The Disappearing Spoon Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Chemistry Way, Way Below Zero
Summary:
In chapter 16, the author begins by telling us about the journey of Robert Falcon Scott and other people to the South Pole. They thought they would be the first people to get to the South Pole, but to their surprise Roald Amundsen and his Norwegian team had arrived there first. Scott’s team was then stuck in the South Pole because of the snow shower. Things got worse when they found out that the tin cans ran out of fuel because the fuel had leaked. Not only that, but the tin cans also changed due to the really cold temperature; this they called the tin leprosy. Kean went off to explain the two solids of tin, which are beta and alpha. Unfortunately, Robert Falcon Scott and the rest companioning him died on the South Pole.


Kean then continues by elaborating on the other elements who were put to endure temperatures because they wanted to find a solid sample, just how had happened with tin. First they put xenon and krypton in really low temperatures in order to make them into solids; this was much easier than getting a solid sample of argon. Getting a solid sample of argon was much more complicated because it had to interact with cesium iodide and fluoride at low temperatures. The author moves on to focusing on explaining how yttrium and neodymium help when it comes to laser beams. For example, the author states how the US is weak in power than the most powerful laser beam created.  

Reflection:
The chapter was great and all, but some parts didn't really connect together, I sort of got a bit confused by what he was saying in some of the parts. However, everything else was great especially when he talked about the story of the people who went to the South Pole. It was sad that they ended up dieing, but it was so interesting to read about. Before reading this chapter, I wasn't quite sure how laser beams worked, so the part where he explains about the laser cleared out a  bit of my confusion of it.

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