I don't have enough time to write less

In elementary school there was a letter we read for English ending with something like the title. The explanation being, if they had tried to revise the letter, they would remember more things to add. So, now being swamped by analytical chemistry, it's the perfect time to start blogging again, write? (Ha!)

Learn with me:
For a while I've griped about the idea that in lab courses, the students aren't really the ones doing experiments. The professor is doing a experiment to assay your talent for lab work and then your skill for writing reports. The students aren't doing anything which hasn't been done perhaps hundreds of thousands of times or more.

This thought floated through my head again, and I thought, "maybe it's still valid linguistically, either the definition is just more broad than my sense of it or etymological it is justified.

From http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=experiment

"experiment (n.)
    mid-14c., "action of observing or testing; an observation, test, or trial;" also "piece of evidence or empirical proof; feat of magic or sorcery," from Old French esperment "practical knowledge, cunning; enchantment, magic spell; trial, proof, example; lesson, sign, indication," from Latin experimentum "a trial, test, proof, experiment," noun of action from experiri "to test, try" (see experience (n.)).
experiment (v.)
    late 15c., from experiment (n.). Intransitive sense by 1787. Related: Experimented; experimenting."

From http://www.dictionary.com/browse/experiment

"experiment
[noun ik-sper-uh-muh nt; verb ek-sper-uh-ment]
noun
1.
a test, trial, or tentative procedure; an act or operation for the purpose of discovering something unknown or of tearing a principle, supposition, etc.:
a chemical experiment; a teaching experiment; an experiment in living.
2.
the conducting of such operations; experimentation:
a product that is the result of long experiment.
3.
Obsolete. experience.
verb (used without object)
4.
to try or test, especially in order to discover or prove something:
to experiment with a new procedure."

I'm going to say that, both by a broader definition and etymologically, yes, it is valid. I was going to bold the relevant pieces, but many pieces were, and it'd just be a mess.

LWM: Potassium Salts of Fatty Acids

Learn With Me

...otherwise known as insecticidal soap.

The backstory
I was gifted a plant last year that turned out to be carrying some kind of plant sickness. Most of my plants survived; but, it hit a few of them hard.

Hoping to head off a resurgence with the new growing season I popped into a little hardware store and picked up some anti-insect/mite/fungus spray.

I'm not sure how well it's working on any of these but I'm here to talk about surfactants.

What is insecticidal soap?
The short and sweet version is that it's a soap (like traditional lye soap) made by treating oils (animal fats or plant oils) with potassium hydroxide.

What does it do?
It dries things out.

Specifically, it allows water out of the cells of softer bodied critters and fungus.

Amusingly using soap to pop bubbles, if you will.

Just yesterday one of the co-ops was talking about the phospholipid bilayer. (We're a bunch of nerds, not sorry.)

So it spoils the nonpolar protection on the surface of the cell since soap has both polar and nonpolar ends.

So it lets water (polar) out by giving it a polar window or ladder through the membrane (nonpolar).

This is the same reason doing dishes dries out your hands.

Finishing thoughts
If you do any gardening, what kind of chemicals (other than water) do you use?

I was amused a few years ago when I learned about pyrethroid insecticides. They're made from chrysanthemums!
I've had chrysanthemum tea a bunch of times, it has a bit of the taste of pepper without the picante element. And yet it could kill a cockroach.

Clearly, I have superpowers.

LWM: Overpronation

Learn With Me: Overpronation

The other day I actually went to buy some of those overpriced running shoes (30% off and $20 back, I have a frugal streak.)

There was a discussion about whether I overpronated when I walked or ran.

And I couldn't say it. I kept trying to say it and my mind insisted from experience I was talking about over-protonation.

The hazards of working in a chemistry department.

To make it worse the opposite is supination. Which of course sounds very similar to sublimation.

So, what is all of this about?

It's about how your foot rolls, if it rolls too far towards the other foot, it is overpronated. This can lead to pain all the way up your leg. Supination, mentioned earlier, is where your foot rolls too far to the outside away from your other foot. Similarly this can cause pain.

Finishing Thoughts

This reminds me of a time when I was confused about why it was important that workers were not ionized. They were Unionized.

Do you have any times when your own knowledge of specialized terminology left you confused at an otherwise unremarkable sentence?

Why did I pick this silly name?

