Minutes 25/03/2015

Venue: LT 27

Time:  16:30 PM

Duration: 1 hour

Attendance: All Present

Topics Discussed:

Video on:
Implications to Society” Introduction, explanation and references.

Workload Allocation:
Implications to Society – ALL

To be completed by 29/03/2015

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Minutes 18/03/2015

Venue: LT 27

Time: 16:30 PM

Duration: 1 hour

Attendance: All Present

Topics Discussed:

Skeleton of Video on:

Chemical Concept” Introduction, explanation and references.
Implications to Society” Introduction, explanation and references.

Workload Allocation:
Chemical Concept – Bernie, Bob & Mrina
Implications to Society – Natalia, Sherry, Hien

To be completed by 22/03/2015

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Assignment Unit 6

Country: Canada
Issue: Long range transboundary air pollution

The acid deposition occurs in Canada. Large scale pollutants and particulate matter such as SO2 and NOx are generated from USA. Strong wind current directs the pollutants towards Canada, resulting in long range transboundary air pollution. Ultimately, the phenomenon caused acid depositions in Canada. An agreement titled: “Canada-US Air Quality Agreement” was signed by both countries on March 13, 1991 to resolve this issue by committing to reduce pollutant emission within an acceptable range.

Reference:
Link

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Feedback on CM8001

Hi Prof. Garcia, sorry for the late feedback. Below are the feedback from our group:

1. A sample video should be provided to give students a better frame of reference on how to approach the required video assignment.

2. It would be better if we could edit the post in the blog together like in Google docs. We find it quite difficult when we want to edit directly in the blog since we have to take over from first writer.

Thank you!

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Electrolytes in Your Life

Hi, welcome back to our blog about electrolytes in your life.

In this part, we’ll explain how ‘close’ are electrolytes with you 🙂

Electrolytes not only play an important role in our lives, especially in health problems, but also have great impacts on industries and science researches.

Let’s take a glance at applications of electrolytes in normal life. Are you aware that electrolytes are in your body? Yes, they are inside your body and play vital roles for your life!

They are essential for heart, muscle, and nerve functions. They also play a significant role in keeping the fluid balance in the body.

Some examples of the key electrolytes in your body are sodium, potassium, chloride, and bicarbonate. Disturbance in electrolyte balance cause adverse effects on your health. Below are the most important role for each of the electrolytes mentioned before.

  1. Sodium (Na+) movement is critical in generation of electrical signals in the brain, nerve, and muscle.
  2. Potassium (K+) regulates heartbeat and the muscle’s function.
  3. Chloride (Cl-) maintains the fluid balance.
  4. Bicarbonate (HCO3-) acts as a buffer to maintain the pH in blood.

Water moves readily across cell membrane, and if the total concentration of solutes inside and outside cell are not equal, there would be a net movement of water into or out of the cell. These are undesirable conditions for us.

  •  Cell burst        When a cell is subjected to hypotonic solution whereby the concentration of solutes outside the cell is lower than inside the cell. As a result, there will be a net movement of water into the cell.
  • Cell collapse   When a cell is subjected to hypertonic solution whereby the concentration of solutes outside the cell is higher than inside the cell. Consequently, water will flow out of the cell.

The ideal condition is when cell is in the isotonic solution whereby the concentration of solutes inside the cell are the same as the concentration of solutes outside the cell. In this condition, the movement of water into and out of the cell are exactly balanced. When this balance is broken down, our bodies encounter a severe symptom which is called by dehydration. Therefore, electrolyte solution containing sodium and potassium salts (Figure 1) is used for treating or preventing dehydration caused by sport exercises, excessive alcohol consumption, diarrhea and vomiting. A homemade electrolyte solution can be the mixture of sugar, salt and water with appropriate proportions.  Pre-made preparations are also available commercially and also for veterinary use, like Electrovite. Electrolytes are commonly found in fruit juices, coconut water, sports drinks, milk, nuts, and vegetables like potatoes or avocados.

