may 2013 issue #399 - university of waterloo

May 2013 Number 399

Forces of nature Chemistry in Pictures Winner

As laboratory partners and classmates, Nicole Zucker and Alison Whitney had the opportunity to explore chemical bonding and intermolecular forces of attraction inside the chemistry classroom. Their photographs "reflect" the beauty of surface tension, spheres, and attractive forces in nature — drop by drop and bubble by bubble. Nicole and Alison are juniors at Scarsdale High School, Scarsdale NY and students of chemistry teacher Elise Hilf Levine and art teacher Dina Hofstetter. We encourage other chemistry teachers to collaborate with their Art Department and send in some engaging chemistry photos. The deadline for this year’s Chemistry in Pictures contest is June 30, 2013. Be on the front cover of Chem 13 News and inspire other teachers with your classroom photos.

Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo,Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1 | www.chem13news.uwaterloo.ca

EDITOR

Jean Hein

EDITORIAL BOARD

L.J. Brubacher

J.M. Chong

M.P. Jansen

A. R. Ricci

S. Willfang

PRODUCTION

Kathy Jackson

73007_chem13Masthead_cmyk.qxd:44929_chem13Masthead.qxd 8/12/10 10:21 AM

Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo,Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1 | www.uwaterloo.ca

EDITOR

Jean Hein

EDITORIAL BOARD

L.J. Brubacher

J.M. Chong

M.P. Jansen

A. R. Ricci

S. Willfang

PRODUCTION

Kathy Jackson

73007_chem13Masthead_cmyk.qxd:44929_chem13Masthead.qxd 8/12/10 10:21 AM Page 1

/chem13news

October 2012 Number 393

Mole Day fun

November 2012

Glowing dyes Chemistry in Pictures winner

Glowing dyes Chemistry in Pictures winner

May 2013 Number 399

2 Chem 13 News/May 2013

What is in this issue?

Letter to the editor, page 3 An almost forgotten simplification in the detection

of amino acids, page 3 Fun mole maze, pages 4 and 5 Organic molecules of everyday life: 10. Hexenal,

pages 6-7 Public enemy number one? pages 7 and 8 Newly named elements contest, pages 9 – 11 What is John Gurdon doing now? pages 9 and 18 ChemEd 2013, pages 12 – 14 Book review, page 15 A “light-hearted” crostic, pages 16 and 17 Chem dates, page 18

Publishing Chem 13 News

Chem 13 News is published for teachers by the Department of

Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The editors welcome letters, ideas and articles helpful to other teachers. (For author’s guidelines go to: http://www.uwaterloo.ca/chem13news)

Opinions expressed are those of our authors. We recommend professional caution in adopting other people’s experiments and demonstrations.

Subscription for 1 year, respectively (nine issues per year), inclusive of HST in Canada:

Canada — CAN$25.00 USA — CANS$27.00 Elsewhere — CAN$36.00 or US$36.00 Help save money; renew on your own initiative one month before

your subscription expires. Expiry date is at top left of address label. Back issues: CAN$5.00 or US$5.00 each.

Mailing address: Chem 13 News, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo ON N2L 3G1. Tel: 519-888-4567, ext 32505. Fax: 519-888-9168. E-mail: [email protected].

This issue was prepared by Jean Hein, editor; Kathy Jackson, production; Lew Brubacher, David Cash, Mike Chong, Jenn Coggan, Brian Ellis, Kaitlan Huckabone, Laura Ingram, Susan Kelso, Sue Stathopulos, Kaitlin Town, Stacey Willfang, and Gerry Toogood, proofreading; and Creative Services, University of Waterloo.

**Credit card charges will be in Canadian dollars. The exchange rate is applied at time of processing.

Download iPod, iPad and Playbook apps Remember the Periodic Table Project is a free app for iPod, Playbook and iPad. These apps have the basic atomic properties for each element along with creative student artwork and stories behind each uniquely designed tile. Search for Periodic Table Project or scan the QR code to find the apps for these devices. We encourage you to submit an app review on either iTunes or App World.

ChemEd 2013 attendees can visit the Periodic Table Project wall mural For those who come to Waterloo ON this summer make sure to visit our Periodic Table Project wall mural at the Earth Science Museum at the University of Waterloo.

April issue correction — “q” is no longer on periodic table Attention chemistry trivia enthusiasts: In the April issue of Chem 13 News we said “J” was the only letter of the alphabet not on the periodic table. This was true. The letter “q” had appeared only as Uuq (ununquadium) for the element114. In May 2012, element 114 was named flerovium (Fl) and the placeholder (Uuq) was no longer needed — so no more “q”.

*Renew now* If your subscription expires soon (see top left of your mailing label), please renew on your own initiative. You will save us money and minimize future price increases — rates in box (adjacent left).

Letter to the editor ● What to call (CH3)2CH(OH)? The November 2012 issue of Chem13 News has “isopropanol” listed in the materials for the Miniature Whoosh Bottle Demonstration. The question was raised whether this was an appropriate name or whether “2-propanol” or “isopropyl alcohol” would be the better choice. A quick look in the 12th edition of The Merck Index revealed “isopropyl alcohol” as a major heading followed by pseudonyms “2- propanol, isopropanol, secondary propyl alcohol, dimethyl carbinol,” and “petrohol.” One can also find “rubbing alcohol” (70% isopropanol) and “isopropyl alcohol” (91% isopropanol) at local pharmacies. So what should we call this substance? As an instructor, I teach students the IUPAC system of nomenclature because this system allows one to deduce the structural formula of some ominous-looking named substances such as 2,2-dimethyl-3-methylenebicyclo[2.2.1]heptane. I also teach students common names when appropriate so they are aware that a substance can go by more than one name. A good example I use is that acetic acid is the common name for ethanoic acid. It is important to make our subject relevant to the students’ everyday lives. In talking about ethanoic acid or acetic acid, I would point out that vinegar is a dilute solution of acetic acid. While I likely would not call it 2-propanol, dimethyl carbinol or petrohol, the use of isopropanol is acceptable. And actually right now there is a bottle labeled — by the manufacturer — as such in my lab. Kenneth S. Lyle, Duke University, Durham NC

Russell wins a “vanishing quicksilver” crostic The winner of the book prize for solving the December/January 2013 crostic is Christine Russell from Brock University, St. Catharines ON. The quote is by Allen Abel in Canadian Geographic Magazine.

In the Arctic, when the spring sun rises, compounds of mercury vanish from the atmosphere. One moment the air is tainted with mercury, the next it has gone, until it re-appears in the autumn sky. Where it goes during the interim is not known. It is likely that bromine atoms, produced by the reaction of ozone with sea salt, in sunlight, are responsible for the removal of mercury from the atmosphere, but how it gets back in the fall remains a mystery.

A allotropes M autoionization Y hunts the west in B laboratory N discharge winter C Le Chatelier O Inn on the Front Z inky twin sisters D ewes P Avogadro’s AA cadmium E no turkey-trotting Q number BB mercury here R griffin CC atom smasher F absorption spectrum S either DD gaffs the fish G behemoth T ortho EE alpha tin H eke out their life U Graham’s FF zinc I lucky number V rummy set GG it’s RI J complex W adenosine HH nine wines K activated triphosphate II ethernet L new mummy theme X photosynthesis

An almost forgotten simplification in the detection of amino acids E. J. Behrman <[email protected]> Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry The Ohio State University, Columbus OH Abstract: Ninhydrin spraying may be eliminated by the incorporation of ninhydrin into the chromatographic solvent. A ninhydrin spray, with or without the addition of 2,4,6-trimethylpyridine [s-collidine]1, is commonly used to detect amino acids following chromatography on filter paper or on various other thin layer media.2 This exercise is found in both introductory organic chemistry and biochemistry labs.2 It is a good, cheap and colorful way to introduce students to both paper and thin layer chromatography. Students will also be interested to learn that this ninhydrin chemistry is used by forensic scientists as a sensitive probe for fingerprints — Google “ninhydrin fingerprints” for many procedures and images. Rogers3 rediscovered an important simplification based on the fact that the reaction of amino acids with ninhydrin is rather slow

at room temperature.4 If, therefore, chromatography is carried out fairly rapidly, the ninhydrin can be incorporated into the chromatographic solvent. This eliminates the extra step of spraying, the not inconsiderable cost of the sprayers, and the possible hazard of inhalation of the spray. This is a rediscovery because Nicholson first reported this idea in 1949.5 According to the Web of Knowledge, this paper was cited 8 times in the 1950s but hardly at all thereafter (nor by ref. 3). It is not mentioned in any of the standard books on chromatographic methods that I have looked at (such as reference 2) except for Hais.6 It is virtuous to honor our forebearers. References 1. a) A.J. Woiwod, Journal of Chromatography, 1960, 3, 278. b) H. Stübchen-Kirchner, Z. Hoppe Seylers Z Physiol Chem, 349,

1049, 1968. 2. a) I. Smith, Chromatographic and Electrophoretic Techniques,

Vol. I, 3rd edition, Chapter 5, Interscience, NY, 1969. b) M.O. Hurst & D.K. Cobb, Journal of Chemical Education, 67,

page 978, 1990. c) R. Switzer & L. Garrity, Experimental Biochemistry, 3rd edition,

pages 111-121, W. H. Freeman, NY, 1999. 3. P.W. Rogers, Journal of Chemical Education, 73, 189, 1996. 4. a) C.E. Dent, Biochemical Journal, 43, 169, 1948.

b) H. Meyer, Biochemical Journal, 67, 333, 1957. c) Z. Khan & A.A. Kahn, Journal of the Indian Chemical Society,

66, 454 1989. 5. D.E. Nicholson, Nature, 1949, 163, 954, 1949. 6. I.M. Hais, in Paper Chromatography, I.M. Hais & K. Macek, eds.,

Academic Press, NY, page 489, 1963.


