I love holidays and i am always intrigued by spectacular places that shows unique landscape and properties. You can bet i will sure try to link it to o level chemistry theories that i have learned before. This is what i call APPLICATION of Chemistry Theories & it’s Interesting!
Below you will see photos of 5 strangely coloured beaches, that were emailed to me by my buddy, Mr Mohd Nizam, to share with the local students that i coached, as well as my global blog audience.
Unless you’re lucky enough to have visited some of the unique shorelines below you’ll probably be used to seeing – at best – golden beaches on your travels. In fact a lot of people believe golden sands to be the only option when it comes to beaches. To prove otherwise, and to show off a few of the world’s most uniquely coloured stretches of sand, we present the following selection….
Punalu’u Beach
Punalu’u Beach is the most visited of the few black sand beaches on Hawaii ‘s Big Island and the stunningly black sand is actually volcanic rock, deposited as lava and subsequently cooled when met by the ocean. Apparently to take any of the sand home would result in you being cursed by a volcano goddess by the name of Pele.
Papakolea Beach
One of only 2 green sand beaches in the world, the truly magnificent sight of Papakolea Beach can be experienced by travelling to Hawaii ‘s Ka’u district. Again, the unique colour of its sand can be attributed to volcanic activity – specifically, the green hue belongs to the abundance of olivine crystals which have been produced as a result of a nearby cinder cone erupting and eroding.
Hyams Beach
You may need to wear your shades when visiting Hyams Beach in New South Wales , Australia , but not just due to the sun. It’s not surprising after looking at photos but this sublime stretch of beach is home to the whitest sand in the world, an honour awarded by the Guinness Book of Records.
Pfeiffer Beach
The hills surrounding Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur , California , are rich in Manganese Garnet. A result of this being washed down onto the beach is the colour scheme you can see above – the entire stretch of sand has become a shifting, pink and purple canvas. Although it’s probably inedible, I can’t help picturing a bowl of Raspberry Ripple ice-cream every time I see it.
Kaihalulu
You won’t find many beaches elsewhere in the world with sand as red as this one. Kaihalulu, or Red Sand Beach , is situated on the island of Maui and can thank the neighbouring cindercone hill for its intensely deep red appearance.
>>>> Besides providing O Levels / IGCSE / IB? / IP Chemistry Conceptual Tips (through discussions of Chemistry Exam Questions) and Exam-Based Scoring Strategies, the other function of this humble chemistry blog is to increase student’s interest in Chemistry – by showing them how our Everyday Lives (and thus our surroundings) are closely link to the “abstract” Chemistry Theories. I call it Chemistry Phenomenon.
It is always my belief that to do well academically for a certain subject in school, the students would need to have some interest in that subject, especially in this era – where academic examination questions are set to be more and more application-based (3 E’s – Economically, Ecologically and Environmentally linked).
PS: Anyone comes from the above countries? Perhaps you want to share with us your thoughts on it. Would love to hear from you by writing below at “Leave A Reply“.
PPS: I am doing now, to decipher how the above geological mystique is related to Chemistry / Science. Anyway, my secondary school Geography Teacher Mdm Phua, once said: “Geography is the Mother of All Sciences” – i can’t agree more..and yes, besides Chemistry, i fall in love with Geography too!
Hi Dana,
Wow! You have a red sand beach near the place you lived? Where do you stay?
You mean the high iron content stained your feet in reddish brown colour?
It will be great if i can share your experience (with some photos) with readers on this blog.
Fe2+ and Fe3+ are common cations that chemistry students need to analyze in their practical examinations. Real life examples of iron-based content will be interesting to them.
Hear from you.
Cheers
Sean Chua =)