The Disappearing Spoon Chapter 11

Chapter 11: How Elements Deceive
Summary:
Chapter 11 is all about how some elements can be deceiving. The author begins by describing the tragedy that occurred in 1981 when five technicians worked on the stimulation spacecraft at NASA. Since they cleared the five technicians too early, they entered and immediately fell down unconscious. This happened because nitrogen gas, an odorless colorless gas, tricks the body into thinking that it's oxygen. Therefore, the body doesn't sense any danger and then unexpectedly collapses. This incident resulted in the deaths of two of the five technicians who were working on the stimulation. Kean reassures us that they died peacefully, for the nitrogen gas quickly goes in the body and shuts down the brain.
In in addition, the author shifts his attention towards titanium and the way it was used. Titanium was very effective to use as prosthetic limbs because it is able to deceive the body. Titanium tricks the body into thinking that it is a bone itself; therefore, in surgery and recover, it is accepted and not rejected. The Swedish doctor, Per-Ingvar Branemark, was the one who discovered the uses of titanium in prosthetics. Kean then moves on to talking about beryllium, an element that deceives your taste buds. Despite being really toxic, when consumed, beryllium tastes really sweet like sugar. Death can result by ingesting beryllium just like Enrico Fermi died from testing beryllium a lot. Potassium can also deceive your taste buds just like beryllium. Lastly, Kean explains why iodized salt better for the people and how places, like India, very much dislike consuming iodized salt.
Reflection:
This chapter brought a lot of clarity into my eyes about the elements. For example, I didn’t really know about the incident that occurred with the technicians and how nitrogen was part of it. It was really sad to read that only three of the five technicians have survived. The fact that nitrogen can attack without you even knowing really creeped me out because in less than a few seconds you can just collapse unconscious. It's also really scary to know how beryllium tastes like sugar even though it is extremely toxic. Before reading this chapter, I wasn't aware that titanium could deceive the body into thinking that it's the bone itself. I'm amazed at how the elements can be deceiving at times.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Disappearing Spoon Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Geography Is Destiny  Summary:        In the chapter “Geography is Destiny”, the author explains how the periodic table is organized in a particular way, so a location of the element can say a lot about its chemical properties and its interaction with other elements. Helium and oxygen are both similar in that they are both gases at room temperature. However, the great distinction between the two is their interaction with other elements. Because helium is a member of a group called the noble gases, it doesn't interact with other elements as it is already stable. There is no need for him to interact with other elements; they are perfect as they are. On the other hand, oxygen is quick to interact with many other elements despite being a stable gas at room temperature. At the beginning of the chapter, the author compares the periodic table to a map and I totally find this metaphor effective since the periodic table has groups and periods as sort of coordinate points of
Read more

The Disappearing Spoon Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Galapagos of the Periodic Table Summary: In chapter 3, Kean begins by talking about Robert Bunsen whose arsenic obsession led to an explosion that made him half blind. He was a German chemist who successfully improved the Bunsen burner and made it popular. By studying geysers and volcanoes through collecting vapors and boiling liquids, he was able to figure out how geysers build up the pressure that causes them to blow. Not only this, but he was also able to invent the spectroscope which is used to observe elements. The author then goes off to talk about Dmitri Mendeleev’s life and his contributions in the periodic table. Mendeleev was able to place the 62 known elements into rows and columns; however, he wasn't the only one, for Julius Meyer also worked on a periodic table of his own. Kean then points out how Mendeleev was able to predict elements that hadn't been discovered yet. In addition, the author continues to be explaining how Francois Lecoq de Bo
Read more

The Disappearing Spoon Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Completing the Table....with a Bang Summary: In chapter 6, the author talked about how the periodic table finally came to be organized as. He started off by talking about Henry Moseley, who helped organize the periodic table. Moseley was a physicist who came up with the idea of the atomic number. To study the atomic structure, Moseley would use the X-ray spectra. He was able to notice that there was a relationship between the amount of protons there are in an atom and its atomic number. Henry Moseley was the one who suggested that the elements on the periodic table should be organized by increasing atomic number and mass. Sadly, Henry Moseley soon joined the army where he was killed. After Henry Moseley's death, many scientists began looking for the missing elements on the periodic table. More and more elements soon came to be discovered; thus, expanding the periodic table. They were able to track down every one of the missing elements except element 61. Eventually,
Read more