Neutralizing acids and bases

In science we have began our topic on acids and bases. Part of this involves learning about the PH scale, types of indicators, and neutralization.  We did an experiment on how to neutralize an acid.

Neutralizing Acids and Bases

Aim: Neutralize Sodium Carbonate using Hydrochloric Acid

Equipment: 

• Test tube
• Test tube rack
• Sodium Carbonate 
• Hydrochloric acid 
• Dropper bottle/pipette 
• Universal indicator solution 

Method

1. Place 1-2 mL of Sodium Carbonate into test tube. Add 3 drops of universal indicator
2. Using a dropper bottle add Hydrochloric Acid and Sodium Carbonate one at a time until the solution is neutralized. You'll need to do this in drops otherwise you could potentially miss the neutralization point.

Your liquid will be green if it has been successfully neutralized.

Discussion

It took a while for the liquid to actually change color at first, but it eventually did. I also noticed that if you put too much liquid in it will be harder to mix while if there's two little liquid it will mix too easily. I would say you should go for just below a 1/4 of the tube and then slowly add more of the base and acid until it's green

Conclusion

Even though it took a while until it hit the neutralizing point it eventually did. This means we completed our aim. 

Why green is the neutralizing point

The PH scale and indicators

The PH scale is a scale from 1 to 14 and is used to tell if something is either an acid or a base. 1 is violet and means that the liquid is a base while if it's 14 and red, then the liquid is an acid. The middle is 7 which is green and means that the liquid contains roughly equal amount of acid (Hydrachloric acid) and base (Sodium carbonate). This will turn the universal indicator green which means that the liquid is neutralized.

Alkaline is another name for a base.

To figure out if something is a either a base or acid, we use indicators. There are various indicators but the most popular one is the universal indicator. The universal indicator is a solution that you only need a couple of drops (depending on how much liquid there is). This indicator also gives you one of the most exact results and can show whether it's slightly acidic or sightly basic. The second most popular is litmus paper. Litmus paper are strips of paper that are either red or blue. Let's take blue litmus paper for example, when you dip it into the liquid and it stays blue, it's a base, if it changes red, it's a acid and vice versa for the red litmus paper.

  

I don't have enough friends to create the neon element lol

In science we've began our atomic science unit and to learn about atoms we did some crafting. Our task was to create a model of an element of our choosing. I, if you didn't read the title, chose neon.

Materials 

• Paper
• Scissors
• Blu-tack
• String
• Tape
• Two different color set of beads
• Pencil/felts/pens to decorate and label

Method

1. Select an element. I suggest something less than element 7 but, if you do want to go higher then just half the amount of electrons. 
2. Grab a small ball of blu-tack and place the beads in the around the outside. For the beads use two different colors to create the neutrons and protons. 
3. Draw and cut out the required number if circle to form the outer protective shells. Make sure the circles are big enough to draw in the electrons. I would also suggest to draw in the 
4. Attach the string to the blu-tack ball of beads and tape the two circles onto the string.
5. Create a little label of what your element is and attach to the top of the string.

I decided to draw my friends as the electrons but then I realized I didn't have enough so I drew Mr Carter, Mr Taylor, and Mr Heath instead. Mr Taylor was originally going to be Mr Heath but Nadia said I drew his beard too big and that it looked like Mr Taylor. 

                                    

 

How to figure out how many electrons you need to draw

On an element there will be two different numbers; the atomic number and mass number. The atomic number is the smaller of the two and tells you how many neutrons and protons there are. For example neon's atomic number is 10 which means there are 10 protons and 10 neutrons. The mass number is the bigger number and tells us how many protons and neutrons there are. To figure this out you subtract the atomic number from the mass number, for example neon's mass number is 20. 10 - 20 = 10. There are 10 electrons in the atom. 

How to figure out what electrons go in what circle

This one is fairly easy to understand. One two electrons can go in the first ring and up to eight in the other two. Electrons often appear in pairs as well. 

 

Cloning: the process and ethics of it

                                                                                                                                                       

Human cloning diagram from
science.howstuffworks.com

Once cloning was a far off idea but now that idea is closer to being a possibility than it was before. Cloning is the process of creating an exact copy of someone using only their DNA. The process isn't that hard to understand either. First you would need to take an egg cell from a donor and remove the nucleus that contains 23 chromosomes and discard it. You then take a skin cell that contains 46 chromosomes from the person you will be cloning and remove the nucleus. You then insert the 46 chromosomes nucleus and insert it into the egg cell. The egg cell will then be placed into the donors womb and will eventually grow into an exact physical copy of the person you are cloning.



