Period+4

Sasha Nelson

Clouds form through condensation of water. Water rises from the earth, places like ponds, puddles, even oceans and gathers up in the sky. The tiny water particles attach with little dirt particles and stick together. Eventually the cloud gets bigger and bigger through the same process and becomes darker. As clouds collide with one another they become bigger. As they grow, they are no longer capable of holding the water and the water falls down to earth as participation such as rain,snow, or hail. This does not have much to do with chemistry besides for the water is made up of two molecules that are in the periodic table, hydrogen and oxygen.



MIchael White
Minerals and chemistry. Mineral colors come from their chemical compositions. Depending on what elements are present in a mineral will determine its color. Heat could also be a factor of a minerals color. Each mineral has it's own chemical comosition. For example, Muscovite is (KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2). If i were to replace the aluminum element with iron and magnesium, the mineral would become Biotite. 

Brad Kulp Why is the sun so hot? The sun is made up of many layers. The first layer of the sun is called the photosphere. The temperature of the photosphere is 6,000C; 11,000F. At the core of the sun the temperature is believed to be 15,000,000C; 27,000,000F. The sun has a greater pressure then the earth has. Therefore it causes the breakdown of the element known as hydrogen. The sun fuses four hydrogen nuclei into an alpha particle also called a helium nucleus. The mass of the helium nucleus is less then the mass of the four hydrogen nuclei, because there is a difference the energy rises to the surface of the sun this causes light and heat. However the energy created at the core takes a million years to reach the surface of the sun. Seven hundred million tons of hydrogen are converted into helium atoms every second, and five million tons of pure energy is released. This means the sun is becoming brighter over time. When the sun is at its end it will start fusing helium into heavier elements this will cause the sun to swell and become a red giant. Finally the sun will become a white dwarf. David Cochrane

Blood Test Crime scene investigators use many different blood tests to identify a substance as blood. One test that is important to the basis of many other blood tests is the catalytic test. This test evolves the break down of hydrogen peroxide caused by catalase, an enzyme that is found in blood. Catalase is an enzyme that protects the cell from the toxic effects of hydrogen peroxide by causing it to break down into molecular oxygen and water without the production of [|free radicals]. When Hydrogen peroxide is placed on blood it causes a reaction (2 H2O2 -- 2 H20 + O2), which causes the hydrogen peroxide to bubble intensely. When the reaction occurs it is a sign that catalase is present.



===Jeff Smith A fluorescent bulb is a tube that contains small bits of mercury and a gas, typically argon, kept under low pressure, and phosphor powder that is coated along the glass. The tube has two electrodes one at each side, this goes to an electrical circuit. When a spark occurs it makes the electrons migrate through the gas form one end to the other side of the tube. This energy exchange changes the mercury from a liquid to a gas, making mercury atoms. This makes a chain reaction that makes the light photons ultraviolet wavelength range. (This is when phosphor powder comes into play) When a photon hit’s a phosphor atom one of phosphors electrons jumps to a higher energy level then it heats up. This results in white light (the kind you can see) ===

Zack fRozenstein
Why does turkey make you sleep? ­­­ Turkey does have the makings of a natural sedative in i­t, an amino acid called tryptophan. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, meaning that the body can't manufacture it. The body has to get tryptophan and other essential amino acids from pood. Tryptophan helps the body produce the B-vitamin niacin, which, ­in turn, helps the body produce serotonin, a remarkable chemical that acts as a calming agent in the brain and plays a key role in sleep. So you might think that if you eat a lot of turkey, your body would produce more serotonin and you would feel calm and want a nap.

Casey Ware
Across the human tongue, there are over 10,000 taste buds. They are mainly disperesed in clusters on the bumps known as papillae. Taste buds are a type of receptor, they pick up on the characteristics of the food which provide its taste. Their are different tastes and different taste buds to go along with them. They are all placed in different parts of the tongue. Sweet, sour, salty, and bitter are the most common tastes. But, after years of research a fifth taste was discovered. They called it "umami", meaning delicious in Japanese, it is the savory taste found in meat.
 * How do taste buds work?**

What roles does serotonin play in the brain?
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter in the brain that has a great pull on many functions, hence making the research of it beneficial to the general understanding of our own mind. It is found in three main places throughout the body: the lining of the intestinal wall, in large constricted blood vessels, and the central nervous system. It is most studied in the central nervous system, where it is responsible for control of appetite, sleep, memory and learning, temperature regulation, mood, behavior (including that of the sexual and hallucinogenic behavior), cardiovascular function, muscle contraction, endocrine regulation, and depression. With such information it is easy to understand the conditions brought on by serotonin imbalances, and have some idea as to how drugs such as Prozac function in balancing the imbalanced mind out and correcting them.

Kevin Langan
=How does a refrigerator work?=  The refrigerator is an everyday household appliance that people would have a __hard__ time living without. Some people may think the refrigerator is a simple appliance, but there is a chemical process involved with the cooling of the refrigerator. Research was done showing how a refrigerator works in relation to chemistry. Modern refrigerators use a type of gas called HFC also known as tetrafluoroethane . HFC turns into a liquid when it is cooled to -15.9 degrees Fahrenheit. A motor and compressor squeezes the HFC. When it is compressed, a gas heats up as it is pressurized. When the compressed gas is passed through the coils on the back or bottom of the refrigerator, the warmer gas loses its heat to the air in the room. The HFC then turns into a liquid because it is under high pressure. The liquid is then passed through an expansion valve. When the liquid hits a low pressure area it boils, changes into a gas, and this process is known as vaporizing. The coils run through the refrigerator and freezer where the cold liquid in the coils pulls the heat out of the compartments. This is how the refrigerator is kept cold. This research shows that the refrigerator is kept cool through chemical processes.

