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Chemistry / Re: How does chlorine become chloride when it bonds?
« on: 19/03/2018 19:15:03 »
I hope I've changed the title. I am still trying to find my way around at this site. I'll get it if I persevere.
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Chemistry / Re: Chlorine / Chloride
« on: 19/03/2018 17:35:14 »
Ah. Let's see if I have this. Since "sodium" spelling did not change in the above style, we know it's the chlorine that got the new electron. Right? At least the chemists who need to know that who got it.
Thank you very much. That was fast and understandable. The chemists need to know that and I'm assuming they need to know from where it came. In a simple equation like NaCl, that is easy. Right?
Thank you very much. That was fast and understandable. The chemists need to know that and I'm assuming they need to know from where it came. In a simple equation like NaCl, that is easy. Right?
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Chemistry / How does chlorine become chloride when it bonds?
« on: 19/03/2018 17:09:43 »
Sometimes we can go through life thinking we know something that we do not know. My time of awakening has come. I have known since high school long ago that NaCl is Sodium Chloride, common table salt. Because - so far as I knew - chemical compounds consist of combinations of the basic (pure) elements, I assumed that chloride was an element. I have a wonderful book of the elements by Theodore Gray but I guess I never tried to find chloride in it -- until last night.
Last night I discovered that a bonding of Sodium and Chlorine gives us Sodium Chloride. I immediately assumed that it was a simple case of a spelling change which didn't seem like a bad idea considering that almost everybody knows chlorine as poisonous. Why would we have chlorine in one of the most over-used foods (seasonings) in our diet, I asked myself. Knowing that would have ended the medical world's constant pleas that we stop using so much NaCl overnight.
That sent me to Mr. Gray's "The Elements". I had read and re-read his explanations of how we learn about the elements. I have even read details of many of the elements. But now I find out that chloride is not an element. Of course, I then had to find chlorine. I did not learn there what I really want to know.
I tried the internet but all the articles I try are too far over my head. All I get out of them is "Chlorine becomes Chloride" because it gains an electron from the Sodium and bonds with Chloride ion. And that is where I get lost.
I hope I am making sense. I'd appreciate a simple explanation. Or, if someone knows a simple article online, I'll be glad to read it. If it isn't just a change in spelling, how did chlorine become chloride? One of the Wiki articles sounds as if one of the ancient chemists created chloride.
Thank you.
An easier question before I leave. Does this sort of change happen often in the compounding of elements? Thank you.
Last night I discovered that a bonding of Sodium and Chlorine gives us Sodium Chloride. I immediately assumed that it was a simple case of a spelling change which didn't seem like a bad idea considering that almost everybody knows chlorine as poisonous. Why would we have chlorine in one of the most over-used foods (seasonings) in our diet, I asked myself. Knowing that would have ended the medical world's constant pleas that we stop using so much NaCl overnight.
That sent me to Mr. Gray's "The Elements". I had read and re-read his explanations of how we learn about the elements. I have even read details of many of the elements. But now I find out that chloride is not an element. Of course, I then had to find chlorine. I did not learn there what I really want to know.
I tried the internet but all the articles I try are too far over my head. All I get out of them is "Chlorine becomes Chloride" because it gains an electron from the Sodium and bonds with Chloride ion. And that is where I get lost.
I hope I am making sense. I'd appreciate a simple explanation. Or, if someone knows a simple article online, I'll be glad to read it. If it isn't just a change in spelling, how did chlorine become chloride? One of the Wiki articles sounds as if one of the ancient chemists created chloride.
Thank you.
An easier question before I leave. Does this sort of change happen often in the compounding of elements? Thank you.
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Physiology & Medicine / Re: How is Parkinson's Disease similar to Huntington's, Alzheimer's and autism?
« on: 09/11/2017 10:51:11 »
Ah, thank you, Chris. I see where I went wrong. Your last paragraph clears it up. I did not know the brain cell connection for Parkinson's.
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Physiology & Medicine / How is Parkinson's Disease similar to Huntington's, Alzheimer's and autism?
« on: 08/11/2017 13:47:57 »
Often, in reading articles about brain disorders, I see four diseases listed as if they are all of one type: Autism, Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. I had always thought of Parkinsons's as a nerve disease that disrupts smooth muscle coordination. Please, how does Parkinson's fit into the same category as the other three? Thank you.
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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: When we fly do we gain or lose weight?
« on: 27/09/2016 20:37:45 »
Thank you. So, they all gain mass whether in gravity or not. I was stretching my imagination a bit in order to make my question fit airplanes. I did realize they can't go so fast. They'd become space ships. :-) As for equations, I not only can't type them; I can't read them. Found out just recently that one I thought I learned in basic geometry is wrong. Well, not wrong; just that we were taught wrong. A friend says it's the same with her. Not important. I absorb without all the math.
