Reading Assignment #1
pgs.198-209

1) What is meant by the term "phlogiston?"

The ancients used it as an explanation to the question, 'where, when you burn a log, does the bulk of the substance go?' It was the substance, though invisible, that emerged throughout the course of burning.


2) Using what you have read, describe how the description of alchemy as being "part hokum, part wishful thinking, and part serious science" is fitting.

Well, a lot of what the ancients scientists did do, or theorize what they could do was 'hokum' or nonsense. For instance their belief that everything on earth was made by earth, water, fire, and air. The wishful thinking part I would tie into the dream of turning lead into gold, and finding the elix of life. The part serious science would be the discoveries they made while trying out these 'hokum' experiments, Isaac Newton is a perfect example of this.


3) How can acid be distinguished from a base?

A pH scale is a wonderful thing to use to distinguish acids from bases, but I have a feeling you want more than that, so here we go.
If you add a substance to water (which is neutral), some H2O molecules change. If the substance is an acid, it creates a lot of hydrogen ions-positively charged ions. If the substance is a base, you end up instead with lots of negatively charged oxygen-hydrogen pairs, or hydroxide ions. And a neutral substance has balanced ions.

4) What were the original nine elements known to the ancients?

They were gold, silver, copper, tin, iron, lead, mercury, carbon, and sulfur.

5) Which two elements are the first to be attributed to a discoverer?

The first was Arsenic, attributed to Albertus Magnus, a German priest, in 1250.
The second was Phosphorus, who we can attribute to a specific discoverer.

Reading Assignment #2
pgs. 210-219

1) Explain why Boyle is called both the first and last alchemist?

Boyle spent years of searching for the philosopher's stone and the elixir of life. He doesn't reject alchemy but he doesn't swallow everything everyone tells him.


2) Of what practical use was Boyle's earlier works employed?

They were used to test to see if the metals presented were silver or gold.

3) Explain Boyle's law.

If you want to fit gas into a smaller space then you need to increase the amount of pressure on it.

4) What is the real significance of Boyle's Law to the development of modern scientific thought?

It inspired Isaac Newton who defined Volume, Mass, and Density. Which we still use today.

5) Based on this chapter, create a list of what the Greeks(notably Aristotle) seemed to have correctly theorized and a list of their disproved theories.

Approved

• air has mass and can exert pressure(Galileo)
• air in the atmosphere has a slightly different pressure at different times(Torricelli)
• the atmosphere is heavier at sea level than on the top of a mountain(Pascal)

Disproved

• air has no weight(Aristotle)
  

Helium....He

My name is Helium. My name came from the Greek god of the sun, Helius. I'm number two on the periodic table. I was discovered in 1868 by Janssen Norman Lockyear in the spectrum of the sloar eclipse when Janssen discovered a new line in the spectrum. Except for my close friend Hydrogen, I am the most abundant element in the universe. I have two Protons/Electrons and two nuetrons. I have one energy level.I'm part of a group called "noble gases." In this group with me are my homies Neon, Argon,Krypton,Xenon,Radon, and Ununoctium. I'm also part of a period number one in which is only my and(as i have said) my close friend, Hydrogen.
I am often used to fill balloons, so that they are in the air and not on the ground as would be if you used Carbon-Dioxide(a mix of some peeps I know). I am colorless(*tear*), and odorless(*YIPEE*), and a non toxic gas. Only in the most extreme temperatures am I somthing other than a gas.