Week Six

Halogen of the Week:  Astatine

Halogen's atomic number is 85, its abbreviation is At.  Because its most stable ion has a half life of just over 8 hours it is the rarest element on earth.  As a halogen, it is one electron short of a full outer shell. Astatine means "unstable" in Greek.  Scientists estimate there is about a teaspoon of it on earth. At results from the decay of Uranium-235 & Uranium-238 but disappears because of its short half life.  It is highly radioactive.  Because At is so scarce not much research has been done with it and there are no practical/commercial applications for it.  It was discovered in Berkeley in 1940 by two scientists who bombarded Bismuth with alpha particles.  It is probably a very dark color that when heated vaporizes in a purplish haze.  Astatine is the heaviest of the Halogens.

Alchemy: Science, Magic, Art or All Three?

In the last two centuries scientists have created things that would have previously been considered miraculous.  The car for example.  I can imagine that people in ancient times might have dreamed of being able to get around quickly without much effort - to be able to go almost anywhere in any direction.  Today with the development of internal combustion engines this is possible.  And still to me this seems magical.  I know that there is a scientific process that makes it simple and easy for me to get around but I am lacking in the ability to really understand how it is possible.  If I were less educated I could definitely see how it would seem purely magical.  I  believe that the art of creation is inspired.  I am unwilling to have this discussion on my blog, but suffice it to say that I don't think that I'm the biggest power in the universe and I believe that at times I am inspired by some sort of outside force.  I think that science, magic & art are definitely linked.  

I think that as Westerners we are indoctrinated with the idea that science operates independently of magic and art, that it is completely rational.  Personally I think that this is an oversimplification... alchemy is probably equal parts science, magic and art.  I am willing to accept the "I don't know".

Electrochemistry Investigation

I made the cannon!  It was very funny!  We had a lot of trouble getting the sparks to fire on the film cannister side of the equation.  I actually shocked myself several times!  It was so funny I couldn't talk for laughing.  I used hairspray for the fuel.  The film cannister is white, so you can actually see the "flame".  It is quite bright.  The film cap shoots quite a distance and is bothersome to the cat, Mr. Lucy, who cannot understand why we have to do this when he is trying to nap on the bed.  The lighter I got was different than the website so we had to figure out to use one of the wires for the ground.  It took longer than 15 minutes, but the $3.00 is pretty accurate.  This is so amazingly cool...I can't wait for the sun to go down to see it in the dark.  I am going to give this to my nieces and nephew.  They will love it.  I will bring it to school on Wednesday in case any of you want to play with it.  I mean experiment....