The ethics of cloning
Cloning can cause a lot of mixed feelings and is very easy to debate about. Because you are essentially creating a human who also looks and feels emotions just like we do. Below are some questions that will get you thinking about the ethics of cloning.

Should we use cloning to resurrect extinct and endangered animals? 
The problem with cloning extinct and endangered animals is that we have to think about why the animals are extinct/endangered. Is it because of natural selection? Is it because of humans? I personally think it's a good idea but at the same time it's not. A big question is would we be picking and choosing what animals we resurrect? If we are then we begin to be playing god that never ends well.

We should clone plants and animals that produce the most. This could end world hunger
First off don't we already do this? Usually on things such as farms, farmers will select plants and animals that are doing the best to reproduce. I personally agree because we already sort of do this.

Should we use cloning to replicate a child dying of terminal disease?
If they are replicated exactly wouldn't the kid just get the disease again? Not only is it that but there also is just something off putting. Knowing your child die and that the one you're with now is just a copy is just sort of off putting. I don't strongly disagree but I do somewhat.

Do you think cloning should be used for staffing our armies. If they are cloned then they wouldn't have parents. 
The clone would still have to be raised by someone, this means they would learn about emotions and still form relationships with people. Unless of course they train them to be child soldiers in the movies but the way they do that is a little inhumane.

We should use cloning technology to bring back famous/influential people back to life (i.e Newton, Einstein, Shakespeare, ect).
This is a hard no for me. They would have to be brought up in today's world which is very different from the time they were brought up. They might not end up doing anything successful. We know Einstein also played violin so what if he decided he wanted to be a violinist in today's age. Or Shakespeare who also was a painter, what if he decide to paint instead of write? Then the debate about if intelligence is in your DNA comes into play but we won't go into that.

Examples of cloning

So far scientists have only been able to clone animals such as Dolly the sheep who was the first successful clone of a mammal. Scientists have also been able to clone mice, a gaur, and a cat among other animals. 

Dolly the sheep's clones

DNA Extraction MWHAHAHHHAHHAHAHA

Aim: To extract the DNA of the kiwifruit so we can observe it

Method

1. Using a spatula,  scoop 1/2 of the kiwifruit into a bag and add 25ml water + a pinch pf salt.
2. Mush until a thick soup.
3. Pour over cloth into funnel into beaker
4. Pour liquid into test tuber. Add dish washing liquid + swirl. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.
5. Tilt test tuber on 45 degree angle and slowly pour 10ml of ethanol down the side. 
6. Allow to sit.

Results

Hopefully after you allow it to sit your test tube should look like this:

The jelly fish egg looking stuff on top is the kiwifruit's DNA. If it doesn't look like this then you might've not mushed the kiwifruit enough. If it has big clumps then not much of the kiwifruit will make it through the cloth.

Discussion:

We used water to help break and liquefy the kiwifruit which would allow it to pass through the cloth. Salt allowed the DNA clump together while ethanol helps the DNA float to the top. The reason the DNA is bubbly like that is because the detergent that creates air bubbles that make it easier to see.

Conclusion
We were able to separate the DNA successfully. I also learnt what would happen if someone drank ethanol (because it's stronger than stomach acid you would get a burning feeling inside and then most likely die).

Photos

 

Hi yes you should know about this guy called Yasunari Kawabata

Yasunari Kawabata was the winner of the 1968 Nobel literacy prize. He won because, as the Nobel prize academy say "for his narrative mastery, which with great sensibility expresses the essence of the Japanese mind."

Yasunari Kawabata

Yasunari Kawabata was born on June 11th 1899, Osaka, Japan and was orphaned as a young boy. He also lost most of his known relatives at a young age, this is believed to be why death and loneliness has such a strong presence in his works. Kawabata would proceed to attend and graduate from Tokyo imperial university in 1924 and make his debut into the world of writing with his short story Izu no odoriko (Izu dancer, 1927). He also created a journal, Bungei Jidai, with another writer, Yokomitsu Riichi.  He eventually went on to write Yukiguni (Snow country, 1948) which established him as a leading writer in Japan. His other notable works include Sembazuru (Thousand Cranes, Never completed), Yama no oto (The Sound of the Mountain, 1954), and The Old Capital (1962) among others. Kawabata was also a candidate for the Nobel literacy prize more than once, in fact almost every year but was never nominated nor did he win after his initial win in 1968. He would later commit suicide via inhaling gas on April 16th, Zushi, Japan after the death of his close friend Mishima Yukio.


