weak acid: 2HA + 8H₂O + H₃O⁺ + HA⁻

=Wiki Assignment 8 – Equilibrium 2= 1. The reason why the concentration of all reactants stay constant with time is because the only reactions happening are the reactions converting the reactant to product and back, and the forward reaction is undone by the backward reaction. This leaves the concentration the same, but because the reactions are still happening, it is a dynamic process. 2. An equilibrium expression is written using the first product in brackets raised to the power equal to its coefficient times the second product in brackets raised to the power equal to its coefficient all over the first reactant in brackets raised to the power equal to its coefficient times the second reactant raised to the power equal to its coefficient is equal to K, if it has two reactants and products, otherwise you change the equation accordingly. Examples: Chemical equation and equilibrium expression ... upload errors.
 * 2O3(g) ⇌ 3O2(g) and [O2]^3/[O3]^2 = K
 * H2(g) + F2(g) ⇌ 2HF(g) and [HF]^2/[H2][F2] = K
 * N2(g) + 3H2(g) ⇌ 2NH3(g) and [NH3]^2/[N2][H2]^3 = K

=Wiki Assignment 7 – Equilibrium= My example of equilibrium is an airplane flying at a constant speed. Two forces act on it: drag and thrust. The reason why the airplane is flying at a constant speed is because thrust is equal to drag. As for similarity to chemical equilibrium, there are two quantities of chemicals which convert to each other at the same rate, so the proportion stays the same, just as the speed of the airplane stays the same because the two forces are equal. Both processes are active rather than passive.

=Wiki Assignment 6 – Reaction Rates= The reason why a reaction is sped up when concentration is increased by compression is because more collisions can occur. These collisions cause there to be more reactions happening in less time so more energy is output at once. Increasing temperature increases the average kinetic energy of each particle, so when reactants hit, they will hit harder, and more particles will reach activation energy. However, the temperature must not be too high. Iron can be used as a catalyst for this reaction. A catalyst provides a different path for reactants to take. This different path allows the reactants to get up to activation energy faster, so the reaction happens in less time. Reaction information obtained from [] Creating more surface area by powdering the magnesium allows more of the reactants to come in direct contact with each other, so more collisions can occur, so there will be more reactions that reach activation energy. Reaction information obtained from []
 * Concentration – Internal combustion engine**
 * Temperature – Internal combustion engine**
 * Catalyst – Hydrogen peroxide and superoxide reaction**
 * Surface Area – Hydrochloric acid and magnesium**

=Wiki Assignment 5 – Investigating Solubility and Immiscibility=

Immiscibility in oil spill cleanups
Because immiscibility causes oil to float on top of water, oil spills can be cleaned up by methods of containment and skimming, usage of sorbents, in situ burning, or dispersants. Containment and skimming is performed by placing large buoyant booms with a skirt underneath around the oil spill to prevent it from spreading. Then boats suck or scoop up the oil. This can only be done if the oil spill is reached within an hour or two. Sorbents are large sponges which are used to absorb the oil on the surface of the water. In situ burning is when all the oil is ignited; however, this is only done if the oil spill is far away from coastal settlements. Dispersants are chemicals which speed up the breakdown of oil and are usually used in tropical spills, but it was found that using dispersants is more dangerous than letting oil naturally break down. If an oil spill reaches coast, then biological agents may be used. This is done by putting nitrogen or phosphorus fertilizers on the oil to make microorganisms break it down into fatty acids and carbon dioxide.

Solubility versus rate of dissolution
Solubility is the amount of solute a solvent can dissolve. Rate of dissolution is the rate at which a solvent can break apart a crystallized solute so it can be distributed homogeneously throughout a solvent. Higher temperatures affect solubility by allowing more solute to be dissolved by the solvent if a solution process absorbs energy; otherwise, it decreases solubility. Higher temperatures affect rate of dissolution by giving the solvent more energy, allowing it to better break up the solute for dissolution and speeds up diffusion of the saturated solution parts. Stirring does not affect solubility, but stirring causes the rate of dissolution to increase because more particles from the solute will have contact with the unsaturated solution parts. Without stirring, some particles would be in a saturated area of the solution, and they would only get dissolved after the saturated solution parts diffuse to allow the unsaturated solution parts to come in contact with the solute. Spreading affects rate of dissolution by allowing more surface area contact between the solute and solvent, similar to how stirring speeds up dissolution. Spreading doesn't really affect solubility.

