Pique the Geek 20120909: Oxygen Wrapup
Last time we discussed oxygen as an element, including why we do not burst into flame in our 21% oxygen atmosphere. Quantum mechanics can really be interesting.This time we shall discuss some of the...
View ArticlePique the Geek 20120916: Fluorine, Something You Have Never Seen
Element 9, fluorine, is the first of the halogens, from the Greek halos, "salt", and gonos, "to bring forth". All of the members of this family tend to form salts with metals, but fluorine is unique...
View ArticlePique the Geek 20120923: Neon, as Inert as Elements Come
Last time we talked about fluorine, the very most reactive chemical element. Now we add a single proton to the fluorine nucleus and come to Element 10, the LEAST reactive chemical element. What a...
View ArticlePique the Geek 20120930: Sodium -- You Can Not Get Away from It
Sodium, element number 11, is one of the most common elements in the crust of the earth. Except for school laboratory demonstrations, few people have ever seen elemental (metallic) sodium because it...
View ArticlePique the Geek 20101007: More about Sodium
Last time we started our discussion about sodium, and tonight we shall continue it. We have pretty much covered the quantum mechanical part and the properties and uses of elemental sodium, so tonight...
View ArticlePique the Geek 20121021: Reflections on the Genus Carya
Today was a splendid day in the Bluegrass. The temperature was in the low 70s, only a very light breeze, and not a cloud in the sky. Ashley had gone to birthday party for a relative, but when she got...
View ArticlePique the Geek 20121111: Drying Oils
I was painting a wooden basket yesterday with boilt linseed oil and thus came the inspiration for tonight's topic. Drying oils are very important in the coatings industry, not as much as in the past...
View ArticlePique the Geek 20121118: Scotch Whisky
Scotch whisky is quite different than most other distilled grain spirits. First of all, it has its own spelling. Except for Scotch, the spelling is "whiskey". In the case of Scotch, it is "whisky"....
View ArticlePique the Geek 20121202: Emulsification
Before we begin tonight, please join me in paying my respects to my mum, who would have been 91 years old today. The season beginning with Thanksgiving and lasting through New Year's Day was her...
View ArticlePique the Geek 20130106: Magnesium -- Common and Essential
Magnesium, with a Z = 12, is an extremely common element in the crust of the earth, but it is never found in nature in the elemental state. It is the second member, after beryllium, in the alkaline...
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