03May 2017 by Vincent Summers No Comments

Calculating Quantities for Stoichiometric Chemical Reactions

Chemistry, Education
[caption id="attachment_17791" align="alignright" width="380"] Image CCA-SA3.0 Unported by Lord Mountbatten[/caption] Exam time approaches and you realize your teacher is likely to write down some equations and expect you to fill in the blanks. So you would like to consider a few problems ahead of time to prepare you in advance. We will demonstrate two. The second problem is just a bit tricky. See if you can anticipate what gives! Problem 1: We will first consider the reaction of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) plus hydrochloric acid (HCl) to yield sodium chloride (NaCl) plus water (H₂O). NaOH + HCl → NaCl + H₂O Only one molecule of each reactant is needed to produce one molecule of each product. 1 NaOH + 1 HCl → 1 NaCl + 1 H₂O The atomic weights for…
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21Mar 2014 by Vincent Summers 6 Comments

Chemicals to Peel Tomatoes?

Food, Manufacturing
The advertisement for Hunt’s Tomatoes says they use no harsh chemicals to peel their canned tomatoes. This statement does not openly suggest other companies use harsh chemicals, but it implies that they do. In fact, it is a common practice to use chemicals to peel tomatoes. Hunt, though, declares they use steam. To Tell the Truth My curiosity aroused, I decided to look into the matter. Technically, Hunt is telling the truth. Nonetheless, the use of lye in the peeling of fruits and vegetables is not new or unusual. Although 70% of tomatoes are peeled using hot water or steam, approximately 30% are peeled using lye. 'How To' Peel Tomatoes These facts are found in the publication by the University of California, Davis entitled, Peelability and Yield of Processing Tomatoes…
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