I. Atomic Mass and Atomic Number
We saw at the end of the last lesson that protons and neutrons each weigh approximately one atomic mass unit (amu, unit “u”), while electrons in comparison weigh only 1/2000th of that. Formally, an amu is defined as the exactly 1/12 the mass of carbon-12. Let’s look at how atomic […]
Right about now in any intro chemistry course, you could you could be forgiven if you thought you dozed off and sleepwalked into the history class next door. Most books choose to introduce the fundamental subatomic particles by putting them in the context of their discoveries.
I. Early Chemistry
For example, In 1774, Antoine Lavoisier proposed the […]
Lesson Two: How to Use Measurements
Chemistry is quantitative, with its measurements expressed in numbers and units (such as pounds, meters, or watts). How do we know what units to use so that everybody who does chemistry can understand everybody else? Luckily, someone came up with a system for this.
I. It’s called the Systeme […]
So I have this friend who I’ve known for about 12 years now, and several times over the last few years she has stared at me over the top of her fifth beer and said wistfully, “I wish you would teach me chemistry,” before we both promptly forgot about it and resumed gossiping. There were […]
Continue Reading...There are no events to show at this time.