Justin P. Lomont - The Handy Chemistry Answer Book

Ian C. Stewart is a chemist at a petrochemical company. He formerly worked with Nobel Prize-winning chemist Robert H. Grubbs and is the recipient of several fellowships. He lives in Houston, Texas.

Justin P. Lomont is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow whose doctoral research at the University of California Berkeley focuses on organometallic reaction mechanisms using ultra-fast infrared spectroscopy. He lives in Berkeley, California.

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Please visit the Handy series website at www.handyanswers.com.

THE
HANDY
CHEMISTRY
ANSWER
BOOK

Copyright 2014 by Visible Ink Press

This publication is a creative work fully protected by all applicable copyright laws, as well as by misappropriation, trade secret, unfair competition, and other applicable laws.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or Website.

All rights to this publication will be vigorously defended.

Visible Ink Press

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Canton, MI 48187-2075

Visible Ink Press is a registered trademark of Visible Ink Press LLC.

Most Visible Ink Press books are available at special quantity discounts when purchased in bulk by corporations, organizations, or groups. Customized printings, special imprints, messages, and excerpts can be produced to meet your needs. For more information, contact Special Markets Director, Visible Ink Press, www.visibleink.com, or 734-667-3211.

Managing Editor: Kevin S. Hile

Art Director: Mary Claire Krzewinski

Typesetting: Marco Di Vita

Proofreaders: Shoshana Hurwitz and Crystal Rosza

Indexer: Larry Baker

ISBN 978-1-57859-374-3

Cover images: Background image: Shutterstock. All other images: iStock.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stewart, Ian (Ian Christopher), 1980

The handy chemistry answer book / by Ian Stewart and Justin Lomont.

pages cm (The handy answer book series)

ISBN 978-1-57859-374-3 (paperback)

1. ChemistryMiscellanea. 2. ChemistryExaminations, questions, etc. I. Lomont, Justin. II. Title.

QD39.2.S75 2014

540dc23

201302016

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

I NDEX

We would first like to thank Roger Jnecke and Kevin Hile at Visible Ink Press for their assistance, patience, and for taking a chance on two young science writers.

College students at the University of Michigan and Brandeis University submitted many of the questions in the chapter titled The World around Us. Our thanks go out to these people for their creative and inspiring questions: Jon Ahearn, Krishna Bathina, Alex Belkin, Matt Benoit, Emma Betzig, Jeetayu Biswas, Ariana Boltax, Nick Carducci, Gina DiCiuccio, Alice Doong, Christina Lee, Shelby Lee, Greg Lorrain, Jake Lurie, Sotirios Malamis, Aysha Malik, Yawar Malik, Katie Marchetti, Nicholas Medina, Leah Naghi, Humaira Nawer, Logan Powell, Nilesh Raval, Alexandra Rzepecki, Minna Schmidt, Leah Simke, Sindhura Sonnathi, Eva Tulchinsky, Afzal Ullah, Anna Yatskar.

Finally, we would like to dedicate this book to the person who initially brought us together, inspired and challenged us with this project and many others, taught us what it really means to learn and to teach, and so much more. This is for you, Brian.

All line art illustrations by Kevin S. Hile. Photographs in the Chemistry Experiments You Can Do at Home chapter by James Fordyce.

All other images courtesy of Shutterstock, with the following exceptions: page : Miia Ranta from Finland.

Whats inside of a zit? Why does eating turkey make you sleepy? How do glow sticks work? What causes a hangover? Chemistry (and this book!) holds answers to all of these questions. There are many wonderful stories about chemistry and the people behind these discoveries. Whether you have studied chemistry in high school or college, or even do chemistry for a living, we think you will enjoy this book. We certainly enjoyed writing it.

As you will see right away, our approach is quite different from a textbook. If youre curious about the answers to hundreds of interesting questions about all the things in the world that you touch, feel, and taste every day, then youve come to the right place. The Handy Chemistry Answer Book uses a simple question-and-answer format to explain the chemistry in our daily lives. There are entire chapters on sustainable chemistry, the chemistry of cooking, and the chemistry of space. Some of these are questions we got from people like you! The questions in the chapter called The World around Us were all submitted from college students at the University of Michigan (our alma materGo Blue!) and Brandeis University.