Recent content by Catastrophe

The most common component of sand is silicon dioxide in the form of quartz. Since interactions over a long period of time have worn the grains smooth this, as you state has limited their use. Making them 'unsmooth' is not an easy job. The obvious idea is to react them chemically to change their...

SaraRayne Please excuse my asking you on this quiet thread, but I see here it is easy to drop graphics into the box and it works fine. On space.com the boxes accept addresses but not images directly - at least I can't find a way. Do you know if images can be dropped into space.com? Thank you...

In reply to "I mean how fast would a comet have to be going to get to the nearest star anyway?" Comet speeds There are relatively big varieties, but most of them is between 10 and 70 km/s. If a comet is a periodic comet, that means it needs to have an elliptic orbit around the Sun. That gives...

“Arithmetic is to mathematics as spelling is to writing.” ... Math uses signs, symbols, and proofs and includes arithmetic, algebra, calculus, geometry, and trigonometry. The most obvious difference is that arithmetic is all about numbers and mathematics is all about theory.

"can spices be categorized like acids and bases etcetera?" I don't know. I suspect not if you mean measurements like pH. You probably have properties in mind which can be measured but this is way out of my area of expertise. " I think it stabilizes the heat (measured in scoville units)." Yes...

" like a really really slow game of bumper cars" Plate tectonics for the masses - great description. P.S. For some reason my 'like' click isn't working. I will try to get back to it!

I have nothing against consultants. I have been a consultant myself on numerous occasions - relationships that have lasted many years. Even 40 years ago I had 5 year contracts with openers of £5000 per annum each year before I even opened a letter (remember those - papers with writing on). So...

This is related to the question on why oil and water don't mix. In fact, we could start by asking why water dissolves water. This seems a strange question, but we can then ask why water dissolves things like water. We are used to seeing water written a H2O, but we can also write this as HOH...

" Then in chemistry I see that the same chemicles in the same amounts can make different things depending on the order of addition." This is most certainly true. We once employed a consultant who suggested this and we fired him. We reacted A and B to make an intermediate which we then reacted...

sarajo If you or anyone has questions about surfactants, I shall be only too pleased to answer. For years, after I retired from my main job (amphoteric surfactants) my wife and I ran an international training company on nothing but surfactants. Guess what? Our biggest clients were THE largest...

You have found a very good example I had not thought of. You are better cooks than I am. If you want your baking to rise you include ingredients which react to give off a gas, which of course is harmless. :)

"with oil being much thicker than water- it will carry a bit of weight & so will remain on the top of the water (I think) - there're also molecular reasons as well" Yes and No. Oil covers a multitude of different types from almos gas to heavy tar or bitumen used on roads. Some are lighter, some...

"Oil" is a very broad term but, generally, oil is less dense (lighter for the same volume) than water. Just go in your kitchen now and pour some cooking oil and some water into a closed bottle. Which is on top? Give it a good shake (after closing cap) and look again. Which is on top? Consider...

This notwithstanding "Editor's Note: The findings of this study have been called into question because of a potential error in the analysis of starlight from the companion star. That error would mean the black hole is about the size of our sun, rather than 70 times the mass of our sun." Who are...

OK I have B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering and a working lifetime in Chemistry, but I would not call myself an expert in Chemistry. It is such a large subject. It is like saying you are an expert in French when you speak the language well, but then you have to know the whole of French literature...