Hello everyone!

I reckoned some of you would have finished your major exams (GCE O-Levels, IP, IB and IGCSE). Congrats! It’s time for your to enjoy your holiday before you embark on the next stage of your academic and knowledge pursuance.

It has been a while since you last hear from me. We (Winners Education Group) just came back from our educational trip to Northern Vietnam (Hanoi City, Sapa and Halong Bay, etc) and we have learned alot about their:

• Educational system for Primary, Secondary, High School and Universities
• Educational levels as compared to other developed and developing nations
• History and Literature
• Language and Economy

And, of course – i saw several interesting Chemistry Phenomenon – Chemistry reactions and actions that are related to our everyday life!

Halong Bay – an UNESCO World Heritage Site has 2000+ limestone structures that are formed due to the wave and wind erosion of one huge island, over thousands and thousands of years.

We also saw villagers selling home-made Corn Wine along the streets! This corn wine has 50% v/v alcohol (ethanol) content!

And apparently some villagers used it to power and run their cars and motorbikes! Chemistry students! Ready for actions?

Question 1:
Why are the advantages of using ethanol over petrol as fuels for vehicles? State two advantages.

We also saw villagers making knifes and mechanical tools using metals. These shows the property of Malleability of Metals.

There are many more Chemistry Phenomenons observed……but now, i would just like to share with you some highlights of the trip:

2 Days of trekking on Sapa mountains was pretty tough, but the beautiful scenery and conversations with local villagers and other travelers was well worth it. Learned alot!

This picture was taken when i was touring around the Primary School in Sapa village, which is supported by Unicef. Well Done! It provides every child with the opportunity of basic education and literacy and this will improve the livelihood the villagers.

Once they have a secondary education, the child (about 15-16 years old) will be given many options to work or to continue their high school. The picture below shows our Sapa Tour Guide which is only 16 years old, but she speaks very good english and is very professional and passionate about her job. I am inspired by her!!!

That’s all for now. If you are interested to find out more about my trip and see more photos, do connect with me on my Facebook.Related Articles:

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In Chemical Bonding chapter of Basic Chemistry Syllabus (O Levels, etc), you have learned about the term Allotropes as well as Macromolecules.

To be more exact, you learned that Allotropes = Compounds with the same element with different structure.

The two examples you learned are Diamond and Graphite, which are Allotropes of Carbon.

Now, i would like to introduce to you another allotrope of carbon that have found so many applications into our daily modern lives. Think of Apple, iPod, iPad, Macbook, iPad, Blackberry, Nokie, smaller and thinner electronics consumable products.

This is FULLERENE. C_6o – highly symmetrical spherical football-shaped molecule – which was obtained by firing a powerful laser at a sample of graphite at a temperature of 10, 000 degree Celsius. It was named as Buckminsterfullerene in honour of the architect R. Buckminster Fuller, who used to be the principle of the geodosic dome in many of his buildings.

Molecular Model of C60, Fullerene (Photo credit St Stev)

Look at the molecular structure and you will realised that the alternating 5- and 6-membered rings in C₆₀ gives a bonding pattern similar to the struts in a geodosic dome.

In fact, from the point C₆₀ was found and honoured, other fullerenes such as C₇₀, C₇₆, C₇₈, C₉₀, etc has been synthesized and i expect many more to be synthesize to open up more exciting new areas of Chemistry and its application in the modern world.

As stated earlier on, fullerenes found its many application in the semi-conductors industry.

Now, time for you to put on your thinking caps:

Question:

Is fullerene a good or non-conductor of electricity? Explain with reference to its structure and bonding properties.

(Clue: Refer to structure and bondings in Graphite (Good Conductor) and Diamond (Non-Conductor))

PS: I would love to hear from you. Think about it and leave your comments below. It is actually very easy. =)Related Articles:

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Besides sharing Chemistry Tips and Exam Strategies, the other aim of this chemistry blogsite is to encourage students to learn the Chemistry Theories and Concepts in a more experiential and interesting way – HOW ? By relating chemistry theories to everyday life processes and experience.

Thermit Process came to my mind several days back when i was passing by the railway track in the west area of Singapore, and today i am going to share with you more on how Thermit Process – which is a highly exothermic reaction is used to weld together steel railway lines. It involves the reduction of iron (III) oxide to iron by aluminium.

Now, let’s check out a chemistry question that requires your concepts in several chemistry topics, namely:

• Energy Changes (Endothermic/Exothermic Reactions)
• Redox (Oxidation/Reduction)
• Mole Calculations

Question:

In the highly exothermic Thermit Process to weld railway lines, aluminium is used to reduce iron (III) oxide to iron based on the balanced chemical equation below:

2Al   +   Fe₂O₃ ->   Al₂O₃ +   2Fe

(a) Indicate the state symbols for all the reactants and products involved

(b) Calculate what mass of aluminium is needed to react completely with 10.0g of iron (III) oxide

(c) Explain what is meant by exothermic reaction in terms of enthalpy change

(d) Explain in terms of oxidation state, how is iron (III) oxide being reduced in Thermit Process

Alright, do attempt the question and leave your answers in the comment section below. I would love to hear from you.

PS: If this is your first time reading this blog, you can subscribe to receive updates whenever i blog. Look at right-hand-side to subscribe.Related Articles:

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Books, Books, Books! They are something we cannot do without – be it in leisure (novels, magazines, etc), academic (school textbooks, revision books, workbooks, etc) or self-improvement (motivation, self-development, etc).

Even with the advance of technology, the kindle, the ipad, the macbook, the netbook, etc – we all still need and want books.

In fact there is a group of people that simply love old books. They love the smell, feel and look (usually torn and with dark brown patches) of these old books – usually fragile and tattered.

Now, what causes the book to turn brown, black and fragile? We need to studyinto the manufacturing of papers before they are imprinted with words and binded into books.

Chemistry Concepts behind the Fragile Looks of Old Books:

During paper manufacturing, the chemical Aluminium Sulfate is often used to treat the papers, before they are imprinted with words and binded into books.

Over time, the aluminium ions (due to dissociation from aluminium sulfate) in the paper will react with moisture in the air to produce Hydrogen Ions (H⁺).

These hydrogen ions break down the Cellulose in the paper (paper is organic in nature and made of cellulose) and make the paper brittle. This is the reason why the pages in old books become very fragile after long use.

Now, can we do something to slow down the rate of the papers of old books becoming fragile? ie, can we slow down the rate of reaction – can we slow down the rate of formation of Aluminium and/or Hydrogen Ions? If we can, then we can slow down the old books from becoming fragile and tattered.

Suggest methods that we can used to slow down this chemical reaction? Perhaps, you can check with some of the librarian in very old libraries? I am sure they are already doing their best to conserve and preserve these old books -by slowing down the rate of chemical reaction occurring in these old books.

PS: I would love to hear from you.Related Articles:

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It is a pleasant surprise that the video has over 36,000 views after a short one-and-a-half year. Saw many encouraging and interesting comments also.

Set A: COCA-COLA ZERO + MENTOS MINTS
vs.
Set B: PEPSI MAX + MENTOS MINTS

You can check out via the youtube link HERE

As in all chemistry experiment, we have tried to keep all parameters/conditions the same (if not similar):
1. Surrounding Temperature the same
2. Surrounding Pressure the same
3. Volume is the same (both are 1.5L by volume)
4. Equal amount of Mentos Mints were added

PS: Let me know how you feel about this experiment. I would love to hear from you.

PS: Another experiment (failed) also has over 10,000 views.  Check it out HERE.Related Articles:

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