So You Think You Know Chemistry... Quiz

Answer: Topical

Organic chemistry centers (obviously) on organic molecule, of which I'll discuss later. Analytical chemistry involves the analysis of objects to determine their chemical composition and structure. Nuclear chemistry encompasses the study of radiation, and how subatomic particles form and destroy nuclei.

Answer: Neutrinos

You have just entered the realm of quantum physics -- the study of the absolutely minuscule. You probably know that atoms contain electrons, protons, and neutrons. What you might NOT know is that even these can be broken down or classified further! Electrons are examples of leptons, and protons and neutrons are made up of quarks: two "up" and a "down" quark for protons, and one "up" and a "down" quark for neutrons. Gluons are the absolute tiniest subatomic particles, and have attractive forces that hold nucleons together. (Neutrinos are also a kind of lepton, but are not found in atoms.)

Answer: Isodymium

The "father of the periodic table," Dmitri Mendeleev, created the first periodic table in 1869. Legend has it that to help his students study the known elements, he created flash cards of each element, with their physical properties. He began arranging them from heaviest to lightest, and soon discovered that vertical columns of elements had many physical properties in common.

While his table was inaccurate (he believed lime was an element; we now know it as CaCO3), he was able to predict the appearance and physical properties of more than seven elements, identifying "eka-aluminum" and "eka-silicon", among others (we now know them as gallium and germanium). We still use his "eka" format today; for example, ununbium (below mercury on the table) is also known as eka-mercury, and has predicted physical properties of being a liquid transition metal, in addition to being radioactive.

Answer: Beryllium-10

The three basic kinds of radiation are alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays; I will go over the dangers of these particles in the next question. Alpha particles consist of a helium nucleus (two neutrons, two protons); the element in question would go down in mass by four and go down in atomic number by two. Beta particles are electrons formed and instantaneously emitted from the nucleus.

When an element undergoes beta decay, a neutron turns into a proton and an electron, the latter of which is emitted, making the element go up in atomic number one with no loss of mass.

A footnote is the more rare beta+ decay, in which a nucleus emits a positron (the antiparticle of an electron) and a proton turns into an neutron; in this case an element goes down one atomic number.

The last kind of decay is gamma radiation; in this, a high frequency gamma ray is emitted from the nucleus, with no loss of mass or atomic number. The procedure through which this happens in unknown; however, it is speculated it is caused by a positron-electron annihilation.

Answer: Eat the gamma, put the beta in your pocket, and hold the alpha.

Of the three particles, alpha particles are the least penetrating; being helium nuclei when they simply travel through a few inches of air they pick up electrons and become simple helium (most natural helium is formed this way!). However, with such massive particles (relative to the others) they can do severe internal damage if they get inside your body. You should hold the alpha in your hand, in hopes that your outer layer of dead skin will absorb the particles. Beta particles are smaller, but travel much farther; however, they are easily stopped by a thin sheet of aluminum.

They will damage materials they travel through; this can be dangerous, but not as deadly as alpha particles. You should put the beta in your pocket in hopes that your clothing will stop it. Lastly, the gamma. Gamma radiation is the highest-frequency electromagnetic wave, and knock electrons out of materials they travel through, ionizing them.

This can result in genetic mutation. Gamma rays can be reduced to one-fifth power by sending them through thirty feet of lead. You'll have to eat the gamma, since it's the only one left.

Answer: Carbon

One thing to note is that while all organic compounds have carbon, not all carbon compounds are organic, e.g. CO2. Organic chemistry is huge, and you can find at least 80% of all organic compounds to be made of the aforementioned four elements: Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Hydrogen.

There is another subdivision of organic chemistry which studies hydrocarbons, molecules that consist of just carbon and hydrogen and can create gigantic chains of atoms. Hydrocarbons are the main constituents of coal, oil, and natural gas.

Answer: Meth-, Eth-, Prop-, But-

You might be familiar with these prefixes; the first four alkanes are methane, ethane, propane, and butane. Sound familiar? Alkenes are similar, but somewhere in the molecule, there is a double bond between carbons. Alkynes have a triple bond. The first three alkenes are ethene, propene, and butene (there is no methene, because a lone carbon atom can't double bond). You may also know some basic substituted hydrocarbons; alcohols are hydrocarbons that contain an oxygen atom bonded to a carbon and a hydrogen somewhere.

The first four alcohols are methanol, ethanol, propanol, and butanol; ethanol is standard "drinking alcohol."

Answer: Saturated fats contain only single bonds between carbon atoms, while unsaturated fats contain one or more double bonds.

Saturated fats are fats that contain only single bonds between carbon atoms, and are considered "bad" fats because they increase the amount of LDL, "bad" cholesterol. Unsaturated fats contain at least one double bond between carbon atoms, and are considered "good" fats because they decrease LDL while increasing HDL ("good" cholesterol). Monounsaturated fats contain but a single double bond between carbon atoms; polyunsaturated fats contain more than two double bonds. I'd tell you more, but that'd ruin the next question.

Answer: "Cis" fats

Unsaturated fats can be categorized into two groups (separate from poly- or mono-). These groups are "trans" fats and "cis" fats. The difference lies in the carbon atoms that are double-bonded in the fat. These carbons only have room for one hydrogen each.

However, since the double bond prevents the carbon atoms from rotating or pivoting around the bond, as single bonds allow them to do, the hydrogen atoms are fixed in place. If the hydrogen atoms are facing in the same direction, then the fat is a harmless "cis" fat that can be easily broken down by our digestive system.

But if the hydrogen molecules face opposite directions, then a biological peculiarity makes it more difficult for these fats to be broken down (exactly why is a bit nitpicky to discuss).

This means the fats build up in our blood and clog our bloodstream, which is why they are described as "bad" fats.

Answer: Water is polar.

Water, as you may know, consists of two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen, bonded to form a 105 degree angle. This means that the two hydrogen molecules, which have a weaker attraction to electrons, are opposite from the oxygen molecule. The electrons tend to cluster near the oxygen, so the oxygen molecule gets a slight negative charge and the hydrogen molecules a small positive charge. When a number of water molecules gather, their attractive forces "rip" any substances in between them apart, dissolving them.

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