Uncle Tungsten

Uncle Tungsten Chapters 21-25
Chapter 21:
1) What is pitchblende?
Pitchblende is the element also known as uraninite. It is called this because of it’s mixture of other metals (such as lead and thorium) and the fact that it is very dark. It can be up to four times as radioactive as uraninite or thorium.

2) Describe the process used by the Curie's to separate the elements in pitchblende.
They first broke it down into groups and continued to brake it down until they came about a new element which they suggested be called polonium.

3) Why did the Curie's die so young?
Both the Curies worked with very radioactive materials and did not think about the effects that the radioactivity could have on them.

Chapter 22:
1) What is Sack's idea for a vanadium farm?
He would want to have many acres of sea meadows with sea squirts in it and then collect vanadium from the sea meadows.

2) What is the Milton society and what happened to it?
The Milton Society was a literature group at Sack’s school. It was unpopular and many knew it wouldn’t last.

Chapter 23:
1) What is the half-life of an element?
It is the characteristics of a radioactive element that is transforming.

2) How did the understanding of elemental decay affect the debate over the age of the earth?
Because many thought that the earth was too cold to sustain life before a certain time.

3) Why did the bombing of Hiroshima remind Sacks of Soddy and Wells?
Sacks thought of Soddy and Wells when hearing of Hiroshima because they were two large figures in nuclear power.

Chapter 24:
1) How did Moseley confirm the periodic table?
He used a cathode ray to get x-rays of each of the elements and then plotted the square roots of the elements against their atomic weight. This way, nothing could be missing or added.

2) How do electrons determine the elements chemical properties?
The electrons create bonding and therefore making up the chemical bonding.

3) How did Bohr's elemental periodic table compare with Mendelev's empirical periodic table?
They are almost the same. They both rely heavily on numbers for organization.

Chapter 25:
1) How and why did the affair with metals and their chemistry come to an end in Oliver Sack's life?
It didn’t happen suddenly, but he knew that one day he would have to go to medical school and become a doctor and his interest in chemistry slowly died out.