Disclaimer: First I'm not saying any of the following stuff is true I just found the circumstances interesting and fell into a bit of rabbit hole. Secondly you don't have to read this part if you don't want to. Thirdly (If that's even a word) This is in NO WAY the truth because, again, this is just under suspicion and is just a theory. 

So you may notice that he committed suicide after his friend Mishima Yukio which may have you wondering, who is Mishima Yukio? Well from what I found Mishima Yukio was another well known Japanese author and even though him and Yasunario Kawabata were both candidates they were known for being close friends. Now what's interesting about this to me is the fact that they were close friends and Mishima Yukio was known for being very open about his sexuality. If you don't know what that is code for then let me explain it for you; he was gay. Very gay. Massively gay. Now not everyone commits suicide after their close gay friend dies do they? Now, again, I'm not saying that they possibly were more than close friends but I am saying there was a chance they could have been.

Sources

Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kawabata-Yasunari

Nobel Prize website: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1968/kawabata/facts/

Mishima's Britannica page: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yukio-Mishima

Heart attacks (not the lovey dovey kind)

The heart is a critical piece of the body as it pumps blood into the body and lungs. Unfortunately the body has to make things difficult by giving us heart attacks. If you don't know what a heart attack is when something is stopping blood from flowing through coronary artery such as a blockage or narrowing of the artery. This causes a blood clot to begin forming which will prevent blood and oxygen flowing and result in either the damage or death of the heart muscle. You can also have a heart attack due to a tear in the coronary artery, small blood clots, fat particles from other parts of the body, or when the blood in general is reduced such as when the body goes into shock from trauma, heatstroke, or blood loss. Risk factors include age, genetics, smoking, high blood pressure,  high blood cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, physical in-activeness, and stress.

Symptoms
Symptoms of a heart attack include nausea, shortness of breath, sweating/cold sweat,
feeling faint/dizzy, feeling of impending doom, weakness or tiredness, and commonly pain in the left arm such as tightness, pressure, aching or a burning sensation.
How to prevent one
There are multiple ways to prevent the chance of a heart attack which are mainly doing the
opposite of what causes a heart attack, so things such as staying active, eat healthy, limit alcohol intake, maintain a reasonable weight for your age/height group,  avoid over stressing yourself, manage diabetes, stay updated on blood pressure, and another way is to actually sleep instead of binge watching the umbrella academy on netflix.

What treatment is there?

There are a variety of treatments that are available to victims of heart attacks, such as aspirin, thrombolytics (dissolve blood clots), anitplatelet agents (prevent clots from becoming larger), pain relievers, nitroglycerin (widens blood vessels), beta blockers (relax heart muscles and decreases blood pressure which makes the heart's job easier), ACE inhibitors (reduce stress on the heart), and Statins (control blood cholesterol). There's also surgeries such as Coronary angioplasty and stenting, which includes sting a tube up your wrist or groin to a blocked artery, once there they inflate a small balloon and expand a metal casing which will cause the artery to remain open either temporarily or long-term. There is also coronary artery bypass surgery which involves sewing your veins/arteries in place beyond a blocked/narrow artery which will then allow blood to flow through easily.

Phillip and his phalanges

In science we're learning medical science. Because of this we have to memorize the major bones so we all created skeletons filled with labels and muscles.

Arthritis: It's a pain in the ass (well not really)

What is arthritis?
Arthritis is a condition in which your joints become damaged or worn out. Arthritis can happen to anyone and presents itself in 140 different ways with the most common being osteoarthritis, gout arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and juvenile arthritis which is found in young children.

The joints
The joints are where the ends of two of your bones meet. The cartilage covers the ends of your bones which prevent the bones from rubbing against each other. The synovial membrane produces synovial fluid which keeps the cartilage lubricated allowing the two bones move easily. The ligament holds the two bones together. Joints are commonly found in your elbows, knees, wrist/ankles, fingers/toes, etc. Arthritis appears when the joints become infected, damaged, inflamed, or they stiffen.

