The mentioned elements form the last group (group 18) of the periodic table of elements. The reason why noble gases are so stable lies in their electron structure. Their outer shell of valence electrons is considered to be full, what gives them very little or no tendency at all to participate in chemical reactions and form new compounds, because they already reached maximum stability. However, a few compounds have been prepared, mostly with the element xenon.

Neon, argon, krypton and xenon can be obtained from air, by using the method of liquefaction of gases and the process of fractional distillation. Radon is mostly isolated from the radioactive decay of radium compounds.

Noble gases have many interesting applications. From welding and lighting, to space exploration. A mixture composed of helium and oxygen is commonly used by deep-sea divers so that they can reduce negative effects of high pressure nitrogen and oxygen (like oxygen toxemia and nitrogen narcosis). Helium is often used as a gas in blimps and balloons since people realized with time, that the use of hydrogen (which is flammable, and potentially explosive) is relatively dangerous. Liquid helium is often used as a coolant in many systems that require low temperatures. Almost all noble gases are also used as filling gases for various types of light bulbs, because of their lack of chemical activity. Use in neon tubes is also known in which different gases produce different colors. Helium produces a bright and slightly red color, neon produces an intensively red color, argon produces a blue color, krypton a slightly pink color, and xenon produces violet coloration.

Noble gases also have many other interesting applications. If one is interested in finding out more about the chemistry of these interesting elements, it’s not a bad idea to start with some of the basic tutorials related to chemistry.

Once again, the process of washing can be explained with the help of chemistry. The largest part of dirt that is most common on clothing, skin, and other objects that we use is composed of various kinds of fats. Because of the fact that fats are not soluble in water, they present a problem because they can’t be washed away only by using water. This is where detergents come in. They basically help in dissolve the fats in water, which can than easily be washed way.

The detergents are composed of two main parts, the first one is hydrophobic and the second one is hydrophilic. The hydrophobic parts are connected with the fats, and, for example, by rubbing the cloathing (that can be done by hands or automatically in the washing machine), the fats become more and more dispersed and in that way, a emulsion is created, that can than be easily washed away with water.

This was just some of the many situations where chemistry can give you an answer on how something works. Many other examples can also be found on the internet, and if you would like to learn more about this science, it’s never a bad idea to start with some of the basic chemistry tutorials

As we already mentioned, fresh and clean drinking water is essential to human and all other presently known life forms. There are various types of water classifications, one of them mentions two types of water: hard and soft water.

Hard water is water that has a relatively high mineral content (mainly magnesium and calcium ions). Hard water can sometimes also contain other types of ions, like bicarbonates and sulfates. A relatively simple experiment that can show one if the water is soft or hard, can be done by using some soap or toothpaste. These two substances, when agitated, lather easily in soft water, but not in hard water.

On the other hand, soft water contains few or no magnesium or calcium ions. Soft water usually comes from peat or igneous rock sources, such as granite, since on such locations, the content of calcium and magnesium minerals and, thereby, ions as well, is relatively low, and because of that, very little percentages of the mentioned ions can be found in water that comes from such sources like that.

Water also has many other interesting properties. If one is interested in finding out even more about the chemistry of water, it’s always a good idea to start with some of the basic chemistry related tutorials.

On the same principle is the so called “invisible” ink based. In this case, a diluted aqueous solution of cobalt chloride has a bright yellow color and is usually very hard to read, especially on white colored paper. But when the paper is dried, the letters appear in blue color.

There is also another compound that is far more known than the cobalt chloride, that also changes color. This compound is known as copper sulfate, which is usually blue. But if you carefully dry this compound, the resulf will be a white amorphous powder. The smallest traces of water can turn this powder into blue color again, and among others this useful property is often used to remove the last traces of water from substances from which is otherwise very difficult to remove all the water (for example, in order to make anhydrous alcohol).

There are also many other interesting properties related to the type of compounds described in this article. In one is interested in learning more about them, it’s not a bad idea to start with some of the basic chemistry related tutorials.

One of the early forms of photography is known as daguerreotype. It was developed by Jacques Daguerre and is based on a processw which involves several different chemicals. The daguerreotype was the first publicly announced photographic process, although there were competing processes at the time. However, the accepted scientific etiquette of the time was that discovery was attributed to the first published invention.

Daguerreotype has a lot to do with chemistry as a science – usually a silver coated copper plate is exposed to iodine vapour before the exposition to light. After the exposition, the plate is are exposed to mercury fumes, which forms a latent image. On this picture nothing can be seen at that moment, because it needs to be developed first. Bathing the plate in a salt bath fixes the image, which means that it doesn’t get any darker, but remains as it was when the image was fixed.