I did read a very good article this morning distinguishing between mass and weight as well as talking about how it is used by the general public. I must read that again.
Thanks again. I think I understand and if i don't fully understand, I do know the answer. :-). It still doesn't seem logical but a lot of science doesn't. Yet it is proven.
I did read a very good article this morning distinguishing between mass and weight as well as talking about how it is used by the general public. I must read that again.
Thanks again. I think I understand and if i don't fully understand, I do know the answer. :-). It still doesn't seem logical but a lot of science doesn't. Yet it is proven.
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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / When we fly do we gain or lose weight?
« on: 27/09/2016 12:35:55 »
I realize I can't (they say) compare apples and oranges; nor can I compare the vacuum of space to the gravity of Earth with my question. But I have to start somewhere to get this straight.
I keep reading that in space, if a "heavenly" body (say an asteroid) picks up speed, it will gain mass/weight. This doesn't seem to make sense but perhaps it has to do with being in a vacuum. I accept it as said.
That puzzle gets to my question back to Earth. If a flying object (airplane) picks up more and more speed, is it also going to gain mass/weight? It increases speed to overcome a certain amount of gravity. Wouldn't it have less mass/weight as it went faster? I thought the pull of gravity made us weigh more, not less. So, if the plane overcomes a certain amount of gravity, wouldn't it weigh less?
I keep reading that in space, if a "heavenly" body (say an asteroid) picks up speed, it will gain mass/weight. This doesn't seem to make sense but perhaps it has to do with being in a vacuum. I accept it as said.
That puzzle gets to my question back to Earth. If a flying object (airplane) picks up more and more speed, is it also going to gain mass/weight? It increases speed to overcome a certain amount of gravity. Wouldn't it have less mass/weight as it went faster? I thought the pull of gravity made us weigh more, not less. So, if the plane overcomes a certain amount of gravity, wouldn't it weigh less?
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Physiology & Medicine / Re: Can a living system export entropy?
« on: 22/09/2016 13:08:58 »
Thank you, puppypower. I think that explains it. I'd not thought about CO2. Your explanation is a big help.
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Physiology & Medicine / Can a living system export entropy?
« on: 18/09/2016 14:10:56 »
According to Wiki, the biological definition of "negentropy" is different from that of the information theory definition:
I quote:
"The negentropy has different meanings in information theory and theoretical biology. In a biological context, the negentropy (also negative entropy, syntropy, extropy, ectropy or entaxy,[1]) of a living system is the entropy that it exports to keep its own entropy low; it lies at the intersection of entropy and life."
The last phrase is vague to me. Can someone please explain that as well as can someone give an example of when a living system would export entropy? I know it is to keep its entropy low but when might there be a need for the export? I am suspecting it has to do with illness but maybe I am wrong.
Thank you.
I quote:
"The negentropy has different meanings in information theory and theoretical biology. In a biological context, the negentropy (also negative entropy, syntropy, extropy, ectropy or entaxy,[1]) of a living system is the entropy that it exports to keep its own entropy low; it lies at the intersection of entropy and life."
The last phrase is vague to me. Can someone please explain that as well as can someone give an example of when a living system would export entropy? I know it is to keep its entropy low but when might there be a need for the export? I am suspecting it has to do with illness but maybe I am wrong.
Thank you.
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Technology / "Electro ..... signals in the computer?
« on: 28/08/2014 13:04:05 »
They say the computer operates like the brain. Well, actually, they say the brain operates like a computer but my thinking is it should be the reverse for obvious reasons. So, my questions:
In the brain, electrochemical signals travel the synapses to trigger messages to areas of the body and/or mind. I have a feeling the same process takes place in the computer. The messages the operator calls for have to be sent through the system to the correct destination (the asked-for information).
If I am right, what is this signal system called and where does it operate? What is the equivalent of the brain's "synapses" and of the brain's "electrochemical signal"?
I did try Google but got long drawn-out articles about how computers work and never found what I wanted.
Thank you for a very simple reply to my two questions.
In the brain, electrochemical signals travel the synapses to trigger messages to areas of the body and/or mind. I have a feeling the same process takes place in the computer. The messages the operator calls for have to be sent through the system to the correct destination (the asked-for information).
If I am right, what is this signal system called and where does it operate? What is the equivalent of the brain's "synapses" and of the brain's "electrochemical signal"?
I did try Google but got long drawn-out articles about how computers work and never found what I wanted.
Thank you for a very simple reply to my two questions.
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Technology / Re: What's a good Window's 8.1 manual?
« on: 28/08/2014 12:53:05 »
The "...for Dummies" books are still the best in my view. And they now have them "for Seniors - even simpler and more clear. So, Windows 8.1 for Dummies?
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Technology / Re: Making a water whirlpool ?
« on: 20/08/2014 12:25:07 »Refill your pool with superfluid Helium, and give it an initial stir?
Pull the plug?
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