Vincent Summers, Author at Quirky Science

19Sep 2022 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Trick Question About a Balloon

Do your ears perk up when you are asked a "trick question"? Well I have one about a balloon for you. Which weighs more, an empty balloon or a helium-filled balloon? When I first thought of this one, it took me a minute to realize the answer myself. Stop for a moment. Close your eyes and think this through. Have you arrived at an answer? Are you sure you're right? We'll provide some specifics in giving our answer - an example. Providing Specifics A typical empty balloon weighs between 1 and 5 grams. Let's say it is 3 grams. You could easily fit it within a 1"x1"x1" cubic block. OK. What size will our balloon be after it becomes a helium-filled balloon? Let's pick a believable size, say 9" around.…

10Oct 2020 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Bracken Ferns: How Toxic to Grazing Farm Animals?

animals, Health

Some health-conscious individuals say they want to eat "natural" foods, they don't wish to consume "chemicals". While we understand what they mean, the truth of the matter is, everything natural is constructed of molecules, and all molecules, ultimately, can be called chemicals. Human Foods Containing Toxins While humans eat many plants consisting of chemicals, not all plants are edible. Or if they are edible, it may not be without processing. For instance, cashews are "related" to poison ivy, Toxicodendron radicans. The "nut" within the shell contains a limited amount of the toxic urushiol, and is usually roasted to destroy the irritant. Consuming unroasted cashews can produce an itching rash. In rare cases, even death can result. Another example is the American pokeweed or "poke sallat", the young leaves of the…

17Sep 2020 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

Do You Notice Very Tiny Wildflower “Weeds”?

Uncategorized

[caption id="attachment_29051" align="alignright" width="480"] Elephant's Foot, E. Tomentosus. Image by Author [/caption]Elephantopus tomentosus, an aster, is a lovely, if tiny, U.S. wildflower. But it is not the only miniature beauty among the wildflowers. Blue Curls - A Truly Beautiful Wildflower "Weed" It is outclassed (for me) by Trichostema dichotomum or Blue Curls. In fact, there are many attractive tiny wildflowers. Some are even more beautiful than their larger cousins. Sadly, most consider them mere weeds – mower fodder. Elephant's Foot E. tomentosus is commonly known as "Elephant's Foot". Is elephant's foot really a weed? Well, yes. After all the definition of a weed is, "anything that grows where it is not wanted". An orchid can be a weed. [caption id="attachment_29057" align="alignright" width="400"] Blue Curls Image © Arthur Haines, Native Plant…

08Sep 2020 by Vincent Summers 1 Comment

Photography: Reflection in the Eye of a Canary

Forensics, Photography

[caption id="attachment_29029" align="alignright" width="480"] Our subject... Joe Canary.[/caption]Recently I downloaded a beautiful photograph featuring a canary. I use it as a wallpaper on my desktop computer. There's just something about a canary and the color yellow. In addition, included in the photo is a peculiarly attractive shade of its contrast color, blue. I'd had this photo for quite some time when the bird's eye caught my attention. I wondered: Can I make out what the bird was seeing by examining the reflection in it's eye? Image Manipulation So I cropped the image of the bird to close in on its eye (see image). The reflection in the eye was somewhat rectangular. It featured some pink and some blue regions. I zoomed in further in an attempt to recognize the regions.…

05Sep 2020 by Vincent Summers No Comments

An Old Man Furthers His Education

Education

[caption id="attachment_28934" align="alignright" width="400"] Vincent Summers[/caption]As a child, I enjoyed science. I decided I'd like to be an astronomer. My mother, always the practical one, told me "You can't make a living at astronomy; choose something else." I chose chemistry. Mom had a friend whose husband worked for Union Carbide. He made lots of money. It's true he was not a chemist, yet Mom approved. So for my 8th grade career report for Mrs. Best, I wrote of my desire to be a chemist. Education: High School Days Very soon after I entered high school, I met a fellow who moved from Canada, named Charles. He was a year or so older than I. He had his own basement laboratory. It was pretty decent. We lived near each other, so…

30Aug 2020 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Hydrofluoric Acid: A Weak Acid – Yet It Dissolves Glass?

