Making 3D Periodic Tables

Laser cut, 3d periodic tables.
Laser cut, 3d periodic tables.

Ms. Fu’s chemistry class were given a project to make 3d periodic tables based on the properties of the elements. A few groups went with Makerspace options, using the new vinyl cutter and laser.

3d Periodic Table showing electronegativity.
3d Periodic Table showing electronegativity. Laser cut.
Periodic Table relief based on ionization energy. The blocks on this one have 1.5 inch square bases. The colors for the different regions  use stains including tea (assam) and blackberry juice extracted from berries from the canes on campus.
Periodic Table relief based on ionization energy. The blocks on this one have 1.5 inch square bases. The colors for the different regions use stains including tea (assam) and blackberry juice extracted from berries from the canes on campus.

The part that took the longest was marking all the columns for cutting. A worthwhile assignment would be to write a program to automatically make the cut-marks in an svg file that can be etched with the laser.

Periodic Table column heights based on density.
Periodic Table column heights based on density. Laser cut.
Paper columns and vinyl cut lettering on this periodic table.
Paper columns and vinyl cut lettering on this periodic table.

Carbon in the Ground and Free Oxygen in the Air

A couple new article relevant to our study of Earth History.

Carbon

Image by Rajdeep Dasgupta, via pyhs.org.
Image by Rajdeep Dasgupta, via pyhs.org.

Research on the high pressure and temperature conditions at the Earth’s core suggest that most of the carbon in the early Earth should have either boiled off into space or been trapped by the iron in the core. So where did all the carbon necessary for life come from? They suggest from the collision of an embryonic planet (with lots of carbon in its upper layers) early in the formation of the solar system.

Free Oxygen

Typical surface view of purple mat surface at Middle Island showing purple filaments.  Some white filaments can also be observed. Image from Thunder Bay Sinkholes 2008 via oceanexplorer.noaa.gov.
Typical surface view of purple mat surface at Middle Island showing purple filaments. Some white filaments can also be observed. Image from Thunder Bay Sinkholes 2008 via oceanexplorer.noaa.gov.

It took a few billion years from the evolution of the first photosynthetic cyanobacteria to the time when there was enough oxygen in the atmosphere to support animal life like us. Why did it take so long? NPR interviews scientists investigating purple microbial mats in Lake Huron.

The Flint Water Crisis

What happened:

  • Flint switches from Detroit’s water system to the Flint River to save money,
  • E. coli bacteria show up in water (E.coli can make you sick) so the water system adds chlorine to kill the bacteria,
  • Trichloromethane shows up in the water (trichloromethane is a carcinogen)
  • Water from the Flint River is more corrosive compared to Detroit’s because it has higher levels of chlorine ions (Cl),
  • Chlorine dissolves lead from old water pipes — the lead goes into solution in the water (lead causes issues with mental development in kids, among other things),

References

Detailed article from Mashable: The poisoning of a city

A timeline from Michigan Radio: TIMELINE: Here’s how the Flint water crisis unfolded

An excellent, detailed program from Reveal: Do not drink: The water crisis in Flint, Michigan. The second part in particular is a good summary of the science issues.

A NPR summary from September 29th, 2015: High Lead Levels In Michigan Kids After City Switches Water Source

Limiting Chemical Reactions

Figuring out the limiting reactant in a chemical reaction integrates many of the basic chemistry concepts including: unit conversions from moles to mass and vice versa; the meaning of chemical formulas; and understanding the stoichiometry of chemical reactions. So, since we’ll need a number of these, I wrote a python program to help me design the questions (and figure out the answers).

Program examples come zipped because they require the program file and the elements_database.py library:

Baking Powder and Vinegar (Common Molecules)

Limiting_component-Common.py: This has the baking powder and vinegar reaction limited by 5 g of baking soda. It’s nice because it uses a few pre-defined “common molecules” (which are defined in the elements_database.py library.

You enter the reactants and products and the program checks if the reaction is balanced, then calculates the moles and masses based on the limiting component, and finally double checks to make sure the reaction is mass balanced.