What is in this issue?

Letter to the editor, page 3 An almost forgotten simplification in the detection

of amino acids, page 3 Fun mole maze, pages 4 and 5 Organic molecules of everyday life: 10. Hexenal,

pages 6-7 Public enemy number one? pages 7 and 8 Newly named elements contest, pages 9 – 11 What is John Gurdon doing now? pages 9 and 18 ChemEd 2013, pages 12 – 14 Book review, page 15 A “light-hearted” crostic, pages 16 and 17 Chem dates, page 18

Publishing Chem 13 News

Chem 13 News is published for teachers by the Department of

Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The editors welcome letters, ideas and articles helpful to other teachers. (For author’s guidelines go to: http://www.uwaterloo.ca/chem13news)

Opinions expressed are those of our authors. We recommend professional caution in adopting other people’s experiments and demonstrations.

Subscription for 1 year, respectively (nine issues per year), inclusive of HST in Canada:

Canada — CAN$25.00 USA — CANS$27.00 Elsewhere — CAN$36.00 or US$36.00 Help save money; renew on your own initiative one month before

your subscription expires. Expiry date is at top left of address label. Back issues: CAN$5.00 or US$5.00 each.

Mailing address: Chem 13 News, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo ON N2L 3G1. Tel: 519-888-4567, ext 32505. Fax: 519-888-9168. E-mail: [email protected].

This issue was prepared by Jean Hein, editor; Kathy Jackson, production; Lew Brubacher, David Cash, Mike Chong, Jenn Coggan, Brian Ellis, Kaitlan Huckabone, Laura Ingram, Susan Kelso, Sue Stathopulos, Kaitlin Town, Stacey Willfang, and Gerry Toogood, proofreading; and Creative Services, University of Waterloo.

**Credit card charges will be in Canadian dollars. The exchange rate is applied at time of processing.

Download iPod, iPad and Playbook apps Remember the Periodic Table Project is a free app for iPod, Playbook and iPad. These apps have the basic atomic properties for each element along with creative student artwork and stories behind each uniquely designed tile. Search for Periodic Table Project or scan the QR code to find the apps for these devices. We encourage you to submit an app review on either iTunes or App World.

ChemEd 2013 attendees can visit the Periodic Table Project wall mural For those who come to Waterloo ON this summer make sure to visit our Periodic Table Project wall mural at the Earth Science Museum at the University of Waterloo.

April issue correction — “q” is no longer on periodic table Attention chemistry trivia enthusiasts: In the April issue of Chem 13 News we said “J” was the only letter of the alphabet not on the periodic table. This was true. The letter “q” had appeared only as Uuq (ununquadium) for the element114. In May 2012, element 114 was named flerovium (Fl) and the placeholder (Uuq) was no longer needed — so no more “q”.

*Renew now* If your subscription expires soon (see top left of your mailing label), please renew on your own initiative. You will save us money and minimize future price increases — rates in box (adjacent left).

Letter to the editor ● What to call (CH3)2CH(OH)? The November 2012 issue of Chem13 News has “isopropanol” listed in the materials for the Miniature Whoosh Bottle Demonstration. The question was raised whether this was an appropriate name or whether “2-propanol” or “isopropyl alcohol” would be the better choice. A quick look in the 12th edition of The Merck Index revealed “isopropyl alcohol” as a major heading followed by pseudonyms “2- propanol, isopropanol, secondary propyl alcohol, dimethyl carbinol,” and “petrohol.” One can also find “rubbing alcohol” (70% isopropanol) and “isopropyl alcohol” (91% isopropanol) at local pharmacies. So what should we call this substance? As an instructor, I teach students the IUPAC system of nomenclature because this system allows one to deduce the structural formula of some ominous-looking named substances such as 2,2-dimethyl-3-methylenebicyclo[2.2.1]heptane. I also teach students common names when appropriate so they are aware that a substance can go by more than one name. A good example I use is that acetic acid is the common name for ethanoic acid. It is important to make our subject relevant to the students’ everyday lives. In talking about ethanoic acid or acetic acid, I would point out that vinegar is a dilute solution of acetic acid. While I likely would not call it 2-propanol, dimethyl carbinol or petrohol, the use of isopropanol is acceptable. And actually right now there is a bottle labeled — by the manufacturer — as such in my lab. Kenneth S. Lyle, Duke University, Durham NC

Russell wins a “vanishing quicksilver” crostic The winner of the book prize for solving the December/January 2013 crostic is Christine Russell from Brock University, St. Catharines ON. The quote is by Allen Abel in Canadian Geographic Magazine.

In the Arctic, when the spring sun rises, compounds of mercury vanish from the atmosphere. One moment the air is tainted with mercury, the next it has gone, until it re-appears in the autumn sky. Where it goes during the interim is not known. It is likely that bromine atoms, produced by the reaction of ozone with sea salt, in sunlight, are responsible for the removal of mercury from the atmosphere, but how it gets back in the fall remains a mystery.

A allotropes M autoionization Y hunts the west in B laboratory N discharge winter C Le Chatelier O Inn on the Front Z inky twin sisters D ewes P Avogadro’s AA cadmium E no turkey-trotting Q number BB mercury here R griffin CC atom smasher F absorption spectrum S either DD gaffs the fish G behemoth T ortho EE alpha tin H eke out their life U Graham’s FF zinc I lucky number V rummy set GG it’s RI J complex W adenosine HH nine wines K activated triphosphate II ethernet L new mummy theme X photosynthesis

An almost forgotten simplification in the detection of amino acids E. J. Behrman <[email protected]> Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry The Ohio State University, Columbus OH Abstract: Ninhydrin spraying may be eliminated by the incorporation of ninhydrin into the chromatographic solvent. A ninhydrin spray, with or without the addition of 2,4,6-trimethylpyridine [s-collidine]1, is commonly used to detect amino acids following chromatography on filter paper or on various other thin layer media.2 This exercise is found in both introductory organic chemistry and biochemistry labs.2 It is a good, cheap and colorful way to introduce students to both paper and thin layer chromatography. Students will also be interested to learn that this ninhydrin chemistry is used by forensic scientists as a sensitive probe for fingerprints — Google “ninhydrin fingerprints” for many procedures and images. Rogers3 rediscovered an important simplification based on the fact that the reaction of amino acids with ninhydrin is rather slow

at room temperature.4 If, therefore, chromatography is carried out fairly rapidly, the ninhydrin can be incorporated into the chromatographic solvent. This eliminates the extra step of spraying, the not inconsiderable cost of the sprayers, and the possible hazard of inhalation of the spray. This is a rediscovery because Nicholson first reported this idea in 1949.5 According to the Web of Knowledge, this paper was cited 8 times in the 1950s but hardly at all thereafter (nor by ref. 3). It is not mentioned in any of the standard books on chromatographic methods that I have looked at (such as reference 2) except for Hais.6 It is virtuous to honor our forebearers. References 1. a) A.J. Woiwod, Journal of Chromatography, 1960, 3, 278. b) H. Stübchen-Kirchner, Z. Hoppe Seylers Z Physiol Chem, 349,

1049, 1968. 2. a) I. Smith, Chromatographic and Electrophoretic Techniques,

Vol. I, 3rd edition, Chapter 5, Interscience, NY, 1969. b) M.O. Hurst & D.K. Cobb, Journal of Chemical Education, 67,

page 978, 1990. c) R. Switzer & L. Garrity, Experimental Biochemistry, 3rd edition,

pages 111-121, W. H. Freeman, NY, 1999. 3. P.W. Rogers, Journal of Chemical Education, 73, 189, 1996. 4. a) C.E. Dent, Biochemical Journal, 43, 169, 1948.

b) H. Meyer, Biochemical Journal, 67, 333, 1957. c) Z. Khan & A.A. Kahn, Journal of the Indian Chemical Society,

66, 454 1989. 5. D.E. Nicholson, Nature, 1949, 163, 954, 1949. 6. I.M. Hais, in Paper Chromatography, I.M. Hais & K. Macek, eds.,

Academic Press, NY, page 489, 1963.

May 2013/Chem 13 News 3


Fun mole maze Susan Kelso and Jean Hein Chem 13 News, University of Waterloo, ON Not only is the mole our chemistry mascot, it is a fundamental unit of matter. One mole contains 6.022×1023 of whatever is being measured. It is often a challenge for students to understand that the mole provides a way of measuring matter. The maze puzzle on the next page focuses on the mole with concepts such as molar ratios, gas laws, and solutions. It is a good review for grade 11 and a nice refresher for those in grade 12. The Periodic Table Project electronic app was used as the source for the molar masses. Begin at one of the two starting locations (Start 1 and 2) and work through the questions to reach the finish space (Finish). Periodic table shower curtain is this month’s prize In each space there is a question that continues from that statement in the start box. — see page 19. For example: “Is there one mole of… Lithium atoms in 6.022×1023 atoms of Li?” If the content of hexagon equals one mole, follow the “true” arrow marked with a “T”. If it does not equal one mole, follow the “false” arrow marked with a “F”. Continue until the Finish is reached. At the bottom of the puzzle, students can record their “T” or ”F” paths in the space provided. Send in your students’ answers, and, for each entry, their teacher’s name will be entered into a draw. Teachers need only include the order of true and false answers that students followed to get to the finish — see bottom of puzzle. The prize is the coveted Periodic Table shower curtain donated by Educational Innovations. Go to www.teachersource.com for more about this prize. The deadline is on or before September 30, 2013. Send your students’ solutions to: Chem 13 News, Fun mole maze, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo ON N2L 3G1, Canada; Fax: 519-888-9168; or email: [email protected].

Note: this is a staged photo. In all laboratory settings goggles are recommended.


Fun mole maze

IDEAS THAT WORKCombining academic studies with co-op experience

Chanèle Polenz is combining academic studies with

real-world experience in the co-op education program.

Chanèle has held work term positions in a medical

isotope facility, and at a molecular biology lab at Health

Canada. Her current study term includes assisting with

research in mitochondrial disease. This will all lead to

graduate studies and a career in medical research.

Whether searching for the causes of disease, building

business leadership skills, or developing sustainable

energy solutions, you’ll fi nd it all at the University of

Waterloo. uwaterloo.ca

I D E A S S TA R T H E R E – I D E A S T H AT C H A N G E T H E W O R L D

“My goal is to explore how and

why things go wrong in living

organisms. I chose University

of Waterloo Science as the best

school to fi nd innovative, non-

traditional approaches. And I knew

that co-op would let me experience

di� erent paths before I graduate.”

- CHANÈLE POLENZ, 3RD YEAR BIOCHEMISTRY, FACULTY OF SCIENCE

C9

074

96


Fun mole maze Susan Kelso and Jean Hein Chem 13 News, University of Waterloo, ON Not only is the mole our chemistry mascot, it is a fundamental unit of matter. One mole contains 6.022×1023 of whatever is being measured. It is often a challenge for students to understand that the mole provides a way of measuring matter. The maze puzzle on the next page focuses on the mole with concepts such as molar ratios, gas laws, and solutions. It is a good review for grade 11 and a nice refresher for those in grade 12. The Periodic Table Project electronic app was used as the source for the molar masses. Begin at one of the two starting locations (Start 1 and 2) and work through the questions to reach the finish space (Finish). Periodic table shower curtain is this month’s prize In each space there is a question that continues from that statement in the start box. — see page 19. For example: “Is there one mole of… Lithium atoms in 6.022×1023 atoms of Li?” If the content of hexagon equals one mole, follow the “true” arrow marked with a “T”. If it does not equal one mole, follow the “false” arrow marked with a “F”. Continue until the Finish is reached. At the bottom of the puzzle, students can record their “T” or ”F” paths in the space provided. Send in your students’ answers, and, for each entry, their teacher’s name will be entered into a draw. Teachers need only include the order of true and false answers that students followed to get to the finish — see bottom of puzzle. The prize is the coveted Periodic Table shower curtain donated by Educational Innovations. Go to www.teachersource.com for more about this prize. The deadline is on or before September 30, 2013. Send your students’ solutions to: Chem 13 News, Fun mole maze, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo ON N2L 3G1, Canada; Fax: 519-888-9168; or email: [email protected].

Note: this is a staged photo. In all laboratory settings goggles are recommended. May 2013/Chem 13 News 7

Fun mole maze


START #1 Is there exactly one mole of…

ly…

Iron in

55.85 atoms of Fe?

T

T

T

F

T

Gold in

0.10642 kg of Au?

T

Lithium atoms in 6.022×1023 atoms of Li?

D in

2A + B → 4C + D

A = 1 mol

B = 1mol F

T T

T

T

T

T

Oxygen atoms in 1.204×1024 molecules of

O2?

O xygen atom s

in ?2 mol of water

Hydrogen atoms

in 2 m ol of water

FINISH!

Hydroxide ions in

1.0 mol of

Cu(OH)2?

Ammonia molecules in

17.04 g of NH 3?

ions in

HCl(aq) in

100.0 mL of 0.50 M HCl?

Carbon atoms in one mol of

graphite?

AgCl in

128.02 g of AgCl?

s

Tin in

47.87 g of Ti?

START #2

Is there exactly one mole of…

Nitrogen in

28.02 g of liquid nitrogen?

Mg 2+ in

24.31 g of

Mg 2+?

Fe?

T

Electrons in

6.022×10 22 atoms of Ne?

TT

Sodium in1.0 g of Na?

H+ in 1.0 L of 1.0 M

H2SO4 solution?

T at

of

T a

f

Zinc in 65.39 g of Zn?

TTTn?

LiF in12 g of LiF?

T

Nickel in 1 mol of melted Ni?

Iron(III) oxide in 0.15970 kg of

Fe2O3?

O2 in 22.4 L of O 2 gas at

STP?

!!

Neutrons in 4.856×10 21 atoms

of 206Pb?

KCN in 65.03 g of KCN ?

IroIro

Helium in22.4 L of He gas at

STP?

22

Tungsten in 1.0 kg of W?

28

Carbon atoms in 6.022×1023 molecules of carbon dioxide?

66.0022×molecules of molecules of molecules of

on a×10

Carbo6 022×

13C in 13.0 g of 13C?

Hydrogen in1.5055×1023

molecules of CH4?

TT

Bonds in 0.50 mol of

methane?

T

??0

H1

T

Water in 18.03 cm3 of H2O?

Dogs in a group of

6.022×1023 dogs?

Is tn

N

Ison

Na ions in 5.0 L of 0.2 M

NaOH?

22ms

Carbon atoms in 12.011 g

graphite?

Cin

Sodium atoms in 1 mol of

sodium sulfate?

N4.856

Sodium in 1 mol of table salt ?

C in

A + 3B → C + 3D?

A = 1 mol

B= 3mol

N2 in

6.022 L of N 2 gas at STP?

T

T

TT

T

T T

F

F

T

F

T

F

T

TF

F

F

T

T

F

T

F

F

T

TF

F

F

T

F

F

F

F

F

F

FTF

A inA + 2B → 3C + 2D

C = 2 mol D = 3 mol

F F

F

F

T

F

F

T

F

FF

F

T

TT

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

T

T

F

D T

T F

Sodium ions in

1 L of 1 M sodium

carbonate?

Start 1 __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ TStart 2 __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

?

?

?


Organic molecules of everyday life: 10. Hexenal Jenn Coggan <[email protected]> Nano-biomaterials senior laboratory instructor University of Waterloo, Waterloo ON This is the 10th article in the series, which considers some common organic molecules encountered in our everyday lives. Described will be some general chemical information about the organic molecule, how it is useful to us, and other interesting facts. Hexenal Chemical name: cis-3-hexenal or (Z)-hex-3-enal CAS registry number: 6789-80-6 Formula: C6H10O Structure:

H

O This colourless liquid is an aldehyde and is only slightly soluble in water, but is miscible with ether and ethanol. It is believed to be a component of the odour of freshly mowed grass. The smell does not last long because cis-3-hexenal is unstable and rearranges to form trans-2-hexenal. This molecule is an isomer of cis-3-hexenal but is more stable and differs in the stereochemistry and position of the double bond. Trans-3-hexenal, another isomer, can also form. These naturally occurring aldehydes are believed to be produced in plants, and grass in particular, as protection from bacteria when cells are injured to give time for the cut ends to heal. The compounds, trans-2-hexenal and trans-3-hexenal have been found to be active against a range of bacteria, including Salmonella choleraesuis which is the most common cause of sepsis.1 So how does the “freshly cut grass” end up producing (cis)-3-hexenal? It arises from rapid enzymatic oxidation/breakdown of linolenic acid present in the cells of grass leaves, resulting in highly odoriferous C6 compounds, such as (cis)-3-hexenal, (cis)-3-hexen-1-ol and (cis)-3-hexenyl acetate. These chemicals aren't present in the intact leaves but are formed in very small amounts when the grass leaves (and leaves of many other plants) are cut.2 These compounds are volatile and extremely odour intensive.

For a chemical to be perceived by our nose it must be small in size, lipophilic and volatile. An odour threshold is defined as the lowest concentration of a vapour in air that can be detected by smell and cis-3-hexenal has a very low odour threshold of 0.25 parts per billion (ppb). It readily rearranges to the more stable trans-2-hexenal, which has a much higher odour threshold (17 ppb). An even higher odour threshold (70 ppb) is found for the related alcohol cis-3-hexen-1-ol.2 Even so, this alcohol — sometimes called the leaf alcohol — is used quite extensively in the perfume industry to give fragrances a natural, fresh, clean scent or what perfumers call “green odours”. Researchers have actually discovered that the compounds released when mowing your lawn make people feel happy, relaxed, and could prevent mental decline in old age. They claim it works directly on the brain, particularly the emotional and memory parts.3,4 People have a very strong association between memory and the sense of smell, much more so than the other senses. Olfaction is closely linked with the limbic system, which is responsible for emotions and memory. The sense of smell has a direct link to the cerebral cortex in the brain; messages involving other senses such as touch or taste have a more circuitous route. From his research, Dr. Lavidis and his team have developed a perfume that “smells like a freshly-cut lawn” and reportedly relieves stress and helps boost memory.5 Humans can distinguish between over 10,000 different smells. Molecules from objects around us evaporate and travel to our noses, where they activate cells in the olfactory epithelium (a patch of tissue about the size of a postage stamp located high in the nasal cavity). Each cell has receptors that have a certain shape to fit a certain molecule, like a lock and key. When you smell something, the receptor gets activated and sends a message to your brain. It is interesting to note that small changes in the chemical structure of many organic compounds can produce distinct smells.5 The fine-tuning of our receptor machinery allows us to distinguish between different molecules. We can distinguish between different functional groups, the exchange of aliphatic and aromatic rings, and even elongation of a carbon chain.6 This is evident with cis-3-hexenal and trans-2-hexenal — isomers having noticeably different odour thresholds. Many fragrances are derived from plants, and plant products can be used to demonstrate how small changes in the chemical structure of an odorant can give rise to completely different smells or at least distinguishable flavours. The science of scent would be a great way to introduce isomers to your organic class. The leaf aldehyde also helps debunk the popular myth that a “chemical smell” is bad. One exercise you


can do with your students would be to have them match a chemical to its smell as a way to remember their functional groups. You might also want to have them go smell a freshly mowed lawn before writing a test as this should help them relax and boost their memory. References (Websites accessed April 2013.) 1. I. Kubo, K. Fujita, A. Kubo, K. Nihei, and T. Ogura, Journal of

Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 52, 3329, 2004.

2. A. Hatanaka, “The Biogeneration of Green Odour by Green Leaves”, Phytochemistry. Vol 34, No 5, pages 1201-1218, 1993.

3. http://www.serenascent.com.au/index.php 4. B. Malnic, J. Hirono, T. Sato, L. Buck, Cell, 96, pages 713-723, 1999. 5. P.T. Choy and N.A. Lavidis, “Praescent attenuates the up-regulation

of sympathetic neurotransmission induced by chronic stress,” in Proceedings of International Brain Research Organization. July, 2007.

6. http://www.scienceinschool.org/print/378.

Public enemy number one? Mark G. Torchia, (Contributing Editor, Canadian Society for Chemical Technology) Department of Surgery St. Boniface General Hospital Winnipeg MB This article was printed in April 1986 in Canadian Chemical News. So how is chemistry doing with its reputation after 27 years? Reprinted with permission. At a party recently, a friend of mine (or should I say ex-friend), notorious for his outspoken personality, ran towards me as I entered the room. Realizing that I was about to be accosted, I pretended that I had forgotten to plug in my car’s block heater, and tried to leave the room. “Mark….Mark….”, I was trapped! “You still into that chemistry stuff? Boy, you guys sure know how to cause havoc on this planet…Bhopal and all that stuff. I have just the limerick for you…Listen to this…”. (Did I have any choice?) By now, thanks to his fortissimo voice, all ears were tuned to him, and all eyes directed at me. “Diddle diddle dumpling my chemistry friend Mark, With the process on full, he went to the park. The safety valve got stuck, The townspeople were out of luck, Diddle diddle dumpling my chemistry friend Mark.” GROAN! I thought that the force of his paroxysmal laughter would, at the least, burst a cerebral aneurysm. One consolation, he was the only one in the room laughing. To this day, I still believe he is suffering from witzelsucht.1 Looking around the room, I suddenly had the strangest hallucination…written on everyone’s forehead were the “chemistry things” we would all like to forget about: Bhopal, Love Canal, Three-Mile Island, PCBs, acid rain, dioxin… . Yes, at this gathering of accountants, literature professors, plumbers, firefighters, taxi drivers, and other non-chemistry people, I had suddenly become Public Enemy Number One. I thought of saying something clever to my friend the poet, about his polyester leisure suit, his epoxy-filled teeth, his “natural look” toupee, or his crepe-soled yachting shoes, but I was reminded of a Proverb… “The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright, but the mouth of a fool poureth out foolishness”.2 I decided, rather, that I would crawl over to the food table, grab a handful of cashews and get myself into the kitchen, where I could be consoled by my wife. We left the party 10 minutes later, explaining to the other guests that our babysitter had just called to tell us our dog

had a bad case of acute esophagitis, also known as indigestion — very dangerous syndrome in dachshunds, as you may know. On the way home I thought about how chemical technology, and chemistry in general, has suddenly become, in the public’s eye, a modern Atilla the Hun. Randomly, yet somehow purposefully, travelling around the globe maiming and killing innocent people, endangering future generations and destroying nature’s delicate ecological balance. Why don’t other professions seem to suffer from this same public image? Are all engineers burned at the stake by the media when a plane crashes after losing an engine, or after a support railing collapses and 100 people fall to their death? Are geophysicists or meteorologists tarred and feathered when a volcano suddenly erupts or a hurricane devastates an entire Caribbean island? Are carpenters and newspaper publishers treated like lepers because the deforestation of our continent is causing major environmental problems? Let’s not forget the physicians when an outbreak of cholera kills a few thousand unsuspecting people. Are they subjected to a cat-o-nine-tails, or worse yet, have their Mercedes convertible compressed into breadbox-size cube? Are all computer analysts banished to the wilderness when a glitch in a hydro computer shuts power off in a major city for hours? No, no, no, no, no. There is something about the four letters C H E M that causes hearts to stop, stomachs to churn and ulcerate, and a mother’s love to wax cold. Yet they quickly forget about headaches they complained about, then popped an ASA. The family pictures and home movies that bring tears to their eyes: what do you mean developed by the chemical industry? Their fibreglass sailboats and sports car bodies. Videotapes and floppy diskettes. Rayon, nylon, polyester, acetate, Teflon, ceramics, silicon, germanium… . Perhaps we, as a responsible group of professionals, could start a chemical police force. We could go out and remove all those chemicals from people’s homes. Sure…


“Hello, Mrs. Jennifer Jones. Yes, this is the Canadian Chemical Police calling. You called our office last week for removal of home chemicals. We will be by this afternoon to pick everything up.” “Oh wonderful. My husband has this jar of smelly paint thinner and there’s some 25-year old insecticide out in the garage.” “Let’s just go through our standard list to make sure you haven’t forgotten any chemicals. Food wrap, laundry and dish detergent, fabric softener, bath soap, nylon tents, Teflon-treated wall-to-wall carpeting, latex or alkyd paint, vinyl wallpaper, plastic kids’ toys, graphite tennis/squash racquets, perfume, pantyhose…” “Wait, wait. I thought you said you were coming for the chemicals we have in the house.” “Yes ma’am. Lawn furniture, disposable diapers, toilet bowl cleaner, microcomputer, television, ghetto-blasters, we can’t have all that silicon stuff hanging around.*” “Cancel my appointment. I will have to reconsider this.” What a ridiculous scenario. I think few of us involved in the chemical industry would disagree with the fact that our industry has had its fair share of disasters and chemical products and by-products that we would like to wipe off the slate anytime. Yes, there have been and continue to be environmental problems that we would rather not talk about. We are part of the “offended” society. We have children whose futures we want to keep bright and safe. Our responsibility as chemical technologists is to admit our professional and technological shortcomings up front. We must always realize that the lay pubic is apprehensive at the best of times over what most of us consider everyday routines and perfectly “safe” substances. We must, with every new process and synthesis, put into practice every new safety control and procedure, for we might, one day, be one of the fatalities. We must work together with the media to ensure that reports dealing with our industry are published and broadcast with accuracy and without sensationalism. Both the good and the bad. We must now regain the trust of the public through trustworthy methods and put our industry and profession back in the good books of our society. Perhaps, instead of being Public Enemy Number One, we will present an image of a group of professionals willing and able to provide new technology to improve lifestyle and provide optimum protection from potential hazards which we have generated concurrently. The Canadian Society for Chemical Technology (CSCT) is working towards this. ARE YOU? References 1. Witzelsucht — A condition marked by the making of poor jokes and

puns and the telling of pointless stories, at which the patient is himself intensely amused.

2. Bible, King James Version, Proverbs 15, verse 2. [*Now we would also need to pry away all mobile devices.]

Concentration of urine in a pool During the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, US swimmer Michael Phelps admitted to peeing in the pool during training sessions. Does it matter? Have your students calculate the concentration of urea based on the information below. “Peeing in a swimming pool, even if all swimmers do it simultaneously, has very little impact on the composition of the pool water itself. An Olympic-size pool contains over 2 million litres of water and a single urination is somewhere in the region of 0.2 litres.” (from www.senseaboutscience.org/data/files/ Celebrities_and_Science_2012.pdf). Don’t forget the approximate concentration of urea in urine is 9.3 g/L.

(Answer 9.3 x 10-7 g/L or 9.3 x 10-4 ppm)

Skeletal formulae revisited Andrew P. Dicks <[email protected]> and Stanislaw Skonieczny <[email protected]> Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto ON It was interesting to read a recent “pet peeve” from Darrel Beach about skeletal organic formulae.1 For many years he has required his students to explicitly show all four bonds from each carbon atom in every organic molecule they drew. As we indicated in our paper,2 this approach is reasonable for very small and uncomplicated molecules (e.g., methane, ethane and their derivatives) and is the style adopted in very old chemistry textbooks, with formulae taking up a lot of space (and taking a lot of time to draw). In first-year courses at the University of Toronto, we used to observe students trying to save time by drawing only carbon atoms and lines coming from them because they did not want to include all the hydrogen atoms. Because of this, we welcomed the IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology3 to use skeletal formulae for longer chains and rings. All newer textbooks, scientific journals and even Wikipedia4 currently use such representations. Why is this the case? Skeletal formulae take less space, clearly show all functional groups, are quicker to draw and (most importantly) indicate proper bond angles. We strongly recommend that teachers introduce skeletal formulae in high schools so that students are exposed to them and their meaning as early as possible. We require students to use skeletal structures at our university and formally examine their understanding of them. Literature cited 1. D.H. Beach, Chem 13 News, 392, 6, 2012. 2. S. Skonieczny, A.P. Dicks, Chem 13 News, 372, pages 10-12, 2010. 3. IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd edition (the

"Gold Book"). Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, 1997. XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins, 2006.

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IUPAC_nomenclature_of_organic_ chemistry (accessed September 2012).


Newly named elements contest (colour insert, pages 10, 11) In September 2012, we asked Chem 13 News readers to help update the Periodic Table Project by having their students design elemental tiles for the newly named elements, flerovium and livermorium. The winning Fl and Lv elemental tiles will be added to our iPad, iPod and Playbook Periodic Table Project apps. We have received many fun, colourful and creative tiles. We selected the top five entries by having our Periodic Table sponsors vote (3M Canada, Chemical Institute of Canada and the uWaterloo Office of Research). Along with members of the University of Waterloo Chemistry Department, the top five elemental tiles were selected based on creativity and artistic design. The next two pages have the top five entries for each of the newly named elements. Now it is your turn to be part of the final decision. There are two ways to vote. Twitter: The first way is electronically, through Twitter. On May 30 we will post the five tiles for each contest on Twitter. If you “like” the tile, it will be considered a vote in this tile’s favor. Yes, you may select more than one but the great thing about

Twitter, is that you can only “like” something once. So you may vote for more than one, but only one vote from your account can go towards each tile. You will need a Twitter account, which is free and extremely easy to set up. This will give some of you a reason to start on Twitter. If you do not like it, it is easy to take yourself off this social medium. You might be surprised about how much you like it. We will be retweeting the tiles several times until voting closes on August 1, 2013. Do not forget to encourage your students to vote — and retweet their favorites. We love the thought of students reading about chemistry on social media and elemental tiles spreading across Twitter. In Person: The second way to vote is in person at ChemEd 2013. We will have all the elemental tiles displayed at the Chem 13 News booth. Stop by the booth and drop in your vote. Since ChemEd attendees tend to be chemistry teachers, educators and Chem 13 News readers, they make the perfect group to help decide on the winning tile. The deadline for Twitter votes and ChemEd attendee votes will be August 1. We hope to have the winner announced in September issue of Chem 13 News.

What is John Gurdon doing now? Take a guess after you read his 1949 report card.

Answer on page 18 .

Reprinted with permission


New Elements Contest: Top five tiles for Livermorium Vote on your favorite tile! See page 9 for voting details.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the namesake of livermorium (Lv), helped to discover and name element 116 in 2012. The stylized “L” from their logo is included in our atomic symbol for Lv. So far, only a reaction of curium-248 and calcium-48 (with the release of 3 neutrons) has successfully created an atom of Lv — in this case, livermorium-293. Lv-293 quickly decays, with a probable half-life of 60 milliseconds, into an alpha particle and flerovium-289. The Russian scientists at Dubna also aided in the discovery of Element 116. We have included their proposed name, moscovium. In addition, it was assumed that the element will have the properties of eka-polonium, so we have included that on our design. The design is made of construction paper, printed paper and modeling clay. William Wendorf, Dexter High School, Dexter, Michigan, U.S.A. First produced in 2000, livermorium is the result of fusing calcium and curium atoms during high-speed collisions. The creation of this heavy element supports the theory of the “island of stability”. This refers to a region of the periodic table where radioactive elements have longer half-lives than their neighbors. These elements may last long enough that they can be utilized in the future. My design was inspired by science’s search for the island of stability. With its discovery, livermorium acts as the compass rose, guiding researchers toward their goal as they navigate through our world of matter. Susan Kelso, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada My tile represents the newly discovered super-heavy element livermorium (Lv). The hands in the tile symbolize and honour the scientists at the Flerov Laboratory for Nuclear Research and at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, who diligently worked to synthesize the element. The atomic number 116 can be found in the upper-left corner. During my research, I learned that the element is placed as the heaviest member in group 16 on the periodic table. I thought it would be important to display this by depicting the massive electron shell in the background. To create my tile I used acrylic paint and pencil crayons. Emily Cowley, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used to build nuclear weapons during the Cold War between the United States and Russia. Today they focus their efforts on creating new elements such as livermorium. Around planet Earth, people form a circle of friendship to illustrate peace and partnership among researchers in the domain of nuclear physics. Together they bring more knowledge of the universe into this world (stars on top). The fusion of calcium and curium allowed the creation of the radioactive livermorium and is represented by the nucleus in the centre of friendship circle. Sarah Forgues, École secondaire catholique de Casselman, Casselman, Ontario, Canada Livermorium is an element created by combining calcium and curium. Even though it was “discovered” in Russia, it was named after the US Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory because over the years scientists at Livermore have been involved in many areas of nuclear science. This is a prime example of great synthesizing among nations. I chose to use a silver arrow pointing at light to represent where we are headed, to a better understanding and clarity of our world. The colourful ribbons symbolize the nations and how we are able to now work together to further our knowledge in science as a world and community. Lisa Lai, Campbell Collegiate, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada


New Elements Contest: Top five tiles for flerovium Vote on your favorite tile! See page 9 for voting details.

This element tile depicts the radioactive element flerovium with the atomic symbol Fl and an atomic number of 114. Flerovium is produced when element 116 quickly decays into element 114. Scientists also produced element 114 by firing calcium ions at plutonium. The image on the bottom represents The Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, where this new element was discovered by scientists working jointly with colleagues from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. Shaira Diaz De Chavez, Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Flerovium is a radioactive element that was discovered in a collaboration between the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. The radioactive symbol in the middle expresses the property of radioactivity that flerovium has. To recognize the works between the two countries, the American and Russian flag are integrated into the radioactive symbol. The background is left as a yellow gradient because yellow and black are the colours that comprise the radioactive symbol. Avika Misra and Samantha Chittanousone, Port Credit Secondary School, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Named after the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (FLNR) in Dubna, Russia, flerovium is a highly radioactive element. Hence, the image in the top-left corner is the radioactive symbol. The scientist's image on the bottom right is of Georgy Flyorov, after whom the FLNR is named. I also included the element's electron configuration. Flerovium was made after firing calcium ions at a plutonium target in a nuclear reaction. Thus, there is a 3-D model of plutonium and the Bohr model of calcium, located within an explosion, which I tried to show through my background. As it was discovered in Russia, I also incorporated an outline of the map of Russia in the background. Janhavi Behal, Port Credit Secondary School, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada The scale is used to represent two concepts: the instability of flerovium’s nucleus and its weight as a heavy metal. The radioactive symbol describes another property of the element. Its half-life is "locked" in a stop watch. In the background, we can see a target zone with plutonium and calcium nuclei flying around, which demonstrates the multitude of attempts to create the fusion of both elements. Cyntsia Perron, École secondaire catholique de Casselman, Casselman, Ontario, Canada Formally adopted by IUPAC on May 30, 2012, flerovium, formerly ununquadium, was first discovered in December 1998 at the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions. The laboratory, within the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINT) in Dubna, Russia, bombarded a 244Pu atom with 48Ca ions. The element is named after the Flerov Laboratory, which was itself named after the Russian physicist Georgy Flerov. The tile, done in marker and colour pencil, depicts a radioactive symbol and the logo of JINT with blue highlights to reflect the colour of their logo. The background has been layered with marker so that when one looks closely, details regarding flerovium’s history are revealed. Emily Lam, University of Toronto Schools, Toronto, Ontario Canada


Calling all chemical educators and enthusiasts This year in late July, ChemEd returns to University of Waterloo for the 22nd biennial conference. The 2013 committee has been working hard to create a dynamic conference. With a great variety of activities, tour and sessions, ChemEd has something for everyone who loves chemistry. Registration

Early bird registration for ChemEd 2013 is open. You can go online to register at www.uwaterloo.ca/chemed2013/registration. Registration includes: Attendance at sessions including opening and closing plenary

session, regular sessions and the demonstration series

Conference program and abstracts

Opening reception, Ice Cream Social, and Oktoberfest-in-July

Lunches on Monday, July 29 and Tuesday, July 30. Don’t hesitate, early bird registration ends May 31.

Program Highlights

Over 170 different sessions are planned, including presentations, demonstrations, labs and workshops — at-a-glance schedule will be posted online in May

Reg Friesen Lecture to be presented by award-winning chemical educator, Geoff Rayner-Canham

Author’s Plenary by Sam Kean (The Disappearing Spoon)

ChemEd 2013 opens with So You Think You Can Demo Competition

Mix and mingle with other chemistry educators at the Ice Cream Social, Mole Day Breakfast, Mole Run and chemistry’s largest Bavarian festival – Oktoberfest-in-July!

Optional trips to the Stratford Festival, St Jacobs village and farmers market, Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery, horseback riding and more

The Laboratory Safety Institute will have an intensive full-day seminar on Safety in Secondary School Labs for 60% off the regular rate! Don’t miss out on this opportunity for attendees.

The 3-day chemistry-filled Kids Chem Program returns

Find out who’s presenting online — or look on next page

Fun facts about ChemEd For those of you not familiar with the conference, ChemEd is the largest conference in North America that focuses on high school level chemical education. The biennial conference is designed to bring together chemical educators to learn and share new ideas.

The first ChemEd was held in 1973 at the University of Waterloo and had 325 attendees.

ChemEd was created by Leonard Sibley and Reg Friesen to bring together high school chemistry teachers.

The Reg Friesen Lecture was first presented at ChemEd 1987. Lecturers are chosen based on Reg’s belief that chemistry teachers can and do make a difference in the chemical community.

At ChemEd 95, the world’s largest periodic table of elements — at the time — was created on a football field out of 8’ x 8’ bed sheets.

The National Mole Day Foundation announced the first Mole of the Year at ChemEd 95 to honour a teacher who enthusiastically celebrates Mole Day. This has become a ChemEd tradition.

Since I'm the only chemistry teacher in our school, I sometimes feel as though I'm working in a vacuum. At ChemEd I get a chance to share ideas with some of the continent's best chemistry teachers. Attending ChemEd is the best way to get reenergized for a new aca-demic year. — Enrico Uva, teacher , LaurenHill Academy, St. Laurent QC

ChemEd has given me so many new ideas to bring back to my classroom. I felt inspired, energized, and excited to go back to school in the fall. Best of all, I made some great friends who share my passion for chemistry education. — Sharon Geyer, teacher, Pomfret School, Pomfret CT

To learn more visit our website, www.uwaterloo.ca/chemed2013. For fun chemistry facts and ChemEd updates follow us on twitter, @ChemEd 2013.


Jean Hein, ChemEd 2013 Conference Chair and Editor of Chem 13 News We welcome chemistry teachers and educators to come together for five days to share their ideas, insights and teaching successes in the classroom and laboratory. ChemEd returns to its birthplace, University of Waterloo, strong and vibrant after 40 years. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to be part of this wonderful community of chemical educators. See you in July! Larry Flinn of Flinn Scientific regarding the 17th ChemEd Conference in Auburn If you want to attend a top-notch, knock-your-socks-off chemistry conference, I urge you to consider attending the ChemEd chemistry teacher conference. ChemEd is chemistry education's premier conference. ChemEd is a five-day conference where the best chemistry educators from around the world will gather and exchange ideas. You can expect that about 200 chemistry workshops will be offered; all of them high school chemistry related. If you are looking for chemistry content and want to learn and share ideas with other teachers, ChemEd is a "must attend" conference.


Book review The Violinist’s Thumb and Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean, 401 pages, hardcover, CAN$28.99, ISBN 978-0-316-18231-7 Reviewed by: Lyle Sadavoy <[email protected]> Toronto ON Sam Kean has written a deliciously fascinating book in The Violinist’s Thumb. The fascination comes from the fact that it is a book about us, or at least our DNA, the deliciousness because of Kean’s easy writing style and fantastic sense of humour. Don’t skip the introduction or forget the epilogue. The introduction will explain the title and provide direction for the rest of the book; the epilogue can offer some introspection and interesting questions for one’s self. Whether or not your background is in biology, Kean’s writing is mesmerizing. The depth of research is riveting because he has successfully pulled together both the historical and scientific stories about the discovery of DNA and eventually the assembling of the human genome. Those with a biology background will have the pleasure of marveling at this achievement with greater depth and insight. But regardless of your science strength The Violinist’s Thumb will give you a greater level of understanding of the Human Genome and leave you in awe of the molecular gymnastics that DNA and the numerous other molecules undergo in performing replication. The Violinist’s Thumb is divided into four broad sections with numerous chapters. Each chapter has a historical or scientific hook to draw you in. Kean writes these vignettes so cleverly you might not realize you are reading a science-related book. For example, the book presents the historical backgrounds to Mendel, Darwin and Meischer: a description of the fascinating race between Venter and the National Institute of Health and the NIH’s Genome Project. As well, Kean tells the stories behind Einstein’s brain and the failed “Humanzee” Project. Numerous case histories are highlighted, such as the Japanese man who survived both atomic bomb blasts, the intrepid explorers who died from eating polar bear liver and the case of a baby born with a form of blood cancer inherited from the mother. All of these stories and those of historical figures are fully painted and superbly expressed. The chemist will find particularly fascinating how the simple methyl or acetyl attachments to DNA can turn genes on or off and play a role in heredity. Kean also has a humorous description of the creation of hydrogen bonds in the DNA molecule. As well, there is no end of well-documented biochemical reactions. For those with a double dose of X, you can take heart in the book on several levels. First, the X is the significantly more dominant chromosome compared with the puny Y, which seems to have shrunk during evolution. But more important for the

double X-ers, is the number of women scientists Kean highlights, who contributed significantly to the development of the structure of DNA. Biographies include Nobel-winning Barbara McClintock plus her predecessors Lynn Margulis and Sister Miriam Michael Stimson. Kean devotes considerable time to their outstanding work. The Violinist’s Thumb is a joy to read because it is so closely linked to each of us: who we are now, where we came from and where we are heading. Kean challenges us to decide if we would be like Watson, who blocked some of the information about DNA that worried him, or like Venter, who placed no restriction on his approach to DNA. Should we attempt to find out what makes us tick? Should we take our clock to a jeweller only to find out when and how it is likely to break down? Do we want to know? Read The Violinist’s Thumb. If nothing else, you will learn the comparative percentages of your DNA that are viral and human; you will read about how we evolved our meat-eating gene; and you will learn about how the parasite, toxo, hijacked into our DNA, which can explain some people’s quirky behaviour around cats. Besides the sheer enjoyment, you will marvel at the resilience of the scientific mind and the brilliance of biologists. You will be better for the knowledge, insight and the historical past of DNA. [Sam Kean will be a featured plenary speaker at the ChemEd 2013 conference. Many chemistry teachers will know his first science book, The Disappearing Spoon.]

Clifford’s class wins Elimination puzzle Yvonne Clifford sent in thirteen correct Elimination puzzle solutions from her class at Jacob Hespeler Secondary School, Cambridge ON. For winning the December 2012/January2013 contest, Yvonne will receive a Poly Density Bottle Kit from Educational Innovations. Go to www.teachersource.com to find out more about this prize. 1. chlorine, ethane 14. Co, Cr 2. methanol, paraffin 15. lemon, kiwi 3. green, orange 16. hydrogen, nitrogen 4. copper, gold 17. red phosphorus 5. white, platelets 18. sheep, bacteria 6. skunk, H2S 19. ethanol, caffeine 7. NaCl, MgO 20. oxidation, reduction 8. ⅝, third 21. Hg, Br 9. limewater, CO2 22. rust, ore 10. density, solubility 23. quick silver 11. crystals, hair 24. quarter, nickel 12. wool, polyacrylonitrile 25. half reaction 13. Ar, Ne


A “light-hearted” crostic Gerry Toogood Department of Chemistry University of Waterloo Waterloo ON We’ll send a book prize to the person whose name we draw from among those who submit the correct solution (including the clue answers) to this puzzle on or before September 30, 2013. Fax: 519-888-9168. E-mail: [email protected]. Post: Chem 13 News, A “light-hearted” crostic, Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo ON N2L 3G1, Canada. Start by answering as many clues as possible. (Even if you can answer only a quarter of the clues, your chances of completing the crostic are very good.) Semi-colons in some clues are used to separate alternative clues for the same answer. Next, transfer these letters to the correspondingly numbered squares in the grid. This begins the spelling out of the quotation, reading from

left to right, with black squares separating the words. (Words may spill over to the next row; punctuation marks are not included.) As you proceed, words and phrases begin forming in the quotation; working back and forth between the grid and the clue words, you can complete the puzzle. To aid you further, note that the first letters of the clue answers spell out the source of the quotation. Three letters are given, in answers A, Q and KK. Clues (numbers in parentheses indicate number of words) A These lights may be J – – made from pumpkins 35 8 176 24

28 125 198 372 256 47 223 304

1 C 2 B 3 H 4 D 5 II 6 LL 7 W 8 A 9 KK 10 HH 11 G 12 JJ 13 B 14 U 15 LL 16 T 17 II 18 HH 19 L 20 E 21 Y

22 LL 23 C 24 A 25 II 26 B 27 GG 28 A 29 F 30 G 31 C 32 HH 33 EE 34 II 35 A 36 R 37 B 38 II 39 KK 40 I

41 H 42 D 43 B 44 E 45 JJ 46 G 47 A 48 FF 49 HH 50 Q 51 E 52 DD 53 C 54 P 55 EE 56 P 57 H 58 I 59 Z

60 G 61 Y 62 L 63 F 64 HH 65 H 66 G 67 CC 68 X 69 H 70 HH 71 M 72 FF 73 H 74 N 75 D 76 JJ 77 W 78 HH 79 T

80 O 81 F 82 Z 83 G 84 V 85 II 86 C 87 H 88 U 89 GG 90 O 91 FF 92 B 93 HH 94 BB 95 S 96 Z 97 J 98 W 99 HH 100 W

101 H 102 I 103 W 104 AA 105 B 106 Y 107 M 108 W 109 J 110 I 111 R 112 L 113 O 114 CC 115 F 116 N 117 M 118 I 119 W 120 FF

121 E 122 O 123 O 124 I 125 A 126 F 127 O 128 F 129 G 130 W 131 D 132 K 133 N 134 O 135 D 136 W 137 FF 138 EE

139 O 140 K 141 II 142 L 143 O 144 H 145 C 146 V 147 AA 148 K 149 Q 150 O 151 Z 152 R 153 M 154 P 155 O 156 G 157 M 158 Y

159 K 160 BB 161 R 162 Z 163 S 164 O 165 H 166 T 167 AA 168 B 169 Q 170 M 171 LL 172 Q 173 DD 174 U 175 R 176 A 177 T 178 Q

179 S 180 O 181 W 182 Q 183 X 184 BB 185 V 186 M 187 X 188 O 189 P 190 DD 191 X 192 U 193 J 194 Y 195 M 196 L 197 Z 198 A 199 J

200 O 201 R 202 M 203 J 204 LL 205 Y 206 L 207 M 208 AA 209 II 210 X 211 R 212 J 213 LL 214 P 215 FF 216 O 217 T 218 Q

219 HH 220 C 221 U 222 EE 223 A 224 E 225 R 226 DD 227 T 228 K 229 S 230 E 231 J 232 U 233 DD 234 X 235 D 236 P 237 H 238 T 239 Q

240 J 241 H 242 T 243 O 244 H 245 G 246 Z 247 EE 248 F 249 Q 250 J 251 W 252 V 253 X 254 H 255 E 256 A 257 Y 258 BB 259 T

260 Z 261 H 262 G 263 T 264 AA 265 V 266 F 267 BB 268 F 269 FF 270 FF 271 H 272 O 273 Q 274 BB 275 EE 276 G 277 I 278 EE

279 G 280 F 281 U 282 LL 283 FF 284 EE 285 O 286 L 287 Y 288 D 289 O 290 FF 291 X 292 K 293 LL 294 W 295 AA 296 K 297 Z 298 X

299 EE 300 BB 301 L 302 U 303 EE 304 A 305 O 306 FF 307 EE 308 F 309 J 310 HH 311 EE 312 FF 313 I 314 GG 315 II 316 II 317 FF 318 I

319 Q 320 M 321 P 322 E 323 LL 324 FF 325 Z 326 H 327 HH 328 II 329 II 330 J 331 Z 332 HH 333 F 334 G 335 I 336 HH 337 HH 338 H

339 II 340 EE 341 Y 342 E 343 H 344 II 345 II 346 H 347 W 348 C 349 Q 350 HH 351 II 352 II 353 GG 354 Q 355 O 356 Z 357 LL 358 V

359 EE 360 G 361 II 362 C 363 B 364 D 365 II 366 B 367 V 368 LL 369 W 370 B 371 II 372 A 373 HH 374 LL 375 F 376 E 377 AA 378 O

379 II 380 CC 381 T 382 S 383 C 384 N 385 J


B With answers D, E, I and L, names that 2 43 363 92 37 168 13 26 105 366 370

could appear in front of ‘spectrum’ C As a darkroom should – be 1 23 383 31 348 220 86 145 53 362

D See clue B 4 235 288 135 42 131 364 75

E See clue B (2) 44 255 224 230 20 322 121 376 51 342

F Close to zero (3) 266 280 115 248 268 63

308 81 333 126 29 375 128

G Board game, with a different geometry! (2) 66 262 245 46 30 83 279 60 156

11 129 276 334 360

H These make up all the – branches of answer LL 254 165 271 73 241 144 101 (2) 3 69 346 343 338 237 41 57

65 87 261 244 326

I See clue B So, top brain (anag) 102 335 277 110 40 313 118 58 124 318

J Child’s toy; – 5T + 4E + 2R + O 193 231 309 212 330 97

(anag) 250 203 199 385 240 109

K Donkey brays 148 132 159 292 140 228 296

L See clue B MI noises (anag) 142 19 62 286 301 112 206 196

M With ans P. This can be used for chemical 320 71 202 207 170 157 107 153 117 195 186

structure determinations N Small distance; move cautiously 74 133 116 384

O Who will judge the cheddar and brie at a 122 80 134 285 155 90 127 143 123 355

large competition? (They will!) (4) 150 200 180 216 378 243

113 164 272 139 305 188 289

P See clue M (2) – 214 54 56 154 189 321 236

Q RF R 249 319 149 218

349 239 169 172 50 182 354 273 178

R Snacks 36 161 111 175 211 152 201 225

S Habituate or harden 382 95 163 179 229

T Essential compound in photosynthesis 217 16 177 227 263 238 79 242 259 381 166

U Colour arches 232 192 174 88 302 221 281 14

V H3O+, is the simplest example to which this 252 367 265 84 185 358 146

name applies

W Diffuse effect during a thunderstorm in the 7 347 119 130 100

distance (2) 181 251 98 294 108 77 369 103 136

X Party of convicts linked together for outside 291 298 183 191 68 187 234 253 210

work (2) Y Instruments for measuring O2 287 158 194 205 106 61 341 257 21

saturation in blood Z One dealing with changes brought about 297 151 260 59 325 246 356 96 331 197 162 82

in chemicals by light AA Colour of the skin of people with jaundice 377 104 208 264 295 147 167

BB Begin a quarrel or fight; intrude 274 258 267 300 94 160 184

CC Born as - - - (no accent!) 380 67 114

DD Kind of oven or treat 190 173 52 233 226

EE The Northern Lights 278 222 359 299 311 284

33 307 340 55 303 275 247 138

FF Instrument used in some eye surgery (2) 72 48 312 306 137 215 269 290 270

283 317 120 91 324

GG Even supposing that (2) 353 89 314 27

HH The ‘candela’ is the SI unit of this (2) 336 310 219 373 10 350 337 49

327 64 32 18 70 93 332 78 99

II What “YAG’ stands for in some lasers (3) 34 38 85 365 345 315 329

361 344 379 352 209 5 328 316

339 371 351 25 17 141

JJ Observe; the office of a bishop 45 12 76

KK Institute of Electrical I Engineers 9 39

LL Copy Process “T” (anag); important 22 323 6 282 15 204 357 213 368 374 293 171

analytical technique

New CIC chemistry teacher award This relatively new Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) award is to recognize excellence in teaching chemistry and to encourage and promote chemistry at the high school and Cégep level in Canada. The award is a one-year high school teacher membership to the CIC, a plaque and $1,000 educational grant to use towards chemical supplies, equipment, books or other material to enhance the teacher’s classroom. Last year’s winner will be announced shortly. This year’s deadline is October 15. The sponsor of the award is Beaumier Churcott Foundation. Find information at www.cheminst.ca/awards.


Chem dates

Chem dates is a listing of events that are likely to interest chemistry teachers. To have your program for chemistry teachers listed, phone 519-888-4567, extension 32505, or fax 519-888-9168. Email: [email protected] May 26 – 30, 2013 (Sunday – Thursday): 96th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition, Quebec City QC. www.csc2013.ca June 6 – 8, 2013 (Thursday – Saturday): College Chemistry Canada Conference (C3), Grenfell Campus, Memorial University, Corner Brook NL. www.collegechemistrycanada.ca June 17 – 21, 2013 (Monday – Friday): ASM Materials Camp, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, Calgary AB. July 8 – 12, 2013 (Monday – Friday): ASM Materials Camp, Ashbury College, Ottawa ON. July 28 – August 1, 2013 (Sunday – Thursday): ChemEd 2013 University of Waterloo, Waterloo ON. See pages 12-14 and 20. www.uwaterloo.ca/chemed2013

October 15, 2013 (Tuesday): Application deadline for Canadian Chemistry Teacher Award. www.cheminst.ca/awards October 19 – 26, 2013 (Saturday – Saturday): National Chemistry Week (Canada). www.chemistry.ca/ October 21 – 27, 2013 (Monday – Sunday): National Chemistry Week (USA). www.acs.org October 23, 2013 (Wednesday): Mole Day. More information at the National Mole Day Foundation website, www.moleday.org/ July 13 – 18, 2014 (Sunday – Friday): International Conference on Chemistry Education, University of Toronto, Toronto ON. www.icce2014.org August 3 – 7, 2014 (Sunday – Thursday): BCCE 2014, Grand Valley State University, Allendale MI. www.bcce2014.com

What is the report owner doing now? Answer from page 9. Susan Kelso University of Waterloo, Waterloo ON John Gurdon is now Sir John Gurdon. He and Shinya Yamanaka were jointly awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their contributions to stem cell research.1 As evident in his 1949 report card (page 9),2 Sir John Gurdon was not always highly regarded as a scientist. During his time at Eton College he scored the lowest grade for his year in biology (see his 15/15 rank on the report card), and was advised by his teacher to not pursue science as a career. His teacher describes his work as “far from satisfactory”, saying, “if he can’t learn simple biological facts he would have no chance of doing the work of a specialist”.

Sir John Gurdon’s work laid the foundation for the development of Yamanaka’s research. In 2006, Yamanaka successfully reprogrammed a skin cell from a mouse into a pluripotent or undifferentiated cell, and in 2007 the results where reproduced in humans.3 These findings are based on the fundamental idea that the nucleus of a differentiated cell still contains the DNA necessary to develop into any mature cell.4 This concept was first verified by Sir John Gurdon in 1962 when he successfully cloned a frog using an intestinal cell. By taking the nucleus from the donor cell and transplanting into an enucleated egg cell of a different frog, Sir John Gurdon produced a clone of the donor frog.4 This demonstrated that the genetic information contained in the nucleus of a mature cell could be used to produce any mature cell found within the organism. In medicine today, the demand for pluripotent cells is high and the use of stem cells is

controversial. Through Yamanaka’s method, fully developed cells can be reverse engineered to make undifferentiated cells by the addition of only a few genes.These cells, known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), can be used for research purposes with less ethical conflict, allowing for research into diseases where tissues are damaged irreparably.4 This serves as a great example to educators on every level that we must be careful not to discourage students from innovative thinking. As teachers we should not be focusing on “learning the facts of science” but the “process of science”. Sir John Gurdon’s ability to insist on “doing his work in his own way” probably helped him win his Nobel prize. Sir John Gurdon has his report card framed in his office at the Gurdon Institute, less of a discouragement and more of a challenge. He noted it was the only item he ever had framed.5

References (all accessed April 2013) 1. www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2012/ 2. www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/jbg-report.html 3. www.ucsf.edu/news/2012/10/12915/shinya-yamanakas- road-2012-nobel-prize-medicine 4. www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2012/121008.html 5. www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9594351/Sir- John-Gurdon-Nobel-Prize-winner-was-too-stupid-for- science-at-school.html



Chem dates

Chem dates is a listing of events that are likely to interest chemistry teachers. To have your program for chemistry teachers listed, phone 519-888-4567, extension 32505, or fax 519-888-9168. Email: [email protected] May 26 – 30, 2013 (Sunday – Thursday): 96th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition, Quebec City QC. www.csc2013.ca June 6 – 8, 2013 (Thursday – Saturday): College Chemistry Canada Conference (C3), Grenfell Campus, Memorial University, Corner Brook NL. www.collegechemistrycanada.ca June 17 – 21, 2013 (Monday – Friday): ASM Materials Camp, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, Calgary AB. July 8 – 12, 2013 (Monday – Friday): ASM Materials Camp, Ashbury College, Ottawa ON. July 28 – August 1, 2013 (Sunday – Thursday): ChemEd 2013 University of Waterloo, Waterloo ON. See pages 12-14 and 20. www.uwaterloo.ca/chemed2013

October 15, 2013 (Tuesday): Application deadline for Canadian Chemistry Teacher Award. www.cheminst.ca/awards October 19 – 26, 2013 (Saturday – Saturday): National Chemistry Week (Canada). www.chemistry.ca/ October 21 – 27, 2013 (Monday – Sunday): National Chemistry Week (USA). www.acs.org October 23, 2013 (Wednesday): Mole Day. More information at the National Mole Day Foundation website, www.moleday.org/ July 13 – 18, 2014 (Sunday – Friday): International Conference on Chemistry Education, University of Toronto, Toronto ON. www.icce2014.org August 3 – 7, 2014 (Sunday – Thursday): BCCE 2014, Grand Valley State University, Allendale MI. www.bcce2014.com

What is the report owner doing now? Answer from page 9. Susan Kelso University of Waterloo, Waterloo ON John Gurdon is now Sir John Gurdon. He and Shinya Yamanaka were jointly awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their contributions to stem cell research.1 As evident in his 1949 report card (page 9),2 Sir John Gurdon was not always highly regarded as a scientist. During his time at Eton College he scored the lowest grade for his year in biology (see his 15/15 rank on the report card), and was advised by his teacher to not pursue science as a career. His teacher describes his work as “far from satisfactory”, saying, “if he can’t learn simple biological facts he would have no chance of doing the work of a specialist”.

Sir John Gurdon’s work laid the foundation for the development of Yamanaka’s research. In 2006, Yamanaka successfully reprogrammed a skin cell from a mouse into a pluripotent or undifferentiated cell, and in 2007 the results where reproduced in humans.3 These findings are based on the fundamental idea that the nucleus of a differentiated cell still contains the DNA necessary to develop into any mature cell.4 This concept was first verified by Sir John Gurdon in 1962 when he successfully cloned a frog using an intestinal cell. By taking the nucleus from the donor cell and transplanting into an enucleated egg cell of a different frog, Sir John Gurdon produced a clone of the donor frog.4 This demonstrated that the genetic information contained in the nucleus of a mature cell could be used to produce any mature cell found within the organism. In medicine today, the demand for pluripotent cells is high and the use of stem cells is

controversial. Through Yamanaka’s method, fully developed cells can be reverse engineered to make undifferentiated cells by the addition of only a few genes.These cells, known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), can be used for research purposes with less ethical conflict, allowing for research into diseases where tissues are damaged irreparably.4 This serves as a great example to educators on every level that we must be careful not to discourage students from innovative thinking. As teachers we should not be focusing on “learning the facts of science” but the “process of science”. Sir John Gurdon’s ability to insist on “doing his work in his own way” probably helped him win his Nobel prize. Sir John Gurdon has his report card framed in his office at the Gurdon Institute, less of a discouragement and more of a challenge. He noted it was the only item he ever had framed.5

References (all accessed April 2013) 1. www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2012/ 2. www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/jbg-report.html 3. www.ucsf.edu/news/2012/10/12915/shinya-yamanakas- road-2012-nobel-prize-medicine 4. www.ox.ac.uk/media/news_stories/2012/121008.html 5. www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9594351/Sir- John-Gurdon-Nobel-Prize-winner-was-too-stupid-for- science-at-school.html


Individuals: Please enclose check, money order or credit card information, payable in US funds. Organizations/Schools: Purchase orders welcome.

Shipping & Handling: Flat rates (for prepaid orders): Minimum $7.95 or 8.5% Continental U.S. orders, Minimum $12.95 or 12% AK, HI, U.S. Territories.All other orders shipped FOB destination with freight added.(Other countries call or fax for accurate shipping costs. See our website for sales tax rates.)

Please make checks payable and mail to: Educational Innovations, Inc. Prices subject to change without notice. All prices in U.S. funds.

Visit www.TeacherSource.com and shop online!

Educational Innovations, Inc. Order toll free 1-888-912-7474

Educational Innovations, Inc.®Shower Your Students With Knowledge!

You can win a Periodic Table Shower Curtain! See this month’s puzzle for details.

Periodic Table Shower CurtainStart the day by singing Tom Lehrer’s Element song while showering in front of a periodic table:

“There’s antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium,And hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium, …And chlorine, carbon, cobalt, copper, tungsten, tin, and sodium.These are the only ones of which the news has come to Ha’vard,And there may be many others but they haven’t been discarvard.”

This accurate periodic table contains all the elements up to #111, roentgenium. Each element includes: its symbol, atomic number, atomic mass, and name. 1.8 m2 (6 ft2) Environmental friendly: 70% EVA & 30% PE

PER-350 $29.95

In the classroom, tape it to a flat surface and write on it with water-soluble markers! Wash off after each use, and it can be used again and again!

Chem Time ClockOur Chem Time Clock replaces the usual 24 numbers found on the face of a clock with symbols of elements having corresponding atomic numbers. “H” replaces “1”, “He” replaces “2”, etc. The idea for this clock came from Prof. Bassam Shakhashiri at the University of Wisconsin, who asked Ron Perkins to make one in the summer of 1983. It is the perfect addition to a science classroom. (Requires 1 AA Battery - not included.)

TIM-510 $34.95

CHEM13 05.13 EI Ad.indd 1 3/20/13 2:09 PM

Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo200 University Ave. W., Waterloo, ON Canada N2L 3G1

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to

73007_chem13Masthead_cmyk.qxd:44929_chem13Masthead.qxd 8/12/10 10:21 AM Page 2


ChemEd 2013 Sponsors as of April 2013

ChemEd deadlines Early bird general registration is happening now!

Top ten finalist announced/mystery topic for SYTYCD contest May 3, 2013

Early bird registration ends June 1, 2013

Top three finalists SYTYCD announced July 19, 2013

Early arrivals July 27, 2013

Conference begins (on-site registration available) July 28, 2013

Follow us on Twitter

@ChemEd2013 www.uwaterloo.ca/chemed2013

May 2013 Copyright 2013

Circulation 1500 ISSN 0703-1157 Publication agreement #40065122 RETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED

may 2013 issue #399 - university of waterloo

Documents