Chemistry

On the far right side of the Periodic Table of the Elements is listed the halogens, which include fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and astatine. In order of ascending atomic weight we have: fluorine and chlorine gases, bromine liquid, and iodine and astatine solids. Each exhibits a –1 valence. Each attaches to a single atom of hydrogen to form an anhydrous acid. Most of these acids are considered very strong with the exception of hydrofluoric acid. It is comparably a relatively weak acid. This is the case, even though hydrofluoric is the only acid stored in polyethylene bottles because it dissolves glass. Since it can eat its way through glass, how can hydrofluoric acid be considered a weak acid? Hydrofluoric Acid Attacks Glass While hydrofluoric acid is usually written HF, for…

29Aug 2020 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Structure of Hydrazoic Acid and Its Azide Derivatives

Chemistry

When we think of nitrogen and hydrogen, we are likely to think first of ammonia, NH3. But what of hydrazoic acid? Hydrazoic acid is HN3. It looks to be the opposite of ammonia. What is the chemical structure of hydrazoic acid and its azide derivatives? And why are they of importance to us? Valence Consideration When we think of hydrogen, we think of a +1 valence, though at times it is assigned a –1 valence. Similarly, nitrogen ordinarily assumes either a +3 or a +5 valence. Both ammonia and hydrazoic acid exhibit a +3 valence for nitrogen. All of this is well and good, but what is the structure of ammonia? of hydrazoic acid and the azides? In both instances, we may be surprised that what we imagine may not…

26Aug 2020 by Vincent Summers No Comments

[12]Annulene and Two Simple Derivatives – Aromaticity?

Chemistry

Complex chemicals possess names almost equally complex. Occasionally, a simpler nomenclature can be employed. For basic aromatic compounds, composed of a ring of alternating single and double bonded carbon atoms in a ring, the name [n]annulene has been is commonly used. Examples, including [12]annulene are given below. Aromaticity We won't go into the theory behind aromaticity. What we will do is lay out the basic factors that students use to determine if a compound is aromatic. 1. The ring is composed of conjugated single and double bonds (...−C=C−C=...). 2. The molecule is relatively flat. 3. The number of available π-electrons equals 4n + 2 (a Hückel number), where n is generally a small positive integer.¹ 4. Crowding does not severely limit or prevent aromaticity. 5. Ring size affects aromaticity, but…

20Aug 2020 by Vincent Summers No Comments

What’s the Difference Between Wax and Paraffin?

Chemistry, Language

[caption id="attachment_28810" align="alignright" width="480"] Not paraffin... Bees wax candles.[/caption]What's the Difference Between Wax and Paraffin? Waxes and paraffin would seem to refer to the same thing, and perhaps to some extent, the words are used interchangeably. In fact, paraffin is sometimes called paraffin wax or petroleum wax. Nevertheless, technically, they are different, and the difference should interest us. Let's begin with what a wax is. Waxes Waxes are esters1 of a long-chain alcohol2 (12 to 32 carbon atoms) with a fatty acid. One example of a long-chain alcohol is lauryl alcohol (CH3(CH2)11OH). But what is a fatty acid? A fatty acid is (typically) a carboxylic acid that has a long carbon chain3. One example is palmitic acid (CH3(CH2)14COOH). Palmitic acid is a saturated4 fatty acid. Some fatty acids are unsaturated.…

01Aug 2020 by Vincent Summers No Comments

What is Umami? What Food Does It Bring to Mind?

Biology, Food

[caption id="attachment_28768" align="alignright" width="480"] Chinese foods are famous for being umami rich.[/caption]During my early years, the tongue was believed to have a variety of taste receptors nicknamed taste buds located or "mapped out" at different parts of the tongue. There were four: sweet and sour, salt and bitter. These basic tastes can be compared to the primary colors, red, yellow and blue. Any color we can come up with can be derived from some combination of red, yellow and blue. But with regard to the basic tastes, could it be there are actually more than four? Enter Umami A new variety of taste bud is postulated. From the Japanese word umami, roughly equivalent to the English savory, this new taste bud has been associated with the flavor of meat and…