Eternal Sophomore Nerd

Doesn't sound flattering in a few ways. Why then, did I pick it?

I have a few reasons behind it, I'll share some of them:

Never stop learning
Sophomore, as you undoubtedly know, comes from Greek and means "wise-fool."
As one of those folks that feel that life long learning is a fantastic personality trait I'm always pleased by those silly quotes:

Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance. - Confucius

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. - Albert Einstein

One that I saw but cannot recall who said it or the exact wording:

The true master will admit that he cannot know everything.

In line with the Confucius one above.

So to put it plain, I hope always to be a sophomore in that I hope always to be learning the things I don't know and aware that I do not and cannot know everything.

Physics for fun? (Portal)

I wound up in a discussion the other day, in an online forum, about the physics of the video game series Portal. If you're not familiar, it's a puzzle game where the only "gun" you have places portals on walls, floors, and ceilings.

This short video, which was what had gotten the conversation going the other day, gives a decent impression of the basic idea.

I'll detail some of the things they got wrong in a bit. For you folks who know "there is science to be done," yes, the portals are the wrong shape. Let's move on.

Now, a little actual physics discussion. The question the other day was, "wouldn't he keep accelerating and fly past the portals?"

After drawing out some diagrams, coming to premature conclusions, and continued discussions I believe I have the answer.

I'll give you the answer, then go into the rationalization.

Wouldn't the kid continue accelerating until he missed the portal?
Yes, after his second pass through the portals.

"Look at you flying through the air like a majestic eagle...piloting a blimp."

Why?
One of the things the eponymous portals do is reorient your velocity as you pass through them, based on the relative orientations of the two portals. In the video you can see the kid falls through one portal downward (floor) and proceeds to fly sideways out of the perpendicular portal (wall). Not only has he turned, so has his momentum.

This is key to why he would miss the bottom (down) portal on his second pass. His momentum from his first fall hurls him out from the wall portal back over the floor portal, while flying outward gravity is now perpendicular and pulls him down into the floor portal. This is the important bit both his initial velocity and second fall velocity rotate 90°. (The portals are at 90° to each other.)

For his second fall, from wall portal to floor portal, he is flying sideways again. This flight has only one falls worth of velocity away from the wall. Why? Because the velocity from the first fall has also rotated and is now oriented up (to the observer) away from the floor portal and gravity.

His first fall is now an upwards fall and his second a sideways fall.

This means that gravity must decelerate his upwards velocity then accelerate him downward. The whole time he is flying sideways. This translates into an arc which will land him at the edge of the floor portal.

Now, I would be remiss if I tried to get away with throwing out assertions, especially about Portal, without experimentation. I loaded up Portal 2 and both Chell and a Companion Cube (a beach ball sized box with a heart on it) pass through exactly twice before landing past the floor portal. Chell is an adult, larger than the kid, and a companion cube smaller.

I'm marking this down, huge success.

Continuing thoughts
If the kid could continue flying through as shown:

Would the height difference between his initial fall and subsequent falls generate a "wobble?"

American Association of Blacks in Energy: Energize Meeting

I don't think I've gotten so many business cards that say, "Vice-President," before.

Live tweeting the second panel. (Highlights below)

Update:
Community College of Philadelphia Dean of Business and Technology Wayne Wormley did a great job representing the school.

"We're still the best deal in town."

"It's not just about a job, you need to prepare yourself for a career."

Rafael Arismendi, Congreso de Latinos

 (Paraphrased)

 'We need to support the schools or the students won't be ready for these kind of jobs and opportunities.'

Overall a great networking opportunity and got some insight into the energy industry. Considering how pervasive they are everyday, many us just aren't familiar with them beyond the switch.

Last Year's Science Show

I wanted to put up these videos, courtesy of CCP NSBE's YouTube channel, of the last science show at Dobbins, before we go today.

Ice Cream made with fire extinguisher!
Explanation of Sublimation (both Jon)

Dollar Bill Undamaged When Set on Fire! (Me)

Exploding Glass Bottles by Way of Cavitation (Karen)

Exploding Glass Bottles by Way of Cavitation (afternoon class, still Karen)

Elephant Toothpaste (George)

Ferrofluids Demonstration (Lucci)

We're going to be under a time crunch this year. We have more demonstrators, which is a good problem to have; but, that means we get to go into less detail on explanations.

Looking forward to it!