Limiting_component-Common.py

from elements_database import *
import sys

print "LIMITING REACTANT PROGRAM"
print 
print "  Determines the needed mass and moles of reactants and products if reaction is limited by one of the components"

c = common_molecules()

'''Create Reaction'''
rxn = reaction()
# Add reactants (and products)
#   Use rxn.add_reactant(molecule[, stoichiometry])
#       molecule: from molecule class in elements_database
#       stoichiometry: integer number
rxn.add_reactant(c.baking_soda,1)
rxn.add_reactant(c.hydrochloric_acid,1)
rxn.add_product(c.carbon_dioxide)
rxn.add_product(c.water, 1)
rxn.add_product(c.salt)

'''Print out the reaction'''
print 
print "Chemical Formula"
print "  " + rxn.print_reaction()
print 

'''Check if reaction is balanced'''
balanced = rxn.check_for_balance(printout=True)

'''Calculate limits of reaction'''
if balanced:
    rxn.limited_by_mass(c.baking_soda, 5, printout=True)

Outputs results in the Results table (using scientific notation):

LIMITING REACTANT PROGRAM

  Determines the needed mass and moles of reactants and products if reaction is limited by one of the components

Chemical Formula
  NaHCO3 + HCl  --> CO2 + H2O + NaCl 

Check for balance
 --------------------------------------------- 
| Element | Reactants | Products | Difference |
 --------------------------------------------- 
|   Na    |    1      |    -1    |     0      |
|   H     |    2      |    -2    |     0      |
|   C     |    1      |    -1    |     0      |
|   O     |    3      |    -3    |     0      |
|   Cl    |    1      |    -1    |     0      |
 --------------------------------------------- 
Balance is:  True

Given: Limiting component is 5 g of NaHCO3.
  Molar mass = 84.00676928
  Moles of NaHCO3 = 0.0595190130849

 Results
   ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
  | Molecule | Stoich.*| Molar Mass (g) | Moles req. |    Mass (g)   |
   ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
  |NaHCO3    |    1    |    84.0068     |  5.952e-02 |   5.000e+00   |
  |HCl       |    1    |    36.4602     |  5.952e-02 |   2.170e+00   |
  |CO2       |    -1   |    44.0096     |  5.952e-02 |   2.619e+00   |
  |H2O       |    -1   |    18.0156     |  5.952e-02 |   1.072e+00   |
  |NaCl      |    -1   |    58.4418     |  5.952e-02 |   3.478e+00   |
   ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
 * negative stoichiometry means the component is a product

  Final Check: Confirm Mass balance: 
     Reactants:    7.1701 g 
     Products:    -7.1701 g 
     --------------------------
          =      0.0000 g 
     --------------------------

General Example

If not using the common molecules database, you need to define the components in the reaction as molecules yourself. This example reacts magnesium sulfate and sodium hydroxide, and limits the reaction with 20 g of magnesium sulfate.

Limiting_component-General.zip

The main file is:

Chem_Exam-limiting.py

from elements_database import *
import sys

print "LIMITING REACTANT PROGRAM"
print 
print "  Determines the needed mass and moles of reactants and products if reaction is limited by one of the components"

# create reaction

rxn2 = reaction()
# Add reactants (and products)
#   Use rxn.add_reactant(molecule[, stoichiometry])
#       molecule: from molecule class in elements_database
#       stoichiometry: integer number
rxn2.add_reactant(molecule("Mg:1,S:1,O:4"))
rxn2.add_reactant(molecule("Na:1,O:1,H:1"), 2)
rxn2.add_product(molecule("Mg:1,O:2,H:2"))
rxn2.add_product(molecule("Na:2,S:1,O:4"))

'''Print out the reaction'''
print 
print "Chemical Formula"
print "  " + rxn2.print_reaction()
print 

'''Check if reaction is balanced'''
balanced = rxn2.check_for_balance(printout=True)

'''Calculate limits of reaction'''
if balanced:
    rxn2.limited_by_mass(molecule("Mg:1,S:1,O:4"), 20, True)

# print out masses
print "Masses Involved in Reaction"
print "  Reactants:"
for i in rxn2.reactants:
    #print "rxn", i
    print "    {m}: {g} g".format(m=i.molecule.print_formula().ljust(10), g=i.mass)
print "  Products:"
for i in rxn2.products:
    #print "rxn", i
    print "    {m}: {g} g".format(m=i.molecule.print_formula().ljust(10), g=-i.mass)

This program is slightly different from the common molecules example in that, at the end, it prints out masses calculated in a more easily readable format in addition to the other data.

Masses Involved in Reaction
  Reactants:
    MgSO4     : 20.0 g
    NaOH      : 13.2919931774 g
  Products:
    MgO2H2    : 9.69066512026 g
    Na2SO4    : 23.6013280571 g

When I have some time I’ll convert this to JavaScript like the molecular mass example.

Molar Mass of Molecules

Calculate the molar mass of a molecule:

The notation for the chemical formula is a little funky: you put the element symbol and then the number of atoms separated by a colon; each element/number of atoms pair are separated by commas, so sodium chloride (NaCl) would be “Na:1,Cl:1“.

This will have to do until I can write something to parse the regular chemical formula notation.

On the plus side, you can link to a specific molecular mass calculation by adding the formula to the url. So magnesium chloride (MgCl2) can be found with this url:

https://soriki.com/js/chem/chem_db/molecular_mass.html?formula=Mg:1,Cl:2