February, 2002
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® FEBRUARY 2002 Pseudoscience No matter how good it sounds, it just isn’t true. Maple Syrup It’s smooth, sweet, and supersaturated. Mighty Thermite Here’s a solid reaction that’s sure to be a hit. Question From the Classroom By Bob Becker Q. I was surfing the Web and found that there is a new hydrogen beer. Is it true? A. According to numerous • The bottles are packed in fact from accounts on the Internet and special crates lined with con- fiction? beyond, the Tokyo-based crete to prevent chain explo- It’s not Asaka Beer Corporation has sions in the event of a fire. always easy, taken a “bold new step that And the MOST amazing but in the case may revolutionize beer “fact” of all: of hydrogen production throughout the • Hydrogen beer has beer, it should world.” Seems they have inspired a daring and dazzling have been. succeeded in manufacturing a new fad of belching match- To begin with, beer in which some of the ignited blue flames from one’s very few gases are dissolved carbon dioxide is mouth. as soluble as carbon replaced with the much Does all of this sound too dioxide in water. Those lighter, fizzier hydrogen gas. incredible to be true? That’s that are— Of course, the articles because IT IS! ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen point out, this newfangled car- Hydrogen beer ranks right chloride (HCl), for example— certainly end up with an ignit- bonation (or better, “hydro- up there with an ever-growing wouldn’t make acceptable ed mouth! genation”) was intended as a number of urban legends. The beverages! Hydrogen gas Finally, the biology is all more environmentally friendly only truth in the previous (H2) has one of the lowest sol- wrong. We belch from our alternative to carbon dioxide, a paragraphs is the existence of ubilities of any gas in water. It stomachs through the esopha- well-documented greenhouse dozens of Web sites, each would take a heroic amount of gus, but we talk and sing gas. And the fact that hydro- describing the remarkable applied pressure to get using air expelled from our gen gas is also tasteless is properties of hydrogen beer, enough hydrogen to dissolve lungs. The human airway, or said to preserve the “natural but each leaving out one small in a bottle of beer to supply trachea, comes capped with flavor” of the beer. but critical detail—it doesn’t the necessary fizz—far more an epiglottis, a thin cartilage It’s a huge seller! exist! than ordinary bottles or cans flap designed to keep food and Apparently, in karaoke clubs, If you fell for this could withstand. And even if air going in the right direc- customers are now quite hoax, you are not alone. the can could hold that much tions when you swallow. skilled at timing their belches A reputable physics pressure, popping the top of If you found the hydrogen to help them hit the high Web site, several news- such a container would be a beer story hard to swallow, notes. As these articles papers, and even a life-threatening act! congratulations! And don’t explain, “hydrogen, like heli- chemistry textbook refer And then there’s that blue forget to give your chemistry um, resonates at a higher fre- to the amazing product. flame detail! In fact, a hydro- teacher some extra credit quency in the voice box Although we know gen flame is nearly colorless, while you’re at it! Not all hoax- resulting in a much high- better than to believe making it just about invisible es are so easy to debunk, er pitch when talking or everything we read, even in a dark room. The however. A few helpful Web singing.” many of us still fall chemistry just isn’t there. sites are dedicated to sorting There are other for online hoaxes. Neither is the physics. out Web-based fact from fic- amazing “facts” avail- The fact is that any- Hydrogen is a low-density tion. Here are a couple of able on Web pages: one can post an e- gas. Once released, it rises far dependable and entertaining • The bottle caps mail hoax, sometimes too quickly to launch those guides. are equipped with safe- even setting up offi- horizontal fireballs! Even http://urbanlegends.com ty valves to prevent cial-looking Web scarier, hydrogen molecules www.snopes2.com excess buildup of pages as links to “sub- move so quickly that any per- pressure at high tem- stantiate” the story. son attempting to light a Now, about that new fish beer. peratures. How do we separate hydrogen belch would almost 2ChemMatters, FEBRUARY 2002 ® Vol. 20, No. 1 FEBRUARY 2002 DEPARTMENTS Question From the Classroom 2 I was surfing the Web and found that there is a new hydrogen beer. Is it true? Do you believe everything you read on the Web? You can thank your chemistry teacher if you saw right through this one. Activity 10 How Dense Is It? PHOTO BY MIKE CIESIELSKI Both aquarium owners and syrup manufacturers