Natures Building Blocks Extreme Chemistry

Natures Building Blocks: Extreme Chemistry
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Natures Building Blocks: Extreme Chemistry
Elements are the basic building blocks of matter. I have learned that the reactivity of acids increases with the number the number of hydrogen atoms. Hydrocyanic acid or cyanide is used to extract gold from low-grade ore. I have also learned that gold is rare, malleable and unwilling to react with other elements. Copper is also a malleable and most economically significant metal since it’s applied in electrical wiring and electronics. It’s combined with tin to make bronze whose atoms can be seen under a microscope using a 100 Million times magnification which is mind blowing. According to Pogue (2012), the number of protons determines the type of an element and its position on the periodic table. It’s interesting that electrons rule the reactivity of elements.
I have learned that chlorine was used as a deadly poison in WW1 since it seeks an extra electron and would steal water inside lungs to form HCL. Noble gases are inert and will not react with other elements. It’s fascinating that alkaline elements like potassium and magnesium desperately need to get rid of one electron and would explode in water. Oxygen causes a bomb to set off where it interacts with elements like carbon and hydrogen when nitrates break down (Pogue, 2012). It also reacts with carbon atoms to form fire. I have learned that the interaction of oxygen and elements …