chem 100 Assignment

Paper, due November 20 (before Thanksgiving break)

Paper is worth 75 points (well above the average score of one hour exam.)

date: October 26 (this will be updated)

Select a reasonably specific topic

• the topic must have significant chemical content
• see the list of topics below--
• you can select from the list or suggest your own topic
  • send an e-mail to endres for approval of your topic
  • all topics must be approved in advance
  • topics on my list may be removed after chosen by a few students

Look up material on your topic

• any listing in your textbook (check the index)
• Web resources
• Current newspaper references (can get help at the library)
• authoritative book (science encyclopedia, textbook)
  • keep records, since you must identify the source of your information
• need at least three sources, one of which must be printed

Write a paper (2-3 pages)

• the paper should be readable by your classmates
• it should contain some significant information
  • (some suggested questions are included)
• the information should be correct
• you must identify the source of the information
• this must be your own work
  • we can (and will) search for unidentified material lifted from encyclopedias and Web sites

Resources Available

• keep looking at our Web site
• reference librarians
• chemistry department resources (people)

Some Suggested Topics

• Chemical and Biological Warfare/ Terrorism
  • (not biological agents-- this is a chemistry course)
  • Suggest focusing on one specific species or type of agent
  • poison gases: Sarin;mustard gas; chlorine gas; nerve agents; tear gases
  • toxic agents: botulinum toxin (deadly, but also medically useful)
  • specific explosives: RX or plastique, nitroglycerin
  • Detection of Terrorist Activity: searching for explosives

• Use of radioactive iodine in medicine (or veterinary medicine)
• Photodynamic Therapy (use of light to fight cancer)
• This year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry (right handed vs. left handed molecules)
• Last year's Nobel Prizes (plastics that conduct electricity)
• topic taken/not available any longer :Automobile tires-- what's in them? (chemist's view)
• MTBE as a gasoline additive (recent serious news stories)
• Tetraethyl lead as a gasoline additive
• Aluminum anodizing
• Synthetic rubies and sapphires, how are they made
• Synthetic diamonds, history or manufacture
• Photolithography (how chemistry is used to print a newspaper)
• Arsenic in drinking water (including newspaper references from 2001)
• Catalytic Converters on cars
• topic taken/not available any longer :Carbon Monoxide detectors
• How the Mar's explorer (Rover) analyzed rocks for chemical composition
• Chemistry of ancient photography-- the Daguerreotype
• Ancient photographic method-- the cyanotype
• Simple B&W photographs -- role of the developer and the fixer
• Pottery glazes-- what chemical compounds are used and what do they do?
• Changing the properties (color) of glass chemically...( what is glass?)
• Synthetic dyes in 18xx and the effect on India
• Indigo dye (Blue Jeans, the chemistry)
• Paints used by artists (preferably before 1900) -- oils, pigments used
• Shellac and the Lac bug
• Cochineal and the Red Coats (British Soldiers)
• Refractory materials (chemicals used because they withstand very high temperatures)
• Nuclear Waste processing and problems at Fernault Ohio
• Ni-Cad rechargeable batteries
• Use of mercury, gold and silver in dentistry
• The chemical makeup of coins (US and one other country)
• Gallium (the metallic element) manufacture and uses
• Plaster (plaster of Paris, gypsum)
• Fluorescent Lights
• Sodium Vapor Lights
• Mercury Vapor Lights
• Insect repellents (the Scientific American web site just added information on catnip as insect repellent)
• Ant bites and wasp stings (chemical focus)
• Earliest plastics: Baeklite and celluloid
• Atrazine (an herbicide commonly used in growing corn)
• Radon (sources, testing, heath hazard, treatment)
• Nitroglycerin as heart medicine
• Electroplating with gold or silver
• Electroforming (forming metal objects)
• topic taken/not available any longer :Mirrors: how are they made? (with a bit of history)
• Treating animals poisoned with antifreeze
• Food additives (take 3-4 labels on processed foods-- what's been added and why?)
• Cooking : what causes the specific taste of an herb or spice?
• topic taken/not available any longer :Caffeine: what is it, where does it occur naturally, how is coffee decaffeinated?
• Ammonium Nitrate (in agriculture and as an explosive)
• Hard Water -- problems and treatment
• Hazards in disposing of old computers
• Old gold mining and the environmental hazards that remain

The paper should be factual, but it can include arguments for a position.

You can select topics that refer to specific chemical species (medicine, agricultural chemical, food additive, gasoline additive, type of plastic.) If you do so, your paper must have a clear chemical focus. For example, you can't just write about a drug by talking about the disease it treats and how it is used medically.

Rather than focus on one specific compound or device, you might want to compare several differing items-- for example, briefly describe several batteries and analyze the pros/cons of each.

By all means, look for a topic that you find interesting. If you are studying art and interested in jewelry you might want to look at the metals commonly used and various chemical treatments.

Unless you make specific arrangements with both instructors, you may not use the same paper (or topic) for assignments in different courses.