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Chemistry Facts

What Is pH?

Anyone who is the least bit familiar with vinegar, nausea, sodium bicarbonate, and ammonia-based cleaning solutions probably has a very good 'feel' for the different natures of acidic and basic ... Continue reading

Litmus paper is used to measure pH.

What Is A Mole?

No, it's not the furry little burrowing rodent with the star-shaped nose, from 'Wind In The Willows'... In chemistry, a mole is strictly defined as the number of particles of a pure material equal to ... Continue reading

What Is A Half-life?

When isotopes break down, or decay, they usually split apart into two smaller atoms. Excess neutrons and protons are often sent flying off through space, taking the excess energy of the atoms with ... Continue reading

Natural uranium contains 99% U238 and only about 0.7% U 235 by weight.

Knocking the NOx Out of Coal

Nitrogen is the most common part of the air we breathe. In fact, about 80% of the air is nitrogen. Normally, nitrogen atoms float around joined to each other like chemical couples. But when air is ... Continue reading

Air is mostly nitrogen molecules (green in the above diagram) and oxygen molecules (purple). When heated hot enough (around 3000 degrees F), the molecules break apart and oxygen atoms link with the nitrogen atoms to form NOx, an air pollutant.