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                                                 Figure 1

We are now understanding electrogalvanization which is absolutely an important application of electrolytes in industry. The electrogalvanization is the process in which a layer of zinc is bonded to steel in order to prevent from corrosion. This process is related to electroplating. It means that we are setting an electricity current through an electrolyte solution – saline/zinc solution with a zinc anode and steel conductor. Among other electroplating process options, Zinc electroplating is always in the dominant position based upon electroplated tonnage per year

The modern electrolytes includes alkaline electrolytes and acidic electrolytes. The traditional solution usually used is based on ammonium chloride, options today can be ammonium, potassium or mixed ammonium/potassium electrolytes. The chosen content of zinc depends on the required productivity and part configuration. High zinc increases the bath’s efficiency (plating speed), while lower levels enhance the bath’s ability to throw into low current densities. Typically, the Zn metal level varies between 20 and 50 g/L (2.7-6.7 oz/gal) and the pH varies between 4.8 and 5.8 units. The following chart illustrates a typical all potassium chloride bath composition:

Parameters Value in g/L (oz/gal)
Zinc 40 g/l (5.4 oz/gal)
Total chloride 125 g/l (16.8 oz/gal)
Anhydrous zinc chloride 80 g/l (10.7 oz/gal)
Potassium chloride 180 g/l (24.1 oz/gal)
Boric acid 25 g/l (3.4 oz/gal)

 

Here is the video that will show you the electrogalvanization process:

Zinc Plating Electroplating electrolysis:

And some pictures:

images

 

coating-galvanizing

 

galanizing_process

See ya on the next post! 😀

Resources:

http://www.medicinenet.com/electrolytes/article.htm#what_are_electrolytes

http://www.livestrong.com/article/417256-how-do-electrolytes-affect-the-body/

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet-fitness/information/electrolyte.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrogalvanization#Traditional_electrolytes

 http://www.zinc.org/info/hot_dip_galvanizing

http://pixshark.com/galvanization-process.htm

 http://kids.woot.com/offers/pediatric-electrolyte-your-choice

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Solution, Solutes and Electrolytes

Hi, welcome back to our blog about solution and electrolytes.

In this part, we’ll give you a more in depth description and explanation about solution electrolytes.

Let’s begin shall we.

Three Types of Mixture

When a substance(dissolve-ee) is mixed with a solvent(dissolve-er), three types of mixture may be formed. Those are solution, colloids, and suspension.

Example of suspension, colloid, and solution Taken from : imgkid.com

Firstly, a solution is a mixture of one substance dissolved in another so the properties are the same throughout. A solution is composed of a solute and the solvent. The solute is the substance being dissolved and the solvent is the part of the solution that does the dissolving. The solute is of molecular size. One example of solution is a simple salt and water. You can’t see the salt and the water in a separate manner even in microscopic scale.

Secondly, a suspension is a mixture between two substances, one of which is finely divided and dispersed in the other. Common suspensions include sand in water, dust in air, and droplets of oil in air. Particles in a suspension are generally larger than those in a solutions; they are visible under a microscope and can often be seen with the naked eye. Particles in a suspension will settle out if the suspension is allowed to stand undisturbed. Many particles of a suspension can be separated through a filter. An example of a simple suspension would be flour in water, or sand in water, which can be seen macroscopically.

Finally, a colloid is a type of mixture that has half the property of solution and the other half is from suspension. Example of a colloid is paints. An observer would only see the pigments in a magnified condition.

 

Another Three Types of Solution

In addition, solutions can also be classified as saturated, unsaturated, or supersaturated.

Many solvents have a capacity towards dissolving solutes. The instance of maximum capacity is called a saturation point. A saturated solution is one that holds all the solute it possibly can at any given temperature. For example, if you make a solution containing 37 grams of sodium chloride in 100 grams of water, the solution is said to be saturated; it cannot hold any more sodium chloride. If you happen to add more salt, even just a tiny bit, it will not dissolve anymore.

Any solution containing less than the maximum possible amount of solute is said to be unsaturated. A solution with 5 grams of sodium chloride (or 10 grams or 20 grams or 30 grams) in 100 grams of water is unsaturated.

Next, supersaturated solutions are also possible. As bizarre as it sounds, a supersaturated solution is one that holds more solute than is possible at some given temperature. The way to make a supersaturated solution is to make a saturated solution at some higher temperature and then let the solution cool very carefully.

For example, one could make a saturated solution of sugar in water at 50°C by adding 130 grams of sugar to 100 grams of water. That solution would be saturated. But then, one could allow the solution to cool down very slowly. Under those circumstances, it might happen that all of the sugar would remain in solution even at a temperature of 25°C. But at that temperature, the solubility of sugar is normally a little over 100 grams per 100 grams of water. Therefore, the cooled solution would be supersaturated. Supersaturated solutions are normally very unstable. The slightest movement in the solution, such as simply shaking it, can cause the excess solute to settle out of the solution.