Different types of arthritis

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and occurs when the cartilage becomes worn out or infected due to excessive exercise, very little exercise, excess weight, and aging. Symptoms of osteoarthritis include swelling around the joint, stiffness from moving after sitting down for a while, pain in joints when moving or resting, weakness in the muscles, painful cracking when moving joints, and bony swellings know as bony growths. Treatments vary depending on what happened to cause the osteoarthritis to appear but most treatments involve painkillers, gels/sprays, walking aids (walking sticks, etc), specific exercise routines, and, occasionally, weight loss.

Gout arthritis 

Gout arthritis occurs when your blood contains uric acid. Uric acid comes from a protein called purines which are come from food. Usually uric acid passes through your body but if you are overweight, take certain medication, eat too much food that contain purines, or have kidney problems, the uric acid builds up. The acid then turns into sharp needle-like crystals that cause immense pain in the joints and damages the cartilage. Symptoms of gout arthritis include sudden joint pains which can last up to 7 days, lumps growing on elbows, hands, knees and feet, or painful and stiff joints. Treatments for gout include medicine to lower you uric acid, pain relievers, swelling relievers, healthy eating, lowering alcohol consumption, or even a change of footwear.

Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is cause when the body's immune system attacks the synovial liquid in your joints causing it too thicken, therefore causing the joints to stiffen. This causes inflammation and swelling around the joints. Rheumatoid symptoms include swelling,stiffness, joints feeling hot and painful, fever, fatigue, weight loss, and decreased appetite. Treatment for rheumatoid is similar to those of the other two; exercise, healthy eating, medication, and joint protection (comfortable shoes, etc). Surgery is also a option for those who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis.

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (J.I.A)

J.I.A is a form of arthritis similar to that of rheumatoid arthritis. The immune system mistakes healthy tissue in the joints for unhealthy tissue, this results in pain and swelling. J.I.A is found in children and teens under the age of 16, hence the name containing the word juvenile. There are two types of J.I.A which are Oligoarthritis, when up to four joints are infected, and Polyarticular, when 5 or more joints. Symptoms include skin rashes, joint pain, swelling, stiffness,fatigue, fevers, weight loss, smaller appetite, tenderness, and general feeling of being unwell. Treatments are similar to those of the above three.

Common Myths about arthritis

Joint Pains = Arthritis

A common myth is that any type of joint pain is arthritis which is false. There are many other conditions in which there is damage to soft tissue such as tendonitis, bursitis, and various others.

Popping knuckles increases your chance of arthritis
Although arthritis can happen for various reasons, popping/cracking your knuckles is not one of them. The reason your joints make a popping sound is because when you pull your bones, by either stretching or cracking them, bubbles in the synovial fluid pop. This is doesn't increase your chance of arthritis but it can still damage your hands. Chronic cracking of knuckles may lead to weaker grip strength and there have also been two published reports of people getting injured by attempting to crack their knuckles.

You need to rest if you begin to have joint pains
Although joint pain commonly occurs due to overexercising it can also occur when you don't exercise enough. You joints become stiff if you don't exercise and lie around quite often. Even if you do acquire joint pains due to overexercising it's still suggested you continue exercising just, not as extreme. If you do experience joint pains it is suggested that you see your doctor instead of taking advice from friends and family.

Your diet doesn't affect you arthritis
Your diet plays a part in everything you do and arthritis is no exception. If you read the part about gout arthritis you may remember that uric acid (the cause of gout arthritis) enters the body via food (shellfish, animal organs such as liver, bacon, scallop, etc). Alcohol also affects your arthritis. Of course I should also clarify that your diet mostly affects those with rheumatoid arthritis. If you are worried about your diet and it increasing your chance of arthritis then I would suggest seeing a doctor instead of asking google or reading a 14 year old's blog.

Arthritis only occurs in elderly people
If you have made it this far and you have common sense then you would know this is a myth. Arthritis can happen to anyone although there are people who are more likely to get it (eg: genetics, obesity, age, working conditions, etc.) it really can happen to anyone.

Of course there are many other myths but these seem to be the most common.

Main sources

Health Navigator: https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/health-a-z/a/arthritis/
Arthritis New Zealand: https://www.arthritis.org.nz/information/forms-of-arthritis/
OrthoInfo: https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases--conditions/arthritis-an-overview/

Minor sources

Harvard Health: https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/does-knuckle-cracking-cause-arthritis

Health Essentials: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/six-myths-about-joint-pain-and-arthritis/

Arthritis Foundation: http://blog.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/arthritis-myths-facts/