Tutoring chemistry, there are fundamental laws. The tutor mentions conservation of mass. The Law of Conservation of Mass states that the total mass of the reactants – or inputs – of a reaction will equal the total mass of the …
Tutoring chemistry, definitions and the ideas behind them are important. The tutor compares suspension with dispersion. Suspensions and dispersions are both mixtures in which one phase contains and separates a less numerous one. One difference between them is that with …
Tutoring chemistry, mixtures are important. The tutor mentions the idea of a colloid. A colloid is a mixture with two phases: the dispersing medium and the dispersed constituent. Some examples are foam, mayonnaise, fog, cheese, and mud. One key characteristic …
Tutoring chemistry, definitions can be intriguing. The tutor mentions two with an idea of how to distinguish them. Let’s imagine we agree that “stable” means “it won’t change on its own.” What does metastable mean, then? A book on a …
Tutoring chemistry, ideas about valence electrons are important. The tutor mentions how some atoms have more than 8. Valence electrons are those in the outer shell: electrons involved in bonding or reactions are valence electrons. An early rule chemistry students …
Chemistry: why 3rd row nonmetals can have more than 8 valence electrons Read more »
Self-tutoring about chemistry: the tutor mentions the name for element 16. I recall hearing that “sulfur” was an Americanization of the correct name “sulphur” for element 16 on the Periodic Table of the Elements. However, as of 1990, “sulfur” is …
Self-tutoring about chemistry: the tutor mentions a species he hadn’t heard of. In yesterday’s post I mention pyrite, ie fool’s gold, ie FeS2. The persulfide ion, S22-, is the anion, while iron’s oxidation state is 2+. Hence, the written name …
Self-tutoring about chemistry: the tutor mentions the idea of amorphous solids. Among solids, the amorphous ones might be thought of as the complement to crystals. Amorphous solids don’t have the repeating order that crystals do; rather, the local collection/arrangement of …
Tutoring chemistry, concepts arise. The tutor mentions an idea behind the acidity of the carboxyl group. In my previous post I mention the carboxylic acid functional group. Yet, why is the carboxyl group acidic? The reason I’ve heard is that …
Organic chemistry: why is the carboxyl group acidic? Read more »
Self-tutoring about organic chemistry: the tutor mentions the term fatty acid. One hears about fatty acids sometimes, for instance with digestion of fats (see my post here). Yet, what are they, really? Apparently, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid …