A Five Minutes Talk on Chemistry. Without burdening the memory with technical nomenclature I wish to say a few words about chemistry for the benefit of the public at large and the student who may be interested in pursuing the subject further. We learn from the text books that organic chemistry treats of things which have organs to breathe, eat, and grow, like animals and veget- ables, while inorganic chemistry per tains to rocks, metals, guses, etc. Ac- cording to the atomic theory there are 71 original elements which go in- to the makeup of everything. These elements consist of infinitesimally small atoms which combine with oth- er atoms to make flesh, bone, wood, coal, water, air, acids and everything that exists. Here are the 71 elements:
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81. 195. 79 Бол Weighta Mely on M 5410 TH 25 Niin N 137 Chemm O 106.0 208 Palladium B 11 Br 190 112 Flidin Teubilden Hamarisum b. 855 44. Belen m Biliron Bilver Sodium M& Strctium 1433 kalptur Tantalus T 19 Tellurings Trium Thorium Tin Titamiin Turati W 240 Lanthanum T Vanadium W Ytterbium PL HO 55 Cold Magum Manganem Manmary 200 118
It will be seen that each of the ele- ments has its chemical symbol and atomic number. These atoms will combine with other atoms to produce acids, salts, bases or compounds only in multiples of those numbers. Hy- drogen (H) is the Eghtest of all known substances and is therefore designated as 1. It is fourteen times as light as air, from which we might readily estimate its usefulness for ba- looning.
Oxygen (O) being 16 times as heavy as H has 16 for its atomic mumber and unites with other cle- ments in proportions of 16, 32, 48, 64, etc. In uniting these elements to form compounds, numbers are placed after the symbols as in algebra, to in dictate the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th powers. Just as we get a clear idea of the work in a mathematical expression like AP-XY-Z, the chemist describes his formula in symbols like HCI+ NaHO- NACEO which produces salt water, or C'H (ONO) which is the formula for nitroglycer- ine which Hudson Maxim, the great authority on explosives, gave me the other day.
Here are some of the combina- tions for acids, which you will notice, all contain hydrogen:
Nitric acid NHO3 Hydrochloric acid HCl Sulphuric acid H2SO4 Hydroiodic acid HI Phosphoric acid H3PO4 Hydrobromic acid IIBr.
Then we get the different salts by putting metals in the acids in place of H, as well as hydrates and bases which pertain to the chemical nomenclature.
The different multiples of an ele ment will produce entirely dissimilar compounds, HPO is the formula for water and indicates that two atoms of H to one atom of O form water, being 16 times heavier than I show that I forms the 9th part of water. Now increase the proportion of O and what was a tasteless liquid becomes a thick, syrupy compound with a bitter taste and disagreeable odor which will not freeze by intense cold. No use has yet been discovered for this curi- ours compound.
Air consists of one-fifth oxygen to four-fifths nitrogen, and yet five dis- similar compounds result from their combinations: Nitrous oxide (laugh- ing gas) is N2O. Nitric oxide is NO. Nitrous anhydride is NO, Nitrogen peroxide is NO, and ni- tric anhydride is NO.
Anything may be decomposed burned or changed by chemical ac- tion but nothing is destroyed, every atom can be accounted for and re- stored. It is somewhat akin to Sir Walter Raleigh's wager that he could weigh the smoke from his to- bacco. He carefully preserved and weighed the ashes from his cigars, which, deducted from the original weight of the tobacco,showed exactly how much had escaped in smoke.
Broadly speaking there are two principles in chemistry: Analysis, which analyzes or dissects a com pound to discern its ingredient; and synthesis which combines the cle- ments to form other compounds. The modern chemist knows intelli- gently which of nature's products contain the elements required to pro- duce a new combination and in sep- arating them will save the other ele- ments and form valuable bi-pro- ducts.
It requires but little knowledge of chemistry to realize how blindly the old alchemists were groping in the dark, or how absurd are the popular stories of great chemical discoveries having been hit upon by accident.
Nothing explains the principles of analys better than the little game of questions, which I heartily recom- mend to my young friends. Think of any thing and I will guess it in fif teen questions to which you need re- ply but "yes" or "no," All right, you have thought of "a sticker," have you? Well, does it belong to the animal kingdom? "No." That's which I know it is not. Does it be- good, there are already 10,000 things long to the vegetable kingdom? "No." Good, now there are a whole lot of things I know it isn't, and I know it belongs to the mineral king- dom, so I ask at once, is it metal? "Yes!" Is it sold at the hardware store? "Yes," Is it a kind of tool? "Yes" Does it have to be sharp- ened? "No." That was a foolish question, but I was wasting no time, so I will lump a lot of queries Now listen. Is it one of the following ar- ticles: A fire shovel, spoon, poker, stove lifter, cake turner, hammer, cork screw, or pincers? "Yes!" Hurrah, it is one of eight, and you can reduce cight to one in three questions, so I get it in ten queries. Ingenious people may originate clever questions which eliminate thousands of articles, just as the chemist eliminates and proves more by what there is not, than by what there is. It reminds me of what a little boy wrote about salt. "It is something that makes our taters and things taste orful bad when there isn't any."
The clever reader will see that this principle is well illustrated in this little lecture on chemistry: no rules or formulas being given you are ex- pected to draw all information you can from the lessons which are not
given!
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