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Having just power-watched "Breaking Bad," I asked myself, 'Is there anything in this world that you are truly ignorant about, that is more "basic and fundamental" to life, than The Periodic Table?' I couldn't think of anything. So I'm going to teach it to myself, and post about it here as I learn it - I figure that if I don't understand it, then others may not either. It's pretty remarkable, actually - this giant chart had been posted up on the wall of probably dozens of classes that I've taken during my lifetime, and nobody ever really explained it to me (or, maybe they did, and I just forgot). So, if you follow this thread, you'll eventually understand The Periodic Table, because I'm going to explain everything about it, as I learn it. I'll be using the approach that, "Nothing is too simple to put into writing," although I'm going to assume things such as, "people know the difference between atoms and molecules," that "people understand that atoms are comprised of protons, neutrons, and electrons" (without necessarily understanding exactly what they are, or where they reside), etc. I have no doubt that an intelligent eighth-grader could explain this whole thing to anyone in ten minutes, but I'm going to do it step-by-step, little-by-little, so I don't overwhelm people with information. Writing things down will also help me to store them in my long-term memory, so presenting this little tutorial will benefit me as well. If Ken Burns can do it with The Civil War, then hopefully I can do it with The Periodic Table. This might take a year (as it's a "spare-time project"), but it will hopefully get done, and if you don't understand everything about it when I'm finished, then that means I'm a failure as a communicator. Kind of sad that if people remembered every single thing they were taught through middle school, they'd be more educated than 99.99% of the world. A related thread: "Isotopes for Dummies" (most of the information in the first two posts there is of primal importance to eventually understanding The Periodic Table, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself). Also in that thread, porcupine's link to "orbits and orbitals" is well-worth reading and committing to memory, but again, I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. Feel free to correct me if you see mistakes (or just chime in to say hello!), but remember that I'm starting from an embarrassingly low-level of knowledge, and will eventually get around to correcting my own mistakes as I progress. On other notes, my three most-recent meals have been: Pepita Cantina, Yona, and Kapnos Taverna.
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An isotope (iso - "the same," tope = "place") is a variant. Each element (in the Periodic Table) consists of a nucleus (containing neutrons and protons), with electrons orbiting around it. The atomic number of an element is the number of protons in the nucleus. The mass number (*) of an element is the number of (protons + neutrons) in the nucleus. An isotope is a variant, with the number of neutrons being the variable. For example, Carbon (with an atomic number of 6) is normally the isotope C-12, with 6 protons + 6 neutrons. However, there are also C-11 and C-13 isotopes. You subtract one neutron to get C-11, and add one neutron to get C-13. This is all that an isotope is: a variant on the number of neutrons inside the nucleus of a chemical element. If the following statement is not instantly clear, please go back and reread this post: "For a given element, different isotopes have the same atomic number, but a different mass number."
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American Chemical Society Webinars on Food Chemistry
ol_ironstomach posted a topic in News and Media
What's a food nerd to do for entertainment after a satisfying meal? How about watching some webinars on food chemistry, and the science behind cooking, brewing, and taste perception, brought to you by the friendly lab-coated folks at the American Chemical Society? http://acswebinars.org/food-chemistry http://acswebinars.org/category/joy-of-science/food-chemistry http://acswebinars.org/category/joy-of-science/culinary-chemistry