 

Rules of dissolving

Dissolution follows the rule of polarity. For instance, salt and water are both polar, while oil is nonpolar. The rule for solubility is “like dissolves like”. On the molecular level, salt is composed of sodium and chloride ions, which are positively and negatively charged. This causes them to be polarized. The water molecule, being asymmetrical, is also polarized. Oil, on the other hand, consists of carbon to hydrogen bonds, which are neither charged nor polar. Therefore, the polar salt dissolves in the polar water but not the non-polar oil.

Adding on, solutes that are dissolved in solvent results in the formation of a stable single phased (aqueous) homogeneous mixture known as a solution. In addition, the solute from a solution cannot be separated by physical methods such as filtration.

In ionizing solvents such as water, it has the capability to ionize solutes to form electrolytes. Ionized substances can either be positively or negatively charged and are known as cations and anions respectively. When ionized, such substances acquires the ability to conduct electricity.

In the human body, electrolytes are vital to survival. Electrolytes are required in the maintenance of our cellular function and organs. Some electrolytes include sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), calcium (Ca2+), chloride (Cl-), etc

Therefore, these chemical concepts aids in the understanding of the characteristics and properties of solution and solutes.

See you soon on our next post. 🙂

 

Resources :

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet-fitness/information/question565.htm

http://www.medicinenet.com/electrolytes/article.htm

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153188.php

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/solution.aspx

http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/Properties-of-Solutions-327199.html

 

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Minutes 25/02/2015

Venue: South Spine B3
Time: 1230PM
Duration: 1 hour

Attendance: All Present

Topics Discussed:

  • Chemical Concept”  Introduction, explanation and references.
  • Implications to Society” Introduction, explanation and references.

Workload Allocation:
Chemical Concept – Bernie, Bob & Mrina
Implications to Society – Natalia, Sherry, Hien

To be completed by 02/03/2015

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Team Questions Session 3

  1. Despite of the energy released from the Earth’s surface is faster than the solar energy reaching the Earth,  some of the energy that has been emitted as infrared radiation is absorbed and reflected back in all directions by greenhouse gas molecules. Therefore, the Earth’s surface become warmer and cannot cool down rapidly.
  2. The statement made by the cartoon cannot be justified. This is because global warming is not short-term effect, it takes long time to see the effects. One particular weather (in this cartoon is snowing) or one period of time cannot be used to determine whether global warming has stopped or not.
  3. Microwave has long wavelength, and hence low energy. In order for a radar to be optimally functional, high energy radiation which means short wavelength is needed. Furthermore, long wavelength radiation will diffract more and decrease the accuracy of the radar. Thus, the first radar design developed during World War II was no successful.
  4. We think air quality has the most serious problem for us in the short run because it has the most prominent effect. Also, it is much easier to pollute the air. In the long run, we think global warming has the most serious problem. This is due to the long-term effect of global warming itself.

 

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Introduction

Hi everyone! We are CHEMYSTERY! For this blog, we have chosen the topic of solutions and solutes and specifically, electrolytes. The reason we choose this topic is that electrolytes are interesting and it exists on many parts of our life. From batteries that powers electronics, to blood that keeps us alive. Pretty interesting right?

Before we begin discussing about it, we need to know the basics on electrolytes. First, lets examine solutions, in which the electrolytes dissolved in, and ions, which electrolytes dissolved into.

A solution is a homogenous mixture of uniform composition and it is made up of solvents (the dissolver, present in greater amount) and solutes (the dissolved things, present in lesser amount). Some example of solutions are your everyday tea and coffee, where the tea leafs or the ground coffee is the solutes and water is the solvents.

cup-of-black-coffee1

 

Now what are ions?

Ions are charged particles, either positive (cations) or negative (anions). The charge is caused by the addition(anion) or the removal (cation) of electrons from a neutral atom.


images download

An electrolyte is a substance that ionizes when dissolved in suitable ionizing solvents such as water. A solution that have electrolytes ionized in it may be described as concentrated if it has a high concentration of ions, or dilute if it has a low concentration.

Do keep track of our blog if you are interested to find out more.

Thank you! 🙂

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Minutes 11/02/2015

Venue:South Spine B3
Time: 1230PM
Duration:1 hour

Attendance: All Present
Topics Discussed:
– About Team
– Introduction of Topic

Workload Allocation:
All to participate in Google doc

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