Chemistry 100 Assignment

• my preference: submit by e-mail to endres-e_mail (click here to send)
  • Include your name-- I generally won't be able to identify you by your e-mail return address
• you may also turn in at class, or at my office

The Great Black Swamp-- Questing for the Elements

In celebration of the Black Swamp Arts Festival in downtown Bowling Green this weekend-- food, music, arts and crafts... Friday 6 p.m. through 3 p.m. Sunday.

Assignment:

• Submit a list of Chemical Elements you observe walking around the festival.
• Basically this is a chemical scavenger hunt, but you don't need to bring back the object.
• If you don't attend the festival or if you or want to complete the assignment early, that's O.K. too. List what you see around you or even virtual sightings-- things you might reasonably expect to see on a normal excursion.
  • There are probably a few more elements to be seen at a festive event like this, but you can do almost as well walking around campus with your eyes open.

• The element must be observed in the Elemental state, not as chemical compounds. (There's a lot of calcium in concrete, but only in the form of chemical compounds.)
• The element should be in a relatively pure form and not simply part of a mixture (For example, the nitrogen in air doesn't count. However, an 18K gold ring is really only 18/24 part gold and gold plated earrings only contain a very thin coating-- but I'd count both since the Gold is the essence of the object.))
• The element could be a small part of an object or a thin coating. (For example, if you saw a Zirconium plated wing nut you could count it-- but I'm sure you won't find one.)
• The element may be covered or even encased, but it's there and forms an important part of the object. For example, the iron (or steel) of a car counts, even though it's completely covered with a coat of paint.
• You must include the name of the element and a very brief description of where it was found and/or how it was used.
• Each element can only be listed once even if you see it in different forms.

• This assignment is worth 5 points with a possible 5 point bonus (by comparison, a hour exam is worth 100 points)
  • You'll need at least 10 elemental findings to get the credit (Finding ten should be very easy-- just run down the list of elements. Hint: start with metals.)
  • Bonus points awarded to the lists with the most elements or for locating examples not on my personal list.
  • Last time I did this I think I found 35 species. I must admit the last 3-5 items stretched the rules a little, but were at least in the spirit of the quest.
  • There will be some border line cases and I'll make those decisions. There are no penalties if I reject an item from your list.
• This is one of several such assignments during the semester. Typically I'll count your best scores (say the best 5 scores out of 7 such assignments.) If you miss this you can still make up the points elsewhere.
  • assignments like this are brief and will not have a lot of advance notice. In part they are a bonus for attending class and regularly monitoring the Web site.