Paignton Library STEM Group

Chemistry

Life on Venus?

Life on Venus? MIT’s “Absolutely Surprising” Discovery of Amino Acid Stability

Interesting article and this seems to follow on nicely from the Di Methyl Sulfide discovery a while back.

Not sure what sort of life would exist on Venus, or perhaps may do at a later date in the future but the discovery of basic building blocks, esp of Amino Acids is important and may help us look for life on other planets & moons in the solar system or exo-planets and exo-moons around other stars.

You can read more about this here

Tags

#Venus,#Discovery,#AminoAcid,#Stable,#AstroChemistry,#Chemistry,#BioChemistry


#PaigntonLibraryStemGroup,#Science.#Technology,#Engineering,#Mathematics

This Is How the Body’s Building Blocks Are Made

Interesting article from SciTechDaily on how some of the human bodies basic building blocks are made. These are the proteins that make up other more complex components of the human body, This is linked to research into how ribosomes work

Molecular Majesty: This Is How the Body’s Building Blocks Are Made

Tags

#Science,#Ribosome,#Biology,#Chemistry,#BioChemistry


#PaigntonLibraryStemGroup,#Science.#Technology,#Engineering,#Mathematics

The invention of blue and purple pigments

The invention of blue and purple pigments in ancient times

Article from the Royal society of Chemistry on the history of blue and purple pigments.

Tags

#Chemistry,#History,#Pigments,#Blue,#Purple


#PaigntonLibraryStemGroup,#Science.#Technology,#Engineering,#Mathematics

Digital pH Tester

I recently ordered a digital pH meter to go with some of the Chemistry resources at the STEM event and at home.

This is a nice little unit, using 2x LR44 (AG13) cell batteries, I did a quick test on some tap water and some vinegar and got expected results. Seems tap water is slightly on the acidic side, so i may have to do proper experimentation with this.

Easy to set, just add batteries, take off protective cover and place in the liquid that you want to test.

One comment that the instructions are in Chinese, which isn't really helpful, but the unit is easy to use, with some common sense and problem-solving skills.

Measurements are from pH 0 to pH 14, with increments of 0.01 so it should be possible to measure very small changes or gradual changes that may take place during reactions for example.

I will be using this at a future STEM group meeting in the meantime, there is an experiment I want to undertake anyway and this will be ideal.

Tags

#Science,#Chemistry,#pH,#Tester.


#PaigntonLibraryStemGroup,#Science.#Technology,#Engineering,#Mathematics

Stem group experiment – follow up 1

17/2/2024

So today I was at the library to sort out a few things in prep for next week. I took some fresh red cabbage indicator in and tested the liquid from yesterday

Gummy sweet 2

The red colour of the indicator suggests that the solution is still acidic.

indicator chart

16/2/2024

Stem group experiment

At the last STEM group meeting on 10/2/2024. I dropped a gummy sweet in to a beaker of White Vinegar. Nothing happened at first, so I just left this in the cupboard.

Dropping in today to pick some resources up, I checked and the sweet had dissolved.

Gummy sweet1

The yellow colour reflects the colour of the sweet dropped in.

At the next meeting on the 24th, I will look at this more and see if the pH of the liquid is different.

Tags

#Stem.#Science.#Chemistry,#Vinegar,#GummySweet,#Dissolve

16/2/2024

At the last STEM group meeting on 10/2/2024. I dropped a gummy sweet in to a beaker of White Vinegar. Nothing happened at first, so I just left this in the cupboard.

Dropping in today to pick some resources up, I checked, and the sweet had dissolved.

Gummy sweet1

The yellow colour reflects the colour of the sweet dropped in.

At the next meeting on the 24th, I will look at this more and see if the pH of the liquid is different.

Tags

#Stem.#Science.#Chemistry,#Vinegar,#GummySweet,#Dissolve


#PaigntonLibraryStemGroup,#Science.#Technology,#Engineering,#Mathematics

Stem group experiment

At the last STEM group meeting on 10/2/2024. I dropped a gummy sweet in to a beaker of White Vinegar. Nothing happened at first, so I just left this in the cupboard.

Dropping in to day to pick some resources up, I checked and the sweet had dissolved.

Gummy sweet1

The yellow colour reflects the colour of the sweet dropped in.

At the next meeting on the 24th, I will look at this more and see if the pH of the liquid is different.

Tags

#Stem.#Science.#Chemistry,#Vinegar,#GummySweet,#Dissolve


#PaigntonLibraryStemGroup,#Science.#Technology,#Engineering,#Mathematics

Percentage Composition in Chemistry 2

I have remade the video where I explain how to calculate percentage composition. Here I am using Methane as a worked example.

Hopefully it gets the idea across, I will make more and give different examples, hopefully in doing so I will learn and gain confidence in making these videos.

Tags

#Chemistry,#PercentageComposition


#PaigntonLibraryStemGroup,#Science.#Technology,#Engineering,#Mathematics

Percentage Composition in Chemistry

In this video, I try and explain and give a worked example of calculating percentage composition.

Hopefully it gets the idea across, I will make more and give different examples, hopefully in doing so I will learn and gain confidence in making these videos.

Tags

#Video,#Education,#Science,#Chemistry,#PercentageComposition


#PaigntonLibraryStemGroup,#Science.#Technology,#Engineering,#Mathematics

Making a Sodium Chloride Solution attempt 1

So using the calculations we did in the previous video. I attempt to make this up.

This attempt worked well, as I had the solution at what looked like just under 100ml, I have to go by the meniscus on the water, so attempting to add a tiny drop more of water, I ended up going right over.

I have included anyway, and will make a second, learn from my previous effort and attempt to avoid the error by using a dropper for the final few millilitres of water. .

Tags

#Chemistry,#Making,#SodiumChloride,#Solution,#PaigntonLibrarySTEMGroup


#PaigntonLibraryStemGroup,#Science.#Technology,#Engineering,#Mathematics

Molar Solutions video

in this video I am attempting to explain moles and molar solutions.

I start by explaining some basic principles, then move on to working out how much Sodium Chloride (solid) is needed to be dissolved in 100ml of water to make a 0.1 Mol solution.

As I am on my own I need to do the best I can with the equipment available and not being able to keep the camera focussed on the section on the board with the related notes. I do move the camera down to the calculations at the end.

Hopefully the video is fairly clear and useful.

Tags

#Chemistry,#Solutions,#Molar,#Calculations


#PaigntonLibraryStemGroup,#Science.#Technology,#Engineering,#Mathematics