The daguerreotype presented an important invention and part of the history of photography. With time, the photographic methods that were used, became more and more complex, until the discovery of colored photography. In all of these different types of photography, chemistry played and still plays an important role, and if someone is interested in learning more about the chemistry of these processes, it is always a good idea to start with some of the chemistry tutorials.

There are two basic groups of explosives: low and high explosives. This article will mostly describe facts related to the latter type.

The group of high explosives can further be devided into more groups: primary, secundary and possibly tertiary as well. Primary explosives are the most sensitive and because of that, most dangerous group of explosives. They can be sensitive to shock, friction, and heat. Some can even be affected negativaly with visible light, or with electromagnetic radiation of other wavelenghts. Some of the examples of primary explosives are acetone peroxide, methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, mercury fulminate, mercury azide, and others.

Secondary explosives are the other mentioned main group of explosives. They are characterized by greater (shock, friction and heat) stability. Because of that, they are used as the main explosive in most cases (while the primary explosives mainly find their use in detonators, in small quantities, thereby lowering the risk to an acceptable level). Some secondary explosives are stable to the extent that they can actually be destroyed by burning them, if such a action is neccessary. On the other hand, there are also explosives that are unusually sensitive/stable. For example, trinitroglycerine can be set on fire, (it burns with a nice and bright white flame), but at the same time, if you drop a test tube filled with the mentioned compound, of a height of 1-2 meters, lets just say that the result of that would be very healthy for your life.

Except for these main groups of explosives within the field of high explosives, it is neccessary to mention the possible tertiary group aswell. Explosives of this group show even greater shock, friction and heat stability, making them hard to detonate even with larger quantities of primary explosives. Because of that, they are mostly detonated using explosive boosters. These boosters are mostly just a greater amount of secondary explosive that is detonated with a primary explosive, so that detonation of the tertiary explosive could be achieved. Ammonium nitrate, and its composite explosives (in example ANFO), could be mentioned as typical examples.

Pyrotechnics as an engineering branch has lot to do with the science of chemistry, so if one is interested in finding out more and understending basic pyrotechnic principles, it’s a good idea to start learning with the help of basic tutorials regarding chemistry.

Mirrors have a wide range of different applications, from personal grooming and decoration, to various applications in architecture. Mirrors also find many uses in science and engineering, in scientific apparatus such as lasers and telescopes, cameras and various industrial machinery. Most mirrors are designed for visible light; however there are also mirrors that reflect other wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation.

Mirrors have also a lot to do with chemistry. As mentioned, the main element that is involved in the production of mirrors is silver. Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag, and the atomic number 47. It is a relatively soft, lustrous metal, and has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal. Silver can be found naturally in its pure form, as an alloy with gold and several other metals, and in various types of minerals. Silver is often produced as a by-product in the production and extraction of other metals, like copper, gold, lead and other elements.

Silver has been valued as a precious metal for a long time. However, nowadays, as we already mentioned, silver has many different uses and is produced in much higher amounts than in the past, and because of that, its value has dropped with time. Today it is used in electrical contacts and conductors, in mirrors and in various types chemical reactions and processes. In form of many silver compounds, this element is also used as an disinfectant.

Silver also has many other interesting properties. If one is interested in finding out even more about the chemistry of silver, it’s always a good idea to start with some of the basic chemistry tutorials.

They have various interesting properties. The alkali earth elements are also known to cause flame coloration; for example, calcium can color flames in a orange-red color, strontium in a magenta-red, barium colors the flame in a green color, and radium colors it in crimson red. Alkaline earth metals all have a characteristic metallic silver coloration, are relatively soft metals, and react readily with halogens, thereby forming ionic salts. They also react with water, although not as rapidly as alkali metals.

The alkaline earth metals also have many other interesting properties. If one is interested in finding out even more related to the chemistry of these interesting elements, it’s always a good idea to start with some of the basic chemistry related tutorials.

Carbon is the chemical element with the symbol C, and is located in the group 14 of the periodic table of elements, together with silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), tin (Sn) and lead (Pb). It is a nonmetallic and tetravalent element, which makes it capable to form covalent chemical bonds which are of great importance in organic chemistry. Carbon has several allotropes. The best known are graphite, diamond and amorphous carbon. The properties of the mentioned allotropes vary greatly – from the very hard diamond which with almost no electrical conductivity at all, to the very soft allotrope known as graphite, which has a high electrical conductivity.

Carbon is the 15th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, and the forth most abundant element in the universe, after hydrogen, helium and oxygen. All present known lifeforms contain carbon, and in the human body, carbon is the second most abundant element after oxygen. About 19% of our body mass is carbon.

Carbon also has many other interesting properties. If one is interested in finding out even more related to the chemistry of carbon, it’s always a good idea to start with some of the basic chemistry tutorials.