Science History Time: Elements of Intrigue; The Periodic Table

IT’S NATIONAL PERIODIC TABLE DAY! LET’S GO LEARN SOMETHING!

“The eighth element, starting from a given one, is a kind of repetition of the first, like the eighth note of an octave in music.”

– John Alexander Newlands

In case you *don’t* know, the Periodic Table of Elements is a table with 100 or so squares that contains symbols and numbers. It lists the elements that make up all earthly substances and has them organized in order to show patterns and connections in their properties. The word “periodic” is used to describe the fact that the elements show patterns in their properties in specific regular intervals.

So, where did this come from??? Who compiled this? Well, since you’re here….I’ll do my best!
I think we all know what that means…

First, humans knew of carbon, sulfur, iron, tin, lead, copper, mercury, silver, antimony, bismuth and gold as elements prior to the 1400’s, most of these from ancient times.

Then, in 1689, Hennig Brand was the first to discover a new element. Brand was an alchemist, seeking the Philosopher’s Stone (an object which would turn ordinary metals into gold.) He tried many different things in his hunt for the Stone, including the distillation of human urine. When he performed this experiment, Brand was left with a glowing white rock in his results. He called this new element “phosphorous.”

This is the Philosopher’s Stone from “Harry Potter”.
This is not what Brand was trying to make.

Alchemists and scientists of the enlightenment age added many more elements and their knowledge to science, to the point that by 1869, there were 63 elements that had already been detected. Scientists started to realize that with each new element, there were patterns emerging. Some of them began to form the patterns into tables. John Newlands, Alexandre-Emile Béguyer de Chancourtois, and Julius Lothar Meyer all had notable periodic tables.

In 1869, Russian scientist, Dmitri Mendeleev, after years of studying the elements (and other science stuff), made the first “real” table of elements, which he called “The Periodic System.” His table ordered the elements by their atomic weights.

Here it is, the original Periodic Table of Elements! Historic Images/Alamy Stock Photos

Yeah, I have no clue how to read that either…

IIn his periodic table, Mendeleev had ample confidence in using it to predict some new elements and their compounds’ properties. He also corrected the atomic weights of some elements already known. He also left room for undiscovered elements. What? Yes, he predicted, based on the properties of the elements and their patterns! He predicted eighteen elements, but only half corresponded to elements that were later discovered. So, it definitely wasn’t a perfect prediction.

The periodic law behind his periodic table compilation states that “the elements, when listed in order of their atomic numbers (originally, atomic weights), fall into recurring groups, so that elements with similar properties occur at regular intervals.” (Definition from OxfordLanguages) That is, there are no equivalent atomic weights of identical elements. Instead, when we go down a list of elements in order of atomic weights, at regular intervals, corresponding properties are observed. And that is how he was able to predict undiscovered elements.

I’m always surprised. You’d think at my age, I would’ve outgrown that…

In some ways, the current periodic table varies from Mendeleev’s original. It has over 40 additional elements, and instead of being squeezed under one another in staggered columns, its rows are wider. The fourth and fifth rows of Mendeleev’s, for instance, are both included in the fourth cycle of the modern table.

This rearrangement is explained due to the theory of the electronic structure of atoms, in particular the ideas of orbitals and the relation of electronic configuration to the periodic table, is the explanation for this rearrangement. The important idea of vertical groups of related elements is still retained and is very important to the order, as are Mendeleev’s group numbers. His group numbers appear as roman numerals at the top of each column in the modern table.

The current Periodic Table. I like the colors in this one…

Modern scientists are looking at new models of the Periodic Table, arranged in spirals, 3D flowers, dots, pyramids, even curled ribbons! But Mendeleev’s is still the most widely used and recognized.

As we step in the future, super heavy elements are coming into the picture and there are questions as to whether they will be behaving in the predicted ways as other elements and where they will fit in the table.

Wow, I learned A LOT writing this, but I don’t think I could use this amazing table very well, without a lot more instruction. I am definitely not a chemistry kind of gal. I must say, the last year of blogs have truly introduced me to some aspects of science that I had no idea about. The history blogs are a lot of fun to write, and they help me understand more about what goes on in our labs..

If you read my blog regularly, this is not a surprise!

I hope you are enjoying them, too, and learning along with me. I am baffled and confused many times, but I *am* getting a better grasp on it!

See you next week!
Cheers!
Angela

Science History Time: Baby, It’s Cold Outside… Refrigeration

It’s the Wayback Machine time! Let’s cool off with a Science History post
about Refrigeration from 2021!

Humans are pretty crafty but will fold quickly in severe cold.

– Henry Rollins

Really? A Christmas reference? And refrigeration? What kind of topic is this for “Science History”?

Well, a pretty important one there, Waldo-at least the refrigeration part. Ignore the Christmas song reference, I just liked the way it sounded for the topic. By the way, do you mind if I call you Waldo? That’s okay, I will anyway. FYI, this blog may seem little bit longer than my norm. Lotsa info!

Too cold…

There are widely differing reports as to who officially began using ice. I saw mention of the Chinese, the Romans, the Egyptians, the Persians, and so many other cultures that I’m not sure we can pinpoint ONE particular culture for this. Ice was harvested from lakes and rivers, snow was collected from mountains and caves and put in pits with insulation of grass and wood to help maintain the cold. Allegedly, Persians were the first to use cold storage to preserve food.

Here’s something I found out when I was doing research on this topic! “Evaporative cooling” was used in India and Egypt for creating ice even in hot conditions. What this means is if water is rapidly vaporized, it also expands rapidly. The  rising vapor molecules are going to raise their kinetic energy (energy which a body possesses by virtue of being in motion.)  Most of this jump is produced from the vapor’s immediate environment, which also is cooled. This means, when water is put in shallow trays during the cool tropical nights, the rapid evaporation can cause ice to form in the trays, even if the air does not fall below freezing temperatures. By managing conditions in which the evaporation occurs, even large blocks of ice can be shaped in this manner.

Whoa. I had no idea. I was not a Boy Scout. Or even a Girl Scout. I barely made it through one year of Brownies…

I didn’t even make it to the cookie selling.

Fast forward a few centuries, Waldo, and we had entire businesses in the 18th and 19th century who did nothing but harvest ice. While we understood the process of evaporation causing ice to form in certain circumstances, we still lacked the knowledge, technical and mechanical, to have man-made refrigeration. There were a lot of starts and stops on the way to mechanical refrigeration. The first thing to know about how refrigeration works, is that when a liquid evaporates, it absorbs heat and when a gas condenses to a liquid, it releases heat.

In 1748, William Cullen demonstrated the first known artificial refrigeration, at the University of Glasgow; however, he made no practical use of the result. In 1805, the first refrigeration machine was designed by an American inventor, Oliver Evans, that used vapor instead of liquid. Evans never built his machine, but in 1844 an American physicist, John Gorrie, built a similar one. Alexander Twining started selling a cooling machine based on the vapor principle in 1856, while Australian James Harrison developed this idea and adapted it for meat packing and beer production. In 1859, Ferdinand Carre used ammonia as a coolant, but it had a horrible smell and when it leaked it became toxic so it was not used for long. Refrigeration engineers looked for suitable alternatives until the 1920s, 
when a variety of synthetic refrigerants were produced. The best known was patented under the brand name Freon.

Mechanical refrigeration was refined and redeveloped for years. The various types of coils and fins changed shapes and materials, the coolant (as said above) was modified, motors changed speeds, compressors were invented and put to use…I could spend hours writing a pages long blog on the intricate workings of refrigeration and condensation and engineering …but I won’t!

I can’t resist a good kindergarten joke, LOL

So how does Impact Analytical get all “science-y” with refrigeration? Well, here we go, Waldo!

Laboratory refrigerators provide cold storage for a wide range of research applications requiring stable temperatures. They provide safe sample storage for general laboratory purposes, chromatography, storage of flammable material, storage of biological materials, vaccines, blood bank materials and much more. Our Sample Receiving Area has multiple refrigeration units that have different purposes. Your samples are guaranteed to not melt or overheat with all the refrigeration units we have!

That sounded like a sales pitch! Because, well, it kind of is! My whole blog is to allow you to not only learn, but know that Impact Analytical can handle the needs for all sorts of testing, whether YOU personally need it or not! As a reminder, we perform testing for other businesses, not the general public.

You know, the things that happen behind the curtain and all that…There is so much that goes on inside a lab like ours and there is always something to learn!

No need, we’re taking care of things back here!

So there we are. More Science History! Did you learn anything new? I did. My favorite was sheets of ice in the desert…pretty cool science.

See you next week!
Cheers!
Angela

Science History Time: Elements of Intrigue; The Periodic Table

We’re going back to one of my first Science History posts in November of 2020…
let’s see how that went!

“The eighth element, starting from a given one, is a kind of repetition of the first, like the eighth note of an octave in music.”

– John Alexander Newlands

In case you *don’t* know, the Periodic Table of Elements is a table with 100 or so squares that contains symbols and numbers. It lists the elements that make up all earthly substances and has them organized in order to show patterns and connections in their properties. The word “periodic” is used to describe the fact that the elements show patterns in their properties in specific regular intervals.

So, where did this come from??? Who compiled this? Well, since you’re here….I’ll do my best!
I think we all know what that means…

First, humans knew of carbon, sulfur, iron, tin, lead, copper, mercury, silver, antimony, bismuth and gold as elements prior to the 1400’s, most of these from ancient times.

Then, in 1689, Hennig Brand was the first to discover a new element. Brand was an alchemist, seeking the Philosopher’s Stone (an object which would turn ordinary metals into gold.) He tried many different things in his hunt for the Stone, including the distillation of human urine. When he performed this experiment, Brand was left with a glowing white rock in his results. He called this new element “phosphorous.”

This is the Philosopher’s Stone from “Harry Potter”.
This is not what Brand was trying to make.

Alchemists and scientists of the enlightenment age added many more elements and their knowledge to science, to the point that by 1869, there were 63 elements that had already been detected. Scientists started to realize that with each new element, there were patterns emerging. Some of them began to form the patterns into tables. John Newlands, Alexandre-Emile Béguyer de Chancourtois, and Julius Lothar Meyer all had notable periodic tables.

In 1869, Russian scientist, Dmitri Mendeleev, after years of studying the elements (and other science stuff), made the first “real” table of elements, which he called “The Periodic System.” His table ordered the elements by their atomic weights.

Here it is, the original Periodic Table of Elements! Historic Images/Alamy Stock Photos

Yeah, I have no clue how to read that either…

IIn his periodic table, Mendeleev had ample confidence in using it to predict some new elements and their compounds’ properties. He also corrected the atomic weights of some elements already known. He also left room for undiscovered elements. What? Yes, he predicted, based on the properties of the elements and their patterns! He predicted eighteen elements, but only half corresponded to elements that were later discovered. So, it definitely wasn’t a perfect prediction.

The periodic law behind his periodic table compilation states that “the elements, when listed in order of their atomic numbers (originally, atomic weights), fall into recurring groups, so that elements with similar properties occur at regular intervals.” (Definition from OxfordLanguages) That is, there are no equivalent atomic weights of identical elements. Instead, when we go down a list of elements in order of atomic weights, at regular intervals, corresponding properties are observed. And that is how he was able to predict undiscovered elements.

I’m always surprised. You’d think at my age, I would’ve outgrown that…

In some ways, the current periodic table varies from Mendeleev’s original. It has over 40 additional elements, and instead of being squeezed under one another in staggered columns, its rows are wider. The fourth and fifth rows of Mendeleev’s, for instance, are both included in the fourth cycle of the modern table.

This rearrangement is explained due to the theory of the electronic structure of atoms, in particular the ideas of orbitals and the relation of electronic configuration to the periodic table, is the explanation for this rearrangement. The important idea of vertical groups of related elements is still retained and is very important to the order, as are Mendeleev’s group numbers. His group numbers appear as roman numerals at the top of each column in the modern table.

The current Periodic Table. I like the colors in this one…

Modern scientists are looking at new models of the Periodic Table, arranged in spirals, 3D flowers, dots, pyramids, even curled ribbons! But Mendeleev’s is still the most widely used and recognized.

As we step in the future, super heavy elements are coming into the picture and there are questions as to whether they will be behaving in the predicted ways as other elements and where they will fit in the table.

Wow, I learned A LOT writing this, but I don’t think I could use this amazing table very well, without a lot more instruction. I am definitely not a chemistry kind of gal. I must say, the last year of blogs have truly introduced me to some aspects of science that I had no idea about. The history blogs are a lot of fun to write, and they help me understand more about what goes on in our labs..

If you read my blog regularly, this is not a surprise!

I hope you are enjoying them, too, and learning along with me. I am baffled and confused many times, but I *am* getting a better grasp on it!

See you next week!
Cheers!
Angela

Science History Time: Elements of Intrigue; The Periodic Table

We’re going back to one of my first Science History posts in November of 2020…
let’s see how that went!

“The eighth element, starting from a given one, is a kind of repetition of the first, like the eighth note of an octave in music.”

– John Alexander Newlands

In case you *don’t* know, the Periodic Table of Elements is a table with 100 or so squares that contains symbols and numbers. It lists the elements that make up all earthly substances and has them organized in order to show patterns and connections in their properties. The word “periodic” is used to describe the fact that the elements show patterns in their properties in specific regular intervals.

So, where did this come from??? Who compiled this? Well, since you’re here….I’ll do my best!
I think we all know what that means…

First, humans knew of carbon, sulfur, iron, tin, lead, copper, mercury, silver, antimony, bismuth and gold as elements prior to the 1400’s, most of these from ancient times.

Then, in 1689, Hennig Brand was the first to discover a new element. Brand was an alchemist, seeking the Philosopher’s Stone (an object which would turn ordinary metals into gold.) He tried many different things in his hunt for the Stone, including the distillation of human urine. When he performed this experiment, Brand was left with a glowing white rock in his results. He called this new element “phosphorous.”

This is the Philosopher’s Stone from “Harry Potter”.
This is not what Brand was trying to make.

Alchemists and scientists of the enlightenment age added many more elements and their knowledge to science, to the point that by 1869, there were 63 elements that had already been detected. Scientists started to realize that with each new element, there were patterns emerging. Some of them began to form the patterns into tables. John Newlands, Alexandre-Emile Béguyer de Chancourtois, and Julius Lothar Meyer all had notable periodic tables.

In 1869, Russian scientist, Dmitri Mendeleev, after years of studying the elements (and other science stuff), made the first “real” table of elements, which he called “The Periodic System.” His table ordered the elements by their atomic weights.

Here it is, the original Periodic Table of Elements! Historic Images/Alamy Stock Photos

Yeah, I have no clue how to read that either…

IIn his periodic table, Mendeleev had ample confidence in using it to predict some new elements and their compounds’ properties. He also corrected the atomic weights of some elements already known. He also left room for undiscovered elements. What? Yes, he predicted, based on the properties of the elements and their patterns! He predicted eighteen elements, but only half corresponded to elements that were later discovered. So, it definitely wasn’t a perfect prediction.

The periodic law behind his periodic table compilation states that “the elements, when listed in order of their atomic numbers (originally, atomic weights), fall into recurring groups, so that elements with similar properties occur at regular intervals.” (Definition from OxfordLanguages) That is, there are no equivalent atomic weights of identical elements. Instead, when we go down a list of elements in order of atomic weights, at regular intervals, corresponding properties are observed. And that is how he was able to predict undiscovered elements.

I’m always surprised. You’d think at my age, I would’ve outgrown that…

In some ways, the current periodic table varies from Mendeleev’s original. It has over 40 additional elements, and instead of being squeezed under one another in staggered columns, its rows are wider. The fourth and fifth rows of Mendeleev’s, for instance, are both included in the fourth cycle of the modern table.

This rearrangement is explained due to the theory of the electronic structure of atoms, in particular the ideas of orbitals and the relation of electronic configuration to the periodic table, is the explanation for this rearrangement. The important idea of vertical groups of related elements is still retained and is very important to the order, as are Mendeleev’s group numbers. His group numbers appear as roman numerals at the top of each column in the modern table.

The current Periodic Table. I like the colors in this one…

Modern scientists are looking at new models of the Periodic Table, arranged in spirals, 3D flowers, dots, pyramids, even curled ribbons! But Mendeleev’s is still the most widely used and recognized.

As we step in the future, super heavy elements are coming into the picture and there are questions as to whether they will be behaving in the predicted ways as other elements and where they will fit in the table.

Wow, I learned A LOT writing this, but I don’t think I could use this amazing table very well, without a lot more instruction. I am definitely not a chemistry kind of gal. I must say, the last year of blogs have truly introduced me to some aspects of science that I had no idea about. The history blogs are a lot of fun to write, and they help me understand more about what goes on in our labs..

If you read my blog regularly, this is not a surprise!

I hope you are enjoying them, too, and learning along with me. I am baffled and confused many times, but I *am* getting a better grasp on it!

See you next week!
Cheers!
Angela

Science History Time: Baby, It’s Cold Outside… Refrigeration

It’s the Wayback Machine time! Let’s cool off with last year’s Science History post
about Refrigeration because it’s HOT outside!

Humans are pretty crafty but will fold quickly in severe cold.

– Henry Rollins

Really? A Christmas reference? And refrigeration? What kind of topic is this for “Science History”?

Well, a pretty important one there, Waldo-at least the refrigeration part. Ignore the Christmas song reference, I just liked the way it sounded for the topic. By the way, do you mind if I call you Waldo? That’s okay, I will anyway. FYI, this blog may seem little bit longer than my norm. Lotsa info!

Too cold…

There are widely differing reports as to who officially began using ice. I saw mention of the Chinese, the Romans, the Egyptians, the Persians, and so many other cultures that I’m not sure we can pinpoint ONE particular culture for this. Ice was harvested from lakes and rivers, snow was collected from mountains and caves and put in pits with insulation of grass and wood to help maintain the cold. Allegedly, Persians were the first to use cold storage to preserve food.

Here’s something I found out when I was doing research on this topic! “Evaporative cooling” was used in India and Egypt for creating ice even in hot conditions. What this means is if water is rapidly vaporized, it also expands rapidly. The  rising vapor molecules are going to raise their kinetic energy (energy which a body possesses by virtue of being in motion.)  Most of this jump is produced from the vapor’s immediate environment, which also is cooled. This means, when water is put in shallow trays during the cool tropical nights, the rapid evaporation can cause ice to form in the trays, even if the air does not fall below freezing temperatures. By managing conditions in which the evaporation occurs, even large blocks of ice can be shaped in this manner.

Whoa. I had no idea. I was not a Boy Scout. Or even a Girl Scout. I barely made it through one year of Brownies…

I didn’t even make it to the cookie selling.

Fast forward a few centuries, Waldo, and we had entire businesses in the 18th and 19th century who did nothing but harvest ice. While we understood the process of evaporation causing ice to form in certain circumstances, we still lacked the knowledge, technical and mechanical, to have man-made refrigeration. There were a lot of starts and stops on the way to mechanical refrigeration. The first thing to know about how refrigeration works, is that when a liquid evaporates, it absorbs heat and when a gas condenses to a liquid, it releases heat.

In 1748, William Cullen demonstrated the first known artificial refrigeration, at the University of Glasgow; however, he made no practical use of the result. In 1805, the first refrigeration machine was designed by an American inventor, Oliver Evans, that used vapor instead of liquid. Evans never built his machine, but in 1844 an American physicist, John Gorrie, built a similar one. Alexander Twining started selling a cooling machine based on the vapor principle in 1856, while Australian James Harrison developed this idea and adapted it for meat packing and beer production. In 1859, Ferdinand Carre used ammonia as a coolant, but it had a horrible smell and when it leaked it became toxic so it was not used for long. Refrigeration engineers looked for suitable alternatives until the 1920s, 
when a variety of synthetic refrigerants were produced. The best known was patented under the brand name Freon.

Mechanical refrigeration was refined and redeveloped for years. The various types of coils and fins changed shapes and materials, the coolant (as said above) was modified, motors changed speeds, compressors were invented and put to use…I could spend hours writing a pages long blog on the intricate workings of refrigeration and condensation and engineering …but I won’t!

I can’t resist a good kindergarten joke, LOL

So how does Impact Analytical get all “science-y” with refrigeration? Well, here we go, Waldo!

Laboratory refrigerators provide cold storage for a wide range of research applications requiring stable temperatures. They provide safe sample storage for general laboratory purposes, chromatography, storage of flammable material, storage of biological materials, vaccines, blood bank materials and much more. Our Sample Receiving Area has multiple refrigeration units that have different purposes. Your samples are guaranteed to not melt or overheat with all the refrigeration units we have!

That sounded like a sales pitch! Because, well, it kind of is! My whole blog is to allow you to not only learn, but know that Impact Analytical can handle the needs for all sorts of testing, whether YOU personally need it or not! As a reminder, we perform testing for other businesses, not the general public.

You know, the things that happen behind the curtain and all that…There is so much that goes on inside a lab like ours and there is always something to learn!

No need, we’re taking care of things back here!

So there we are. More Science History! Did you learn anything new? I did. My favorite was sheets of ice in the desert…pretty cool science.

See you next week!
Cheers!
Angela

Science History Time: Gimme Steam!

Let’s jump in the Wayback Machine to one of our most read blogs and learn about the importance of steam!

“Steam will always rise to the occasion.”

― Anthony T. Hincks

One of the most significant developments of the Industrial Revolution was the steam engine. Steam engines had all kinds of uses, including factories, mines, locomotives, and, of course, steamboats!

The steam engine helped the Industrial Revolution. Most factories and mills were powered by water, wind, horses, or humans before steam power. Water was a good source of electricity, but it was important to locate factories near a river. Water and wind power could both be unreliable as rivers could often dry up from droughts or freeze in the winter. Wind was not always blowing.

Steam power made it possible to locate factories just about anywhere. It also provided power that was reliable and could be used to power large machines.

To push a piston (or pistons) back and forth, steam engines use hot steam from boiling water. Then the piston motion was used to control a machine or to turn a wheel. Most steam engines also heated the water by burning coal to produce the steam.

Peter Gabriel makes a fine steam train engine…

So, who invented the steam engine? Well, in the 1st century Roman Egypt, the first documented basic steam engine was the aeolipile, mentioned by Heron of Alexandria. There were many steam-powered devices that were later tested or proposed, such as the steam jack of Taqi al-Din, a steam turbine in 16th century Ottoman Egypt, and the steam pump invented by Thomas Savery in 17th century England. Thomas Newcomen invented the first useful steam engine in 1712. It improved on Savery’s steam pump, by using a piston and was used to pump water from mines.

Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, James Watt, dove into the steam engine when he was tasked with repairing a Newcomen engine. He found it inefficient and began making modifications to it. In 1765, to prevent heating and cooling he cylinder with each stroke, he introduced a separate condenser. Instead of supplying the basic up and down motion of the pump, Watt then developed a new engine that rotated a shaft, and he introduced several other modifications to create a functional power plant. The power unit (the Watt) was named after James Watt. The word ‘horsepower’ was used by him to explain how much power his engine could produce in comparison to real horses. One horsepower is equivalent to 745.7 Watts.

Watt’s Steam Engine! You can find a .gif of anything…

For financial reasons, Watt was not immediately able to manufacture his new and improved engine. But by 1776, he had formed a relationship with Matthew Boulton, an English manufacturer and engineer dead-set on using steam engines for more than just pumping water from mines.

With financial backing from Boulton, Watt designed a single-acting (and later, a double-acting) rotative steam engine that, along with Watt ‘s signature separate condenser, featured a parallel motion 
mechanism that doubled the power of the existing steam cylinder. The Boulton-Watt engine 
was also the first one that allowed the operator of the machine to control the engine speed.

Combined with Boulton ‘s vision of a nation powered by steam, Watt’s improvements to the steam engine enabled the rapid introduction of steam engines throughout the United Kingdom and, ultimately, 
the United States.

Steam engines were improved in the 1800s. They became smaller and more productive. Large steam engines were used to power machines of all kinds in factories and mills. 
Smaller steam engines, including trains and steamboats, were used  for transport. The first successful commercial steamboat was the Clermont and was developed by Robert Fulton in 1807.

You knew there’d be at least one bad joke in here, right???

The steam engine from the Industrial Revolution was eventually replaced by electricity and the internal 
combustion engine (gas and diesel). In some parts of the world (and in antique locomotives) 
some vintage steam engines are still used.

“Help me yeah
Ready to steam out the log jam
Stir crazy from the freezer to the foil
Water’s bubbling, it’s b-b-b-bubbling
Bubbling bubbling bubbling bubbling
Like it’s coming to a boil
Give me steam
Give me steam around me now“

– “Steam” Peter Gabriel

And yes, that song is where the idea to write about Steam for this Science History blog! Don’t hate me over Peter Gabriel, okay?

See you next week!
Cheers!
Angela

Science History Time: Electricity

We learned about Electricity in our October 2020 Science History Blog-Let’s have a flashback!

“Current flowin’ to and fro, makes a circuit
Electricity, Electricity
Voltage is the pressure it makes it go
Electricity, Electricity…
Watts will tell you just how much you’ll be usin’
Electricity, Electricity
Cause it’s powerful stuff, so watch that plug! It’s potent
Electricity, Electricity”

~ Bob Dorough, from Schoolhouse Rock

I am betting you know the story of Ben Franklin and his kite flying in an electrical storm, but that’s really not the whole story about electricity. I’ll try and cover some of the early history here!

Ancient cultures across the Mediterranean knew of electric eels and the shocks that they could produce and they knew that certain objects (like amber rods) could be rubbed with cat’s fur to attract light 
objects, like feathers. Thales of Miletus made a series of observations on static electricity around 
600 BCE. He believed it caused amber magnetic friction, in comparison to minerals, such as 
magnetite, which did not involve any friction.

Several ancient authors, such as Pliny the Elder and Scribonius Largus, testified to the numbing 
effect of electrical shocks from electrical catfish and electrical rays, and knew that such shocks could 
move along the way of objects. Patients suffering from ailments such as gout or headache were 
directed to touch electrical fish in the hope that the powerful jolt would cure them.

Let’s jump WAAAAAY ahead a couple of thousand years to the  1600s. It was in that time period that English physician and physicist William Gilbert published the first theories regarding electricity. In 1675, English chemist and physicist Robert William Boyle published the next major text about electricity, 
experiments and notes about the mechanical origin or electricity output.

During the next century, electricity discovery went up a notch though and things began heating up. In 
the early 1700s, (before Franklin & his kite), English scientist Francis Hauksbee created a glass ball 
which glowed when rubbed. The glow was bright enough to read by, and eventually, this would lead to neon lighting. In 1752, during a storm, Ben Franklin showed that static electricity and lightning are 
the same by adding a key to a kite string.  The path for the future was paved by his correct interpretation 
of the essence of electricity.

One of the first important breakthroughs in electricity was in 1831, when British scientist Michael 
Faraday discovered the fundamental principles of electricity production. Building on 
Franklin and others’ experiments, he noted that by moving magnets inside coils of copper wire, he could 
induce electric current. How we use energy was revolutionized by the discovery of electromagnetic 
induction. In fact, in modern power generation, Faraday’s system is still sed, although today’s power 
plants generate much stronger currents on a far larger scale than Faraday’s hand-held unit.

In 1832, the first “dynamo,” an electric generator capable of providing power for industry, was 
designed by Hippolyte Pixii using Faraday’s principles. A crank was used by the Pixii dynamo to spin a
magnet around a piece of wire-wrapped iron. Because this device used a wire coil, it produced 
electric current spikes followed by no current. Joseph Henry invented the electrical relay in 1835, used to send long distances of electrical currents. The electric motor was invented by Thomas 
Davenport in 1837, an innovation that is used today in most electrical appliances. The first fuel cell, a 
device that generates electrical energy by mixing hydrogen and oxygen, was invented by Sir William 
Robert Grove in 1839. In 1879, Arc lamps were used as the first public street lights in Cleveland, Ohio and in the same year, California Electric Light Company, Inc., in San Francisco was the first electric company to sell electricity to customers.

These are just a few of the big discoveries during the 19th century that lead us to modern electricity, including Edison’s electric bulb. Yes, I know, I left out Edison, Watts, Tesla, Volta, and many more. But I can’t do it all for you!

Electricity has not only made modern life MUCH easier, it makes science better, too! Without electricity, we would not have refrigeration, electronic instruments for lab analyses, computers, and virtually everything needed to run a lab (or most businesses in the 21st century!)

That’s right, we’re back at Impact Analytical! See what I did there? 😉 😉 😉

This was an interesting write, because there is SO MUCH information on the history of electricity and I barely got into half of it! I highly recommend to continue your reading with someone much more informed than I!

In a nutshell, electricity has fascinated humankind for millennia, to the point where we wanted to harness it before even understanding it. As always, if you need testing done, contact us at Impact Analytical! We’d love to put our electrical instruments to work for you!

Hope you enjoyed the science history blog! Your erstwhile blogger was off for some medical stuff, but back with a vengeance! New blogs will be coming soon!

See you next week!
Cheers!
Angela

Science History Time: Elements of Intrigue; The Periodic Table

We’re going back to one of my first Science History posts in November of 2020…
let’s see how that went!

“The eighth element, starting from a given one, is a kind of repetition of the first, like the eighth note of an octave in music.”

– John Alexander Newlands

In case you *don’t* know, the Periodic Table of Elements is a table with 100 or so squares that contains symbols and numbers. It lists the elements that make up all earthly substances and has them organized in order to show patterns and connections in their properties. The word “periodic” is used to describe the fact that the elements show patterns in their properties in specific regular intervals.

So, where did this come from??? Who compiled this? Well, since you’re here….I’ll do my best!
I think we all know what that means…

First, humans knew of carbon, sulfur, iron, tin, lead, copper, mercury, silver, antimony, bismuth and gold as elements prior to the 1400’s, most of these from ancient times.

Then, in 1689, Hennig Brand was the first to discover a new element. Brand was an alchemist, seeking the Philosopher’s Stone (an object which would turn ordinary metals into gold.) He tried many different things in his hunt for the Stone, including the distillation of human urine. When he performed this experiment, Brand was left with a glowing white rock in his results. He called this new element “phosphorous.”

This is the Philosopher’s Stone from “Harry Potter”.
This is not what Brand was trying to make.

Alchemists and scientists of the enlightenment age added many more elements and their knowledge to science, to the point that by 1869, there were 63 elements that had already been detected. Scientists started to realize that with each new element, there were patterns emerging. Some of them began to form the patterns into tables. John Newlands, Alexandre-Emile Béguyer de Chancourtois, and Julius Lothar Meyer all had notable periodic tables.

In 1869, Russian scientist, Dmitri Mendeleev, after years of studying the elements (and other science stuff), made the first “real” table of elements, which he called “The Periodic System.” His table ordered the elements by their atomic weights.

Here it is, the original Periodic Table of Elements! Historic Images/Alamy Stock Photos

Yeah, I have no clue how to read that either…

IIn his periodic table, Mendeleev had ample confidence in using it to predict some new elements and their compounds’ properties. He also corrected the atomic weights of some elements already known. He also left room for undiscovered elements. What? Yes, he predicted, based on the properties of the elements and their patterns! He predicted eighteen elements, but only half corresponded to elements that were later discovered. So, it definitely wasn’t a perfect prediction.

The periodic law behind his periodic table compilation states that “the elements, when listed in order of their atomic numbers (originally, atomic weights), fall into recurring groups, so that elements with similar properties occur at regular intervals.” (Definition from OxfordLanguages) That is, there are no equivalent atomic weights of identical elements. Instead, when we go down a list of elements in order of atomic weights, at regular intervals, corresponding properties are observed. And that is how he was able to predict undiscovered elements.

I’m always surprised. You’d think at my age, I would’ve outgrown that…

In some ways, the current periodic table varies from Mendeleev’s original. It has over 40 additional elements, and instead of being squeezed under one another in staggered columns, its rows are wider. The fourth and fifth rows of Mendeleev’s, for instance, are both included in the fourth cycle of the modern table.

This rearrangement is explained due to the theory of the electronic structure of atoms, in particular the ideas of orbitals and the relation of electronic configuration to the periodic table, is the explanation for this rearrangement. The important idea of vertical groups of related elements is still retained and is very important to the order, as are Mendeleev’s group numbers. His group numbers appear as roman numerals at the top of each column in the modern table.

The current Periodic Table. I like the colors in this one…

Modern scientists are looking at new models of the Periodic Table, arranged in spirals, 3D flowers, dots, pyramids, even curled ribbons! But Mendeleev’s is still the most widely used and recognized.

As we step in the future, super heavy elements are coming into the picture and there are questions as to whether they will be behaving in the predicted ways as other elements and where they will fit in the table.

Wow, I learned A LOT writing this, but I don’t think I could use this amazing table very well, without a lot more instruction. I am definitely not a chemistry kind of gal. I must say, the last year of blogs have truly introduced me to some aspects of science that I had no idea about. The history blogs are a lot of fun to write, and they help me understand more about what goes on in our labs..

If you read my blog regularly, this is not a surprise!

I hope you are enjoying them, too, and learning along with me. I am baffled and confused many times, but I *am* getting a better grasp on it!

See you next week!
Cheers!
Angela

Science History Time: Baby, It’s Cold Outside… Refrigeration

It’s the Wayback Machine time! Let’s cool off with last year’s Science History post about Refrigeration because it’s STILL cold outside!

Humans are pretty crafty but will fold quickly in severe cold.

– Henry Rollins

Really? A Christmas reference? And refrigeration? What kind of topic is this for “Science History”?

Well, a pretty important one there, Waldo-at least the refrigeration part. Ignore the Christmas song reference, I just liked the way it sounded for the topic. By the way, do you mind if I call you Waldo? That’s okay, I will anyway. FYI, this blog may seem little bit longer than my norm. Lotsa info!

Too cold…

There are widely differing reports as to who officially began using ice. I saw mention of the Chinese, the Romans, the Egyptians, the Persians, and so many other cultures that I’m not sure we can pinpoint ONE particular culture for this. Ice was harvested from lakes and rivers, snow was collected from mountains and caves and put in pits with insulation of grass and wood to help maintain the cold. Allegedly, Persians were the first to use cold storage to preserve food.

Here’s something I found out when I was doing research on this topic! “Evaporative cooling” was used in India and Egypt for creating ice even in hot conditions. What this means is if water is rapidly vaporized, it also expands rapidly. The  rising vapor molecules are going to raise their kinetic energy (energy which a body possesses by virtue of being in motion.)  Most of this jump is produced from the vapor’s immediate environment, which also is cooled. This means, when water is put in shallow trays during the cool tropical nights, the rapid evaporation can cause ice to form in the trays, even if the air does not fall below freezing temperatures. By managing conditions in which the evaporation occurs, even large blocks of ice can be shaped in this manner.

Whoa. I had no idea. I was not a Boy Scout. Or even a Girl Scout. I barely made it through one year of Brownies…

I didn’t even make it to the cookie selling.

Fast forward a few centuries, Waldo, and we had entire businesses in the 18th and 19th century who did nothing but harvest ice. While we understood the process of evaporation causing ice to form in certain circumstances, we still lacked the knowledge, technical and mechanical, to have man-made refrigeration. There were a lot of starts and stops on the way to mechanical refrigeration. The first thing to know about how refrigeration works, is that when a liquid evaporates, it absorbs heat and when a gas condenses to a liquid, it releases heat.

In 1748, William Cullen demonstrated the first known artificial refrigeration, at the University of Glasgow; however, he made no practical use of the result. In 1805, the first refrigeration machine was designed by an American inventor, Oliver Evans, that used vapor instead of liquid. Evans never built his machine, but in 1844 an American physicist, John Gorrie, built a similar one. Alexander Twining started selling a cooling machine based on the vapor principle in 1856, while Australian James Harrison developed this idea and adapted it for meat packing and beer production. In 1859, Ferdinand Carre used ammonia as a coolant, but it had a horrible smell and when it leaked it became toxic so it was not used for long. Refrigeration engineers looked for suitable alternatives until the 1920s, 
when a variety of synthetic refrigerants were produced. The best known was patented under the brand name Freon.

Mechanical refrigeration was refined and redeveloped for years. The various types of coils and fins changed shapes and materials, the coolant (as said above) was modified, motors changed speeds, compressors were invented and put to use…I could spend hours writing a pages long blog on the intricate workings of refrigeration and condensation and engineering …but I won’t!

I can’t resist a good kindergarten joke, LOL

So how does Impact Analytical get all “science-y” with refrigeration? Well, here we go, Waldo!

Laboratory refrigerators provide cold storage for a wide range of research applications requiring stable temperatures. They provide safe sample storage for general laboratory purposes, chromatography, storage of flammable material, storage of biological materials, vaccines, blood bank materials and much more. Our Sample Receiving Area has multiple refrigeration units that have different purposes. Your samples are guaranteed to not melt or overheat with all the refrigeration units we have!

That sounded like a sales pitch! Because, well, it kind of is! My whole blog is to allow you to not only learn, but know that Impact Analytical can handle the needs for all sorts of testing, whether YOU personally need it or not! As a reminder, we perform testing for other businesses, not the general public.

You know, the things that happen behind the curtain and all that…There is so much that goes on inside a lab like ours and there is always something to learn!

No need, we’re taking care of things back here!

So there we are. More Science History! Did you learn anything new? I did. My favorite was sheets of ice in the desert…pretty cool science.

See you next week!
Cheers!
Angela

Science History Time: Gimme Steam!

Let’s jump in the Wayback Machine to one of our most read blogs and learn about the importance of steam!

“Steam will always rise to the occasion.”

― Anthony T. Hincks

One of the most significant developments of the Industrial Revolution was the steam engine. Steam engines had all kinds of uses, including factories, mines, locomotives, and, of course, steamboats!

The steam engine helped the Industrial Revolution. Most factories and mills were powered by water, wind, horses, or humans before steam power. Water was a good source of electricity, but it was important to locate factories near a river. Water and wind power could both be unreliable as rivers could often dry up from droughts or freeze in the winter. Wind was not always blowing.

Steam power made it possible to locate factories just about anywhere. It also provided power that was reliable and could be used to power large machines.

To push a piston (or pistons) back and forth, steam engines use hot steam from boiling water. Then the piston motion was used to control a machine or to turn a wheel. Most steam engines also heated the water by burning coal to produce the steam.

Peter Gabriel makes a fine steam train engine…

So, who invented the steam engine? Well, in the 1st century Roman Egypt, the first documented basic steam engine was the aeolipile, mentioned by Heron of Alexandria. There were many steam-powered devices that were later tested or proposed, such as the steam jack of Taqi al-Din, a steam turbine in 16th century Ottoman Egypt, and the steam pump invented by Thomas Savery in 17th century England. Thomas Newcomen invented the first useful steam engine in 1712. It improved on Savery’s steam pump, by using a piston and was used to pump water from mines.

Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, James Watt, dove into the steam engine when he was tasked with repairing a Newcomen engine. He found it inefficient and began making modifications to it. In 1765, to prevent heating and cooling he cylinder with each stroke, he introduced a separate condenser. Instead of supplying the basic up and down motion of the pump, Watt then developed a new engine that rotated a shaft, and he introduced several other modifications to create a functional power plant. The power unit (the Watt) was named after James Watt. The word ‘horsepower’ was used by him to explain how much power his engine could produce in comparison to real horses. One horsepower is equivalent to 745.7 Watts.

Watt’s Steam Engine! You can find a .gif of anything…

For financial reasons, Watt was not immediately able to manufacture his new and improved engine. But by 1776, he had formed a relationship with Matthew Boulton, an English manufacturer and engineer dead-set on using steam engines for more than just pumping water from mines.

With financial backing from Boulton, Watt designed a single-acting (and later, a double-acting) rotative steam engine that, along with Watt ‘s signature separate condenser, featured a parallel motion 
mechanism that doubled the power of the existing steam cylinder. The Boulton-Watt engine 
was also the first one that allowed the operator of the machine to control the engine speed.

Combined with Boulton ‘s vision of a nation powered by steam, Watt’s improvements to the steam engine enabled the rapid introduction of steam engines throughout the United Kingdom and, ultimately, 
the United States.

Steam engines were improved in the 1800s. They became smaller and more productive. Large steam engines were used to power machines of all kinds in factories and mills. 
Smaller steam engines, including trains and steamboats, were used  for transport. The first successful commercial steamboat was the Clermont and was developed by Robert Fulton in 1807.

You knew there’d be at least one bad joke in here, right???

The steam engine from the Industrial Revolution was eventually replaced by electricity and the internal 
combustion engine (gas and diesel). In some parts of the world (and in antique locomotives) 
some vintage steam engines are still used.

“Help me yeah
Ready to steam out the log jam
Stir crazy from the freezer to the foil
Water’s bubbling, it’s b-b-b-bubbling
Bubbling bubbling bubbling bubbling
Like it’s coming to a boil
Give me steam
Give me steam around me now“

– “Steam” Peter Gabriel

And yes, that song is where the idea to write about Steam for this Science History blog! Don’t hate me over Peter Gabriel, okay?

See you next week!
Cheers!
Angela