use a handy measuring device called a hydrometer to compare the densities FEATURES of solutions. You can make, calibrate, and test your own. Pseudoscience—Too Good To Be True? 4 ChemSumer 11 Whether it’s the Loch Ness monster or the Bermuda Triangle, these fantastic tales are fun to think about. But what happens The Fizz-Keeper: Does It Really Keep the Fizz? when we apply the science? You’ve seen them in supermarket beverage sections. Pump up the pressure and save the fizz. Does the Fizz-Keeper work? Aquarium Chemistry—Life in the Balance 6 Try it for yourself. From the smallest fishbowl to the biggest public aquarium display, keeping fish healthy takes patience, careful monitoring, Chem.matters.links 16 and a good knowledge of chemistry. Are you gullible or skeptical? Take this quiz to decide. Maple Syrup: Sweet Sap Boils Down to This 8 Steaming pancakes with hot maple syrup—what better way to start a February morning? In New England, the sap is flowing and sugaring is underway. Mighty Thermite—A Solid Hit! 14 Can two solids react? You’d better believe it! Iron and alu- minum get together for an exothermic display called thermite. TEACHERS! FIND YOUR COMPLETE uzzler TEACHER’S GUIDE FOR THIS ISSUE AT CM P www.chemistry.org/education/chemmatters.html. Why is it easier to swim in salt water than in fresh water? Find the answer in this issue of ChemMatters! COVER PHOTO BY MIKE CIESIELSKI Production Team Division of Education and paid at Washington, DC, and addi- by contributors. Views expressed Helen Herlocker, Managing Editor International Activities tional mailing offices. POSTMAS- are those of the authors and do not Cornithia Harris, Art Director Sylvia Ware, Director TER: Send address changes to necessarily represent the official Leona Kanaskie, CMCopy Editor Janet Boese, Assistant Director for ChemMatters Magazine, ACS Office position of the American Chemical Society. Administrative Team Academic Programs of Society Services, 1155 16th St., Michael Tinnesand, Editor Policy Board NW, Washington, DC 20036. Susan Cooper, Chair, LaBelle Julie Farrar, Creative Director All rights reserved. No part of this High School, LaBelle, FL Elizabeth Wood, Manager, publication may be reproduced, Lois Fruen, The Breck School, Subscriber Information Copy Editing Services stored in a retrieval system, or trans- Minneapolis, MN Prices to the U.S., Canada, and Guy Belleman, Staff Associate mitted in any form by any means, Al DeGennaro, Westminster High Mexico: $10.00 per subscription. Sandra Barlow, Program Assistant now known or later developed, © Copyright 2002, School, Westminster, MD Inquire about bulk, other foreign including but not limited to electronic, American Chemical Society Technical Review Team Doris Kimbrough, University of rates, and back issues at the ACS Seth Brown, University of Office of Society Services, 1155 mechanical, photocopying, record- Colorado-Denver Canadian GST Reg. No. 127571347 Notre Dame, IN 16th St., NW, Washington, DC ing, or otherwise, without prior per- ChemMatters (ISSN 0736–4687) is 20036-4800; 800-227-5558 or mission from the copyright owner. Frank Cardulla, Northbrook, IL Printed in the USA published four times a year (Oct., 202-872-6067 fax. Requests for permission should be Dec., Feb., and Apr.) by the directed in writing to ChemMatters, Teacher’s Guide American Chemical Society at 1155 American Chemical Society American Chemical Society, 1155 Frank Cardulla, Editor 16th St., NW, Washington, DC assumes no responsibility for the 16th St., NW, Washington, DC David Olney, Puzzle Contributor 20036-4800. Periodicals postage statements and opinions advanced 20036-4800; 202-833-7732 fax. ChemMatters, FEBRUARY 2002 3 ILLUSTRATION BY BRUCE MACPHERSON Little Red Riding Hood had a problem. She couldn’t tell her grandmother from a wolf. Did you have trouble with that story line when you were a child? After all, wolves don’t look anything like grandmothers, even wolves dressed up in wigs and By Frank Cardulla dresses. Any self-respecting storybook character should have known better. But then again, maybe the disguise was really a good one. Who knows? • The planetary positions on the day we were born influence the ways It’s just a story. our personalities and talents develop throughout our lives. • The Bermuda Triangle is a geographic area off the coast of North here are clever wolves in books as well, disguising themselves America where certain forces have been known to cause ships and as real scientists. And you’ll find them not just in books, but also planes to disappear. T in every imaginable media, print or otherwise. Some are such • Alien beings have visited Earth and abducted human beings. After obvious fakes that only the most near-sighted Little Red Riding Hood performing experiments on them, they have returned these individ- would be fooled.