Anna Heckman and Karleigh Latif
Why does chopping an onion make a person cry? For this particular assignment the class was to select a topic that showed the importance of chemistry in everyday life. The subject chosen was the mystery behind the sensation of tearing and burning of the eyes when an onion is chopped.Through examination, research revealed that once an onion is cut into, cells are broken in the onion, and an enzyme is released. This enzyme converts amino acid sulfoxides of the onion into sulfenic acid. This unstable acid-like vapor converts into the chemical irritant, syn-propanethial-S-oxide, and mixes with the water in one’s eyes to irritate them and cause the eyes to water. Preventions to this annoyance could be taken as well. Wearing safety or swim goggles, cutting the onion underwater, or pealing and refrigerating the onion before chopping, were all ways found to avoid the irritancy of one’s eyes burning and tearing.

Stephanie Parinisi
How does rain form? "Rain forms from moisture from the oceans evaporates, condenses into drops, precipitates (falls) from the sky, and eventually returns to the ocean via rivers and streams to repeat the cycle again. The water vapor from plant respiration also contributes to the moisture in the" atmosphere."http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_does_rain_form. This is know as the water cycle. The water cycle is a continuous where water evaporates, travels into the air and becomes part of a cloud, falls down to earth as precipitation, and then evaporates again.

Taylor Silvestri
How do atypical antipsychotic drugs work in a schizophrenic brain? Schizophrenia is an incurable mental disorder that affects communication within the brain. Most communications within the brain are carried out through the chemical compound dopamine. It consists of a unique bond between carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. This “neurotransmitter” contains messages otherwise known as thoughts or feelings. Chemical reactions do not take place fast enough for the brain to process these thoughts or feelings. What to enter. atypical antipsychotic drugs do for a schizophrenic is create a chemical membrane around dopamine receptors, allowing only a certain amount of dopamine to enter. ß chemical bond of the neurotransmitter dopamine

Taylor Schilpp
Why Do We Sneeze?

A sneeze starts when chemicals are released by inflammatory cells in the nose, telling the body that there is something in there that shouldn’t be. Stimulation of nerve endings send a message to the brain causing a reflex reaction that results in a sneeze. A sneeze closes your vocal cords, and builds up pressure inside the chest which causes the feeling you get before you are about to sneeze. The air in your chest is under lots of pressure so when the vocal cords are opened, it rushes out really fast, which shoots out anything that is unwanted in your body.

Ryan Vassil
How Does a lava lamp work? The lava lamp was invented by a man named Craven Walker. He got the idea from a lamp he saw when he was in a bar in England. Someone put different colored lights inside a cocktail shaker. He liked the lamp but thought he could make it better. The way the lamp worked is that by putting two liquids with opposite densities together and adding heat would make the liquids float around in the lamp. The two liquids used are water and a solidified globule of mineral oil. //How do energy drinks work?// Energy drinks were first introduced in the 1960's. The first energy drink was Jolt, which is still around today. Now, the most commonly sold energy drink is Redbull. How these drinks work is they have taurine, guarana and ephederine in them. All of which help raise your metabolism and get your heart beating faster. They are loaded with sugar. They contain dopamine which is the same active drug in heroine. These drinks boost your energy for about an hour then cause you to crash when the sugar then leaves your system, leaving you worse off then you started.
 * Cassy White**



**Jackie Krut How does poopcorn pop? Popcorn, an ancient snack founded by the Indians, has been improved over time and now only takes a matter of minutes to make in the microwave. The reasoning for the popping of corn kernels is due to its structure and components. A popcorn kernel is made of a hard shell known as the pericarp or hull, on the inside is a hard starch called endosperm, and at the very center of the kernel is a tiny drop of water. By heating the kernels in the microwave, the drop of water evaporates causing pressure to build up inside the kernel. At this point the endosperm turns to gelatin and the pressure causes the kernel to turn inside out becoming forty times its original size. Lastly, the reason for those stubborn kernels that just won't pop is due to the chemical structure of the hull made of cellulose. Kernels that fail to pop have a weaker crystalline structure and moisture does not build up as easily. Therefore the structure and components of a kernel allow it to become popcorn.

Corrie McKenna Bipolar**
 * There is no single cause of being Bipolar. Some say it is due to a shortage of lithium in the brain or a malfunction of the neurotransmitters. It may be inactive and be activated spontaneously in your life; a tragedy may trigger a mood episode in a person with a genetic disposition for Bipolar disorder. It can be genetic.**



Hannah Parrish Soda Explosion The explosion that occurs in a Diet Coke bottle after dropping Mentos into it is the cause of a chemical and physical reaction, not just a coincidence as some believe. Scientists have been arguing for years about the explosion when Mentos and Diet Coke are combined. According to Mythbusters, the surface of the mint Mentos is littered with many small holes, allowing CO2 bubbles to form very rapidly and in great quantity, in turn causing the jet of foam, which happens in this experiment. Most theorized that the physical structure of the Mentos is the most significant cause of the eruption due to nucleation. This project is considered one the easiest experiments to perform, anyone can do it.