Macroscale Quantum Mechanics

Quantum mechanics explains the behavior of matter and its interaction with energy at the level of atoms and atom particles. In the TED video it shows a physicist Aaron O'Connel who researched quantum mechanics to get a deeper meaning of it. He constructed an experiment with a computer chip with a piece of metal sticking over a ledge.

 Aaron took the computer chip and removed it from the light, heat, and air. He did this by placing the computer chip in vacuum sealed area with no lights and with a temperature of almost absolute zero. When observed the metal, its atom's particles were vibrating and not vibrating at the same time. This would have to mean that the metal was at two places at once. This opens the door for chemistry. Now scientist from all over the world can go deeper into the world of mechanics, and go in dept of why can particles can be at two places at once and why can they go through walls, and if its possible to get even larger particles to act the same.

Airbags

How do airbags work? There are three main parts to airbags. First is the bag itself. It is made of nylon fabric stored into the steering wheel and the dashboard of the passenger's side. Second is the sensor, which lets the bag know when to inflate. The sensor detects a collision with force of hitting a brick wall at about 10-15 mph. Finally is the inflation system. This is when sodium azide (NaN3) and potassium nitrate (KNO3) react very rapidly and produce hot nitrogen gas. The gas inflates the bag and burst out of the steering wheel very quickly. Charles' Law is demonstrated here, because as the temperature of the gas is increased, the volume of the bag is quickly increased.

Explosions

Explosions all take part of thermodynamics. Thermodynamics deals with heat and it's relation to other types of energy. Thermodynamics also deals with endo- and exothermic reactions, and enthalpy. Endothermic reactions is when heat is absorbed by a system from its surroundings. Exothermic reactions is when heat is released by a system to its surroundings. Enthalpy is a measure of total energy of a system. Enthalpy includes energy to create a system, and the energy needed to be displaced into the surroundings in order to establish its volume and pressure. An explosion is a detonation rather than a burn. In a detonation, a chemical reaction occurs which releases gases that rapidly expand and give off energy, which would be determined as exothermic reaction. There are two types of explosions; low and high explosives. Low explosives create low pressure and burn a slow rates, and mostly used to force a bullet out of a gun or send rockets to space. High explosives create more pressure and burn quickly, and creates minimal ground vibrations. High explosives are mainly used by explosive engineers. Explosive engineers are responsible for breaking up rocks to make way for houses, buildings, roads, and bridges. Explosions are also used in many more careers such as; agriculture, diamond manufacturing, logging, medical field, many more.

Industrial Titration

Titration is the process of determining the concentration of a substance by using the smallest amount of a known concentration of a substance within a known volume. The way to determine the concentration in class, is by adding amounts of reagent to a known volume of a solution with a burette, until a color change was observed.




Titration is used in the wine industries. Winemakers must get the proper amount of acid into their wines. Too much acid can make the wine taste tart and sour. Too little acid can make the wine tastes flat and dull. Winemakers use titration to get the perfect acid blend to use with a certain amount of sugar, alcohol, and three main acids; tartaric acid, malic acid, and citric acid. There are many types of wine, and each type requires a different acidity level. For example, dry white wines require .65-.75% acidity, dry red wines .60-.70%, sweet white wines .70-.85%, and sweet red wines .65-80% acidity.

Reaction to Reactions

Why should anyone be aware of chemical reactions? Chemical reactions are apart of everyday life. There are chemical reactions happening every where around us. Chemical reactions show us how molecules interact and how things work. There are reactions going on in photography, fireworks, and even when a person is breathing.

Another reaction happening in everyday life is when someone starts their car. Inside the car, the battery produces electrical charges through a chemical reaction. The battery has plates of lead and plates of lead oxide, which are fixed into a solution of water and sulfuric acid. The acid responds to the lead plates and changes the lead oxide into lead sulfate. The chemicals then produce electricity to transfer through wires in order to turn on lights and start the ignition. During recharge of the battery, the reaction reverses in direction. The recharge changes lead sulfate back to lead and lead oxide. The chemical reactions continue to happen when the car is recharged and discharged. The chemical equation for this reaction is, 
PbO2+Pb+2H2SO4 --> 2PbSO4+2H2O

Silk and the Samurai Sword

Silk and the Samurai Sword both have gone through chemical changes to be created.

Silk has gone through a chemical change in which water turns into protein fiber. Silk solution is set at room temperature and lets protein fibers assemble. The solution is then boiled and the fibers are detached while the water evaporates. Which creates silk.



The Samurai Sword goes through a chemical change by mixing iron and charcoal to make steel. This happens when iron and charcoal are heated together. After steel is made and heated, it is separated into two groups; low carbon and high carbon, Low carbon allows shock absorption, and high carbon is used for the edge of the sword. A blacksmith will shape the high carbon steel so low carbon will be able to fit in. Later the sword is heated again and then placed in water to cool to create a curve on the sword. Which creates a Samurai Sword.

Moles

What are moles? Moles are unit of measurement for chemicals, just like grams is a unit for weight. A mole is a quantity of a chemical that contains 6.02*10^23.This number was determined by an Italian chemist named Amedeo Avogadro, so we call that number 6.02*10^23. In a chemical equation, moles are used to show how much of a chemical is needed to balance an equation. A mole is the atomic weight of a molecule of a chemical in grams. For example, a mole of oxygen(O) is 16 grams because its atomic weight is 16, and a mole of water(H2O) is 18 grams.