Chemistry week 3

1. The Transitional Metal I chose is Chromium. It's symbol is Cr and it's atomic number is 24. So it has 24 electron and 24 protons. It's atomic mass is 52. So it has 28 protons. It is a very shinny grey, brittle metal with a high melting point. The electric configuration for chromium is 4S1, 3D5. Chromium oxide was first used in the Qin Dynasty to coat weapons for war. Nearly all chromium is extracted from chromite. Chromium is known for it's strong magnetic properties. Chromium compounds are found in the environment and it is the 22nd most abundant element.

2. Neptune's Medicine Chest
I really liked the article on Bill Fenical and thought it sounded like it could have a lot of promise. The ocean takes up a much bigger portion of the world then land does. So I think it we should definitely be looking for organisms to research in the ocean. The ocean has a lot of mystery to it, so we should see what it has to offer. It also seems like Fenical has already has some success, which shows the ocean does have things to offer. I also like Fenical determination and how he is training so many people. When he is gone it looks like his work will be continued.

3. I read the article "Avoiding Waste: Atom Economy". It was a little hard to understand but the basic concept was that green chemistry wants to reduce the amount of pollution created in chemical processes. Then it explained about an equation called the atom economy which is a ratio that lets us know the percent of the reactant's atom that goes into the desired product. That is a little over my head but I always like to hear about people making effort to go more green. I think trying to go more green in Chemistry is a good idea since a lot of chemicals can be let off during reactions.