Wednesday. 31 March 2010. Part II

The saga continues...

Oh, drat it. I left my chem folder in my room. I'll have to go get that, or type it out later, or something. Class today was absolutely epic. Not only did Charles text - I really was starting to get worried, was imagining things like him choking to death in his sleep... Anyway, he texted, and he was indeed alive. Plus we were discussing element cycles (the nitrogen cycle, carbon cycle, oxygen cycle, and phosphorous cycle) in class. And I got my test back (B-, not too bad, considering) and realized just how amazing my chem professor is.

Cool nifty fact number 1, discovered in my chem class: natural bacteria are absolutely amazing. Why? They break apart dinitrogen bonds. Okay, whoop-ti-doo. What does that mean? Well, nitrogen in its gaseous state exists as dinitrogen - two nitrogen atoms, bonded with a triple bond. Which means it's really really uber strong. The bond takes around 960 kJ/mol to break. To put that in perspective - lightning is usually the only thing that breaks it. Yeah. You need a lot of energy. Dinitrogen is broken into the separate nitrogen atoms and bonded to hydrogen to create nitrates, ammonia, etc (things very much necessary to life) in factories when there's crazy high pressures and temperatures. But bacteria - simple, little tiny bacteria - can break it down in the human body at normal temperatures and pressures. Pretty neat, huh?

Cool nifty fact number 2, also discovered in my chem class: The environment is not as fragile as people would lead you to believe. The carbon cycle is crazy complex, and carbon dioxide can be absorbed in high quantities by the oceans and by plants (the plants will 'eat' more carbon if more is available). It's like blood. Your blood doesn't get crazy acidic when you drink a lot of lemon juice or soak your hands in bleach, because it's a 'buffer' - it can absorb a certain amount of acid or base (a lot of acid or base) before it actually turns acidic or basic. The environment is the same way. It would take a lot of carbon dioxide to really screw it up.

Cool nifty fact number 3, also also discovered in my chem class: No, my professor is not a secret agent for the Queen. =/

Cool nifty fact number 4, also also also discovered in my chem class: However, my professor has read the Simrillion and the Lord of the Rings, and pwns me in all knowledge of Tolkein. I have a goofy schoolgirl crush on him. One of the guys in my chem class and I gushed about Lord of the Rings after that.

But dear god, I'm tired. Long, hotish day. I just want to talk to Charles, eat, and curl up in the sunlight on the grass. Perhaps I'll just post this, check his blog, and then nyom. And nap. Yes, that sounds like a good plan.