– Your Hosts –
- Vincent E. Summers, BS 1973 Drexel University.
- Ellen H. Fenwick, PhD 1976 Temple University.
Graphene Single Layer Image: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The one who suggested, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” was largely correct. And, you know, sometimes quirky is beautiful—at least in the realms of science and mathematics. We hope you’ll come to think so.
Now, we realize tastes vary: for those of you who stumbled here accidentally and loathe technical topics, we include a smorgasbord of non-science articles.
Feature Articles
We hope you will enjoy the quirky fare, below, and under each of the tabs, above. But perhaps quirky is too gentle a term?
- Graphene—Isolation, Characterization, Application, and Production
- PERMS—Chem-mystery of the Curl
- In Your Food: What is Locust Bean Gum?
- You Heat with Propane: Do Your Eyes Burn?
- Is the Neutron a Stable Particle?
- The Spinning Egg
So email me already with suggestions for articles you’d like to see or quirky science you’d like linked. I have a special account for just that purpose.
VinceSciGuy@gmail.com
P. S. If you enjoy what you see read here, please consider visiting my sponsors’ advertising. I am retired, and it provides income for my efforts here. And thank you! – Vince.
Updated: May 11, 2012
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Please let me know of any science topic you’d like discussed here. I’ll do my best to accommodate your request.
Hi Vince,
Just thinking about a couple of subjects that are chemical in nature and thought I would give you a chance to straighten me out.
First question – How can I tell if a sample of gasoline has alcohol in it, and is there a way to determine the amount of alcohol?
Second question – Is the process of electrolysis (breaking down water into hydrogen and oxygen) affected by temperature? Is the process more efficient at some elevated temperature?
Best regards – Tod
Hey, guy! Long time no… I often miss the NRAO.
There is a test listed on the web that is pretty straight-forward. Alcohol is more soluble in water than it is in gasoline. Gasoline and water are not soluble in one another. So if you add water to the fuel sample and there is alcohol in it, it will leave the gasoline layer and enter the water layer, increasing the water layer proportionately and decreasing the gasoline layer. The change in volume divided by two is roughly the amount of alcohol. Crankshift Coalition offers greater detail. I will answer your second question in another reply. -Vince.
Here you go, Tod, as regards your second question:
Consider paragraph 1, page 2, of this Idaho National Laboratory article that indicates electrolysis is much more efficient at elevated temperatures.
Hi! I’m sorry I’m just getting around to visiting your site. It rocks! I love reading about science, and have read all of your articles on Yahoo!. I’m not much on commenting, because I have little time to read, and would rather read one more article than comment on 6 of them. Look forward to reading more from you in the future. Since I’m a horticulturist, science is something I deal with every day. No science, no plants.
Thank you, Deborah. I really appreciate your thoughtful comment. I hope to make this site both educational and inviting.
In aquaponics how can you test to see if nitrifying bacteria is growing in the gravel grow beds?
Starting out a new system, plain, pure ammonia (ammonium hydroxide), i.e., without soaps, perfumes, etc., is added in small quantity – say three to five parts per million. Bacteria will appear of their own accord in time and break this down into nitrites, then nitrates, etc. A good time estimate is 30 to 40 days. There are test kits that are inexpensive, e.g. are found at this website: Doctors Foster and Smith.