Genetically Modified Foods

A genetically modified food (GMF) is derived from a genetically modified organism. The food can be substantially different from or essentially the same as the conventional food, in terms of of composition, nutrition, taste, smell, texture and functional characteristics.

Some benefits of GMF is that it can improve the taste, texture, nutritional value, and shelf life of the food. They can also become resistant against insecticides, pesticides, etc. However, its disadvantages include: risks of having allergic reactions due to unaccounted side effects in the alteration of the structure of the organism, which can further lead to diseases.

From my perspective, GMFs can both be beneficial and harmful to the body. It is possible to believe scientists and commercials about how certain GMFs are made, but it cannot be rest assured that it applies to all. Some GMFs make work or appeal to one individual, but not to another. Therefore, we should not be drawn too much by GMFs, but rather we should consider that eating naturally growing foods are much safer, than something that is chemically altered.

BHA and BHT

BHA and BHT are antioxidants that help preserve food such as meat, cereal, etc. These actually react with oxygen, rather than the food itself. That way, the food gets to be preserved for a longer period of time. These types of antioxidants attract many people in wanting their food to last longer. With these preservatives, it becomes possible for people to store lots of food in their respective refrigerators.

However, these preservatives are chemically made. We are still not certain on whether or not these are healthy and that no side effects will be felt once they enter our bodies (when we eat them). Despite all this, the use of additives and eating them is still in question. I think that we should not depend ourselves in eating foods with preservatives, but rather to eat more on natural growing foods like fruits and vegetables.

In conclusion, although these antioxidants can help preserve our foods, we should still consider that they are still chemically made substance that might affect our bodies in the future.

Kropeck: Use of Different Oils

Using different oils affected the taste of the kropeck. Some of the oils like vegetable and canola oils brought out the natural flavor of the kropeck. On the other hand, palm oil somehow changed the flavor of the kropeck, in which the flavor did not really stand out. Overall, the oil used in cooking the kropeck does have an effect on its taste.

All About Food

Food is an essential in our daily lives. We eat food for us to survive and continue to live.

Many people feel that there is a division between food that is normal and not. We ourselves choose our own food that we feel comfortable to eat, rather than eating anything random. There are also people who feel that some foods are weird, in the way they are cooked, eaten, or the use of raw ingredients itself.

Top 5 Weirdest Food

1) Fried Spiders

2) Dried Lizards

3) Bugs (cooked in any way)

4) Live Octopus

5) Anything that is eaten alive

Drinking is better than driving

 

Source: http://advertisingmp.edublogs.org/media-coverage/banning-of-alcohol-ads/

 

 

 

 

 

Levels of Pain

Stress – Level 3

Hit by a tennis ball – Level 4

Sprain – Level 6

Stab by a pencil – Level 7

Finger crushed by the hinge of the door – Level 10

I want my eggs at the bottom

Vapor pressure is the pressure of a vapor in a thermodynamic equilibrium with its condensed phases in a closed system. When water is in equilibrium (or at boiling point), some of the molecules of water changes into water vapor. Since it is at equilibrium, the reverse of this phase change also happens, where some of the water vapor change back to water as a liquid. The rate of the formation of water vapor depends on the amount of pressure being applied to the closed system. The more pressure being applied, the higher the temperature, thus the more water vapor is produced.

When one is to boil an egg, the person will need sufficient amount of temperature and pressure to boil the egg perfectly. In a situation where one asks to boil the egg at the top of the mountain or near the bottom of the sea, it will be more applicable if the egg were to be boiled near the bottom of the sea. One reason for this is the altitude difference. As one goes up (to the top of the mountain), the temperature decreases continuously, as well as pressure. However, if one goes down (near the bottom of the sea), both temperature and pressure increases.

From here, one can conclude that the atmospheric temperature is lower on top of a mountain compared to a place near the bottom of the sea. If one to boil the egg fast and perfect, they should do it near the bottom of the sea, where pressure and temperature is high. When both of these factors are present and affected, the rate of the reaction changes. So, if the factors were increasing, then the rate of the reaction will increase as well, and thus, the egg will be boiled faster and more perfect near the bottom of the sea.

Kinetics Concepts

1) For a reaction to take place between two reagents, two conditions are necessary: (A) The two particles (atoms, ions, radicals, or molecules) must come into physical contact (collide) with each other and (B) The reactants must collide with sufficient kinetic energy to bring about the reaction.

2) There are also some factors that affect the rate of the chemical reaction: (A) Increasing the concentration of the reactants or the pressure of a gaseous reaction. As the quantity of the particles increases, the number of collisions between the reactant particles will increase. (B) Increasing the temperature of the reaction. At a higher temperature, the reactant particles are moving faster, so there will be more collisions, which will make a relatively small contribution towards increasing the rate. (C) Decreasing the particle size of solid reactants. When a solid reacts with a liquid, only the surface particles of the solid can come into direct contact with the liquid reactant particles. If the solid is increasing in surface area (meaning breaking into smaller pieces), more solid particles would react.

3) The minimum amount of energy required to bring about the reaction is known as the activation energy. This is the minimum amount of kinetic energy that must be given to reactants before they will actually react. If two reactants molecules collide without this minimum amount of kinetic energy, they will simply bounce off each other without reacting. In a chemical reaction, if the activation energy is lower, then the reaction is exothermic because the reaction gives off more heat. However, if the activation energy is higher, the reaction is endothermic, because the reaction absorbs more heat.

4) a)

4) b)

4) c)

4) d)

5)

Kinetics: Rate of Reaction

There are many things that we do today involves the subject of chemistry. One application from Chemistry is Kinetics or the Rates of Reactions. Rates of reactions is a topic wherein one finds or learns how fast does a chemical reaction to occur or to produce their respective products. These rates depend on the various chemicals or reactants one uses, including their internal and external environments.

One example of a chemical reaction that involves kinetics or rates of reactions is the rate of explosion of fireworks from the ground to the sky. In this chemical reaction, the person who creates fireworks have to use various kinds of metals to produce different colors (i.e. calcium chloride can produce the color orange). These people have to also measure the rate for the firework to explode at a certain height from the ground to the air for it to explode, and eventually, admired by the people watching.

Rate is measured here in terms of the time it takes for the reaction to take place; at the same time, the rate for it to explode in the air. This can be seen when the fireworks shows its colors in the sky, and thus the reaction has already happened. Basically, it is a combustion reaction of a metal with a non-metal or producing a salt (i.e. lithium salts).

 

Sources:

http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/chemweek/fireworks/fireworks.htm

 

Energetics

Definitions:

1) Heat is the amount of kinetic energy inside a certain object.

2) Temperature is the degree or amount of heat present in an object.

3) Standard Enthalpy Change of Reaction is the enthalpy change that occurs in a system one mole of matter is transformed by a chemical reaction under standard reactions.

4) Endothermic Reaction is the amount of heat to require to break the reactant bonds.

5) Exothermic Reaction is the amount of heat released when new bonds are formed.

6) The standard enthalpy of formation or standard heat of formation of a compound is the change of enthalpy that accompanies the formation of 1 mole of a substance in its standard state.

7) The standard enthalpy of combustion is the heat liberated when 1 mole of the substance undergoes complete combustion with oxygen at constant pressure.

8) Bond energy is the measure of bond strength in a chemical bond.

9) Standard enthalpy of atomization (or vaporization) is the energy required to transform a given quantity of a substance into a gas at a given pressure (often atmospheric pressure).

10) Electron Affinity is the enthalpy change that occurs when one electron is gained by each atom in a mole of gaseous atoms of the element to give one mole of ions, each with a single negative charge, at standard temperature and pressure.

11) Ionization energy is the energy required to remove an electron from a gaseous atom or ion.

12) Lattice Enthalpy is the enthalpy change involved in formation of the ionic compound from gaseous ions.

13) Entropy is a thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system’s thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system.

14) A spontaneous reaction takes place when the reaction releases heat to increase stability

15) Gibbs Free energy is defined as a measure of the total change of entropy that results into a exothermic reaction.

16) DG = DH – TDS is the equation for Gibbs free energy which states that the total change of entropy (Gibbs free energy) is equal to the difference between the enthalpy change and the product of the temperature and entropy change.

Sources:

Wikipedia

http://www.ausetute.com.au/heatcomb.html

http://www.chemguide.co.uk/physical/energetics/definitions.html

http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~cchieh/cact/c120/heatreac.html