= = =Wiki Assignment 4 – Wonderful Water=

Unusual properties of water

 * Property || Comparison to related molecules || Definition || Information source(s) ||
 * Freezing density || water's unusually decreases when frozen || Mass per a specific volume when frozen || 1 ||
 * Substances dissolvable || unusually more || Ability to contain chemicals within and evenly throughout || 1 ||
 * Freezing point || unusually high || Temperature at which a substance becomes a solid || 1, 2 ||
 * Surface tension || unusually high || A liquid's ability to keep a sturdy surface || 1 ||
 * Specific heat || unusually high || Amount of energy required to raise the temperature by 1°C || 1 ||

Information sources
1. [] 2. []

=Wiki Assignment 3 – A Global Warming?=

Atomic level explanation of global warming
On an atomic level, global warming happens because of the bending and stretching behavior of molecules. When molecules have more than two atoms, the molecule's bending and stretching motion does not necessarily leave the negative charge from electrons evenly distributed, so the negative charge from electrons may be temporarily greater in some areas than in others. Because there can be a changing charge across the molecule, the molecule can easily absorb electromagnetic radiation which matches the frequency of changing charge because of resonance, and can also re-emit energy at that frequency. So in the case of greenhouse gases, their frequency of vibration is around that of infrared light, so they can reflect infrared light and it can go back to the earth to warm it up.

Some statements or opinions about global warming
1. Global warming could cause the end of the world (human civilization). 2. 90% of atmospheric pollution comes from volcanoes.

= = =Wiki Assignment 2 – Ideal Gases in the Real World=

1. Compression fans of a turbofan engine – Boyle's law
from Wikipedia When air particles enter the high pressure compressor, they get hit by the compression fans that are powered by the high pressure turbine. Some of the energy from the compression fans is transferred to the air particles, forcing them into a smaller space. Because more particles are in a smaller space, more pressure would be exerted on their container since the volume of the container will not expand and the temperature wouldn't change if combustion did not occur.

2. Balloon being filled – Avogadro's law
When more air is pumped into the balloon, more particles strike the inside of the balloon, which exerts more pressure from inside of the balloon. Since the pressure is higher on the inside than the outside, the balloon is forced to expand so that the pressure is equal.

3. Temperature change breaking seams on a miniature football – Charles's law
This miniature football was pumped up with an air pump stored in the garage in the winter, then brought inside. When it was pumped up in the garage with cold air, it was pumped enough to be considered full. But when it was brought inside initially, the cold air warmed up, which gave the particles inside a higher average kinetic energy, so they exerted more pressure on the inside of the miniature football. The miniature football expanded until the pressure on the inside was equal to that on the outside, enough so that the outer cloth broke. = = = = = = = = = = = =

=Wiki Assignment 1 – Ted Talk= [|TED video] about a newly discovered type of neurons I chose this talk is because I typically find research of the brain interesting because I think that knowledge of the brain can be used to help you think more intelligently and make more intelligent artificial intelligence.

This talk is basically about how there is a newly discovered neuron type, called mirror neurons, which are a special type of motor command neurons. These mirror neurons allow you look at other people's movements and think about them according to yourself and to empathize things that happen to other people as if they happen to yourself, and the only thing separating you from feeling what happens to them is your own personal senses. They also are what principally separate humans from all other animals, because humans can learn with mirror neurons as opposed to evolving to do things by instinct, which allows humans' ways to change much faster than other animals' ways. It is also the basis of eastern philosophy where there is no real separation between other people and everyone is connected.

My reaction to the talk is that not only are mirror neurons responsible for the good things which separate humans from all other animals, but they may also responsible for negative things like jealousy. I also learned that the idea of everyone being connected